Senators Frist and Daschle argue that helping the world’s poorest people help themselves is not only consistent with our values and is part of America’s global legacy of saving lives, but is also very much in our security and economic interests.

The senators write:

“As the military does its job in stabilizing troubled states, vigorous humanitarian and diplomacy efforts can ensure that we build a lasting peace by strengthening communities and governments, reinforcing the foundations for growth and opportunity and neutralizing those who wish our country harm.

“Our foreign assistance dollars pay strong dividends economically, as well. Americans’ security and prosperity are tied to the security and prosperity of people around the globe…Today, developing countries represent 40 percent of U.S. exports. Programs supported by the international affairs budget increase economic opportunities, promote our business interests around the world and create U.S. jobs through increased exports.”

For the past several weeks, ONE members across the country have been contacting their members of Congress in support of the International Affairs Budget. This week’s op-ed by Senators Frist and Daschle is another reminder that this portion of the budget is affordable, effective and something both Republicans and Democrats can agree on. As the former Majority Leaders say, “Republicans and Democrats have long worked together to make a difference in the world through humanitarian efforts, and those investments have paid off. In the past 50 years, child deaths worldwide have been reduced by more than half; polio has been nearly eradicated…For a small fraction of slightly more than 1 percent of the federal budget, our investment in helping others to help themselves overseas is one of the most cost-effective ways our government can keep us both safe and prosperous.”

I recommend reading the whole piece here.

In it, he sets out four key pillars to meeting that challenge:

First, we must support scientific and technological innovation in agriculture. In the past 25 years alone, farmers in the United States have boosted corn production by more than 40 percent. And products in the ag pipeline offer the promise of nutritional outputs that will improve products and boost yields. In order to realize these new technologies, we must foster innovation by incentivizing and encouraging investment in biotech and broader agricultural research and development.

Second, we must facilitate an open, competitive marketplace. The most significant scientific achievements occur when we combine the best of competition and collaboration. The ability of multiple companies to offer differentiated products and services in an open marketplace promotes agriculture productivity, accelerates innovation and increases choice. One way to achieve this is through strengthened legal and legislative safeguards designed to encourage innovation while protecting intellectual property rights in agriculture. Within this regulatory structure, facilitation of American agricultural exports is key; global regulatory barriers to market entry must be removed.

Third, we must collaborate to innovate. In order to face 21st-century food demands in a way that promotes health and protects the environment, innovation in science and competition must be accompanied by collaboration among parties who have traditionally been somewhat divided. This will require collaboration between companies, environmental groups, farmers, NGOs and governments to ensure that efforts are not mutually exclusive. For example, we must move past old illusions about food vs. fuel. Advances in agricultural innovation can help to both feed and fuel the world. In the face of climate change and national security threats, we must continue to innovate so that the agriculture industry can meet the demand for both food and fuel in the coming decades.

Finally, we must empower farmers worldwide with the tools necessary to meet this growing demand. Partnerships must be forged between governmental leaders and local farmers in the developing world to facilitate the ability of these countries to increase their crop yields, enhance resistance to pests and improve crop performance in challenging climates.

Read the full article here.

In talking about ONE, Foreign Policy Editor in Chief Moisés Naím noted that “unless one pushes for obvious ideas, they aren’t obvious for many. Now [these issues] are obvious to millions thanks to ONE.”

Mr. Daschle and Mrs. McCain spoke at length about the necessity of bipartisanship in the fight against extreme poverty—a bipartisanship of which they were obvious examples.

But by far the highlight and emphasis of the ceremony were the immeasurable achievements of ONE members and volunteers all across the country—today represented by Danielle DePas, Michael Castaldo, and Matthew McAllister who came to DC to accept the award. All three were invited to sit on a panel discussion with Steve Radelet and ONE’s Liesl Hickey to discuss topics such as grassroots activism, organizing, and how the US can lead in the fight against global poverty and preventable disease.

We’ll have further posts with photos and video from the event for you shortly. You can read more about the award here.

-Chris Scott

Click below for a clip of Bob Dole’s remarks, and check out some background information on Senator Tom Daschle here.

Bob Dole:

He also worked on another bipartisan effort with another former Senate majority leader, Senator Bill Frist on the ONE Vote ’08 Campaign addressing health and poverty in developing countries. As most of you know, Senator Daschle has spent a good part of his career focused on healthcare.

-Chris Scott

Currently, Daschle is a Senior Policy Advisor with the law firm Alston & Bird, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and, critically to us, serves as National Co-Chair, of ONE Vote ‘08.

Below find relevant quotes, a summary of his experience in development, and a list of key legislation he introduced or sponsored.

Quotes

“We have a moral obligation to assist those suffering from abject poverty and disease…Investments in the development of our world’s poorest nations must be a pillar of our foreign policy going forward, no matter who is leading the next administration.”- Daschle, ONE Campaign appearance in Kigali, Rwanda, July 22, 2008

“I am encouraged by the tremendous impact that these programs have had in fighting the spread of disease across Africa… Over the last four years, 2 million more people living with AIDS now have access to lifesaving medication… Nevertheless, much work remains.” – Daschle, ONE Campaign appearance in Kigali, Rwanda, July 22, 2008

“The primary foreign policy challenge confronting the United States in the next three decades is also our country’s largest domestic policy challenge: climate change. In both arenas—foreign and domestic policy—we are in effect racing the clock, aware that the longer we delay action, the more costly the fixes at home will be, and the less able we will be to induce the kind of change necessary in China, India, and beyond.”-Daschle, “Changing the Political Climate on Climate Change” Georgetown Journal on International Affairs: Winter/Spring 2008

