After weeks of ONE Campaign members relentlessly writing and calling their senators, and great work by so many partner organizations, we’ve successfully unstuck billions of dollars in AIDS, TB and malaria funding tonight!

We dodged several potentially devastating amendments over the last 2 days – pieces of legislation that would have put millions of lives at risk. We did lose one amendment-fight, however, so the total funding for PEPFAR for the next five years will now be $48 billion, instead of the original $50 billion.

After tonight’s successful Senate vote, the bill will go back to the House and then onto the president to sign. We are hopeful those processes will be swift.

Given how much we had to fight to reauthorize this bill this year- this is a great victory for us. Thank you to everyone who contacted their members of Congress to pass PEPFAR. Literally, millions of lives will be saved with this funding.

Below, a quote from our Legislative Director Tom Hart:

“Even as Americans face serious concerns at home, the Senate has proved America’s commitment to providing lifesaving medicines to the world’s most vulnerable people. PEPFAR is an investment in people around the world; but it is also an example of America’s generosity and a critical piece of American diplomacy. By treating and preventing disease and saving lives, we can help to create more stable communities and a more secure future for Americans.

Senators Biden, Lugar and Reid are true heroes for their persistence and patience in passing this bill. This legislation received strong support from co-sponsoring Senators on both sides of the aisle, including both Presidential candidates.”

After the jump find all the proposed amendments, their results, and those who voted for and against this bill.

-Virginia Simmons

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I just finished a conference call regarding PEPFAR with Senator Harry Reid and a few fellow ONE volunteers. Senator Reid wanted to touch base with some of his NV constituents who have been following the progress of PEPFAR and actively pushing for passage this year, and share with us his gratitude for helping to move this important legislation forward.

Senator Reid mentioned that he had hoped to pass PEPFAR before the G8 summit and was disappointed that it didn’t, but was very pleased to announce that after the bill had been blocked for weeks by only a few senators, he was finally able to bring PEPFAR to Senate floor for a vote. Senator Reid said, “It is critical that we pass this important legislation. Diseases like AIDS, Malaria and TB are ravaging the developing world. In Africa alone AIDS kills 8,000 Africans every day, it takes no weekends off.”

ONE volunteers, Amber McIntosh, Adam Bellamy, Renee Meyocks, Karen Frost-Arnold, and Emily Miller were all eager for the opportunity to represent the 13,000 ONE members in Nevada, and we thanked Senator Reid for his leadership and commitment to pass PEPFAR.

Amber was able to ask Senator Reid how he envisioned the process will move forward, Senator Reid responded that he hopes the bill will pass tomorrow.

Karen was able to tell Senator Reid about her trip to Zambia, and how grateful she is to know that this legislation will commit resources to people just like those she met in Zambia who were suffering in their fight against AIDS every day.

We are almost there! If you haven’t already, call your senators and ask them to vote to pass this critical bill.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a day to celebrate.

-Matt Higginson, Nevada

Great News. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture for PEPFAR yesterday- meaning that the bill to provide $50 billion in AIDS, malaria and TB funding will finally be moving again.

Senator Reid asked for unanimous consent to begin debating the PEPFAR bill yesterday afternoon but a couple of Republican Senators continued to object (despite the assurance that amendments would be allowed.) Moments later, as you can watch in this video, he filed for cloture.

Rewind to your high school civics class or your favorite senate.gov glossary page:

Cloture is the only way that the Senate can place a time limit on consideration of a bill- and in doing so, overcome a potential filibuster. The Senate must allow for 30 additional hours for discussion before the vote, and then the bill must receive 60 votes in order to pass.”

This sets the vote for Friday, although we could potentially see the vote happen today. A successful cloture vote will allow the Senate to begin debating the bill.

Millions of lives around the world rely on this funding is on the line- so we’ll be watching and keeping you posted here on the ONE Blog with updates.

-Virginia Simmons

I have the unfortunate job of sharing some disappointing news about global AIDS funding this morning.

We needed “Unanimous Consent” (or “UC”) to keep PEPFAR reauthorization moving in a timely and bi-partisan fashion. This means that every member on the