“We face a deadly pandemic that claims tens of thousands of lives daily and threatens stability in key regions of the world. While we have made – and will continue to make – great strides, the true solution lies in making sure that no matter who is elected to be the next President of the United States, he or she is committed to ending extreme poverty.” -Daschle, The ONE Blog, May 24, 2007

Foreign Policy Related Activities

• Senator Daschle is a longtime advocate of strengthening U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance, consistently backing foreign assistance bills throughout his career. He opposed H.R. 2606, a bill in the House of Representatives that would have capped foreign assistance at only $12.7 billion for FY 1999. He also championed the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill for FY 2004, S.1426 which substantially increased funding for the Peace Corps and foreign assistance to combat HIVAIDS.
• As co-chair of ONE Vote ’08, Senator Daschle has proven that he takes issues of extreme poverty and preventable disease very seriously. He led several thought leaders on a trip to Rwanda with ONE, along with Senator Frist. Senator Daschle has a long record as a strong advocate on these issues.
• In 2002, when President Bush first dedicated $500 million to fight global AIDS in 2002, then Senator Daschle asked the President to do more, saying that his amount was “too little too late.”
• In 2003, Senators Daschle, McCain and Kennedy wrote an open letter to the Comptroller General asking when PEPFAR first passed, asking for GAO assistance to ensure that anti-AIDS drugs were purchased at a fair price.
• Earlier this year, Senator Daschle led a delegation of policymakers on a trip to Rwanda on behalf of the ONE Campaign. The purpose of the trip was to gain a first-hand appreciation for the challenges of heath crises in Africa and assess the success of American sponsored foreign assistance programs like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the Global Trust Fund.

Legislation

• Daschle introduced S.185, the Africa Famine Relief Act of 2003 which would authorize emergency supplemental assistance to combat the growing humanitarian crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Co-sponsored S. Res 119, Combatting the Global Aids Pandemic, noting the growth of AIDS/HIV and the responsibility of the U.S. along with other developed nations to act.
• Introduced S.1182, the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, to sanction the ruling Burmese military junta, to strengthen Burma’s democratic forces and support and recognize the National League of Democracy as the legitimate representative of the Burmese people, and for other purposes.

Senator Daschle has been a leader in ONE’s presidential initiative since 2007, including leading a delegation of American leaders to Rwanda in July of this year. You can check out his many appearances on the ONE Blog here.

Much more on Senator Dasche’s background on global poverty issues to follow shortly.

-Virginia Simmons

(Senator Daschle touring a Rwandan clinic with John Podesta and Cindy McCain on a ONE delegation trip to Rwanda in July 2008.)

Yesterday afternoon, I attended the National Democratic Institute’s global poverty panel at the DNCC. It was moderated by Gayle Smith, who’s a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

The speakers were:

Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State and NDI chairman
Ben Affleck, actor, director, and advocate
Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development
John J. Danilovich, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Account
Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader and Co-Chair of ONE Vote ’08
Hernando de Soto, president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy
Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, vice president of the Africa Region of the World Bank
Donald Payne, U.S. representative
Tim Wirth, former U.S. senator, and CEO of the United Nations Foundation
James Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank.

Josh Lozman of our policy staff is going to be sending in a post about the panel a little later.

I also took a small camera with me and shot some simple video, so I’ll post a couple clips here to give you a sense of what it was like to be in the room. The 1st is of Senator Tom Daschle answering a question about his recent trip with ONE through Rwanda.

This second one is of Ben Affleck talking about his new perspective after having visited Africa- and what he thinks that new perspective means for how we should message effectively. After, President of the Center for Global Development Nancy Birdsall talks about the incredible progress we’ve seen.

During that time, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle came by to help out, as did the band DAUGHTRY. We should have video of all that by tomorrow.

‘Til then, I’ll just have to apologize sheepishly for this very amateur camera-work. It does give you a sense of the atmosphere in the room.

That why our ONE Vote ’08 Co-Chairs, Senators Bill Frist and Tom Daschle will be meeting with leaders of both parties, and taking a petition from ONE members urging them to make poverty-fighting a priority for both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Click this link and we’ll add your name to the petition

Petition Text:

As a proud American, I urge you to make ending extreme poverty and global disease in the developing world a core part of your 2008 platform by including commitments to:

• Fight AIDS, TB and malaria and improve basic health services, particularly for mothers and young children
• Ensure access to clean water, basic sanitation and sufficient food supplies
• Spur economic growth through equitable trade and investment policies
• Modernize and increase development assistance, focusing on partnership, transparency and accountability
• Achieve universal primary education

Another video and post from ONE’s Tom Gavin from last week’s trip to Rwanda.

Monday, July 21:

The U.S. launched PEPFAR – the American global AIDS strategy – at the Masaka Clinic in 2004, so it made for a good place for the ONE delegation to visit and assess how things are going. Our delegation met with doctors, nurses, local officials, and patients seeking treatment and counsel from the clinic’s staff. We heard, time and again, the difference that America’s partnership in health care was making in Rwanda and throughout Africa.

The DATA Report, which ONE released earlier this year, shows the progress being made. It points out that, across Africa, nearly 2.12 million people were on antiretroviral therapy by last December, a huge jump from the 50,000 people on treatment in 2002. That means 30 percent of Africans in need of treatment are receiving it. But there remains a major challenge ahead. An additional 1.7 million Africans became infected with the HIV virus in 2007.

After touring the Masaka Clinic, some of the ONE delegation discussed the site visit and the overall trip with reporters.

-Tom Gavin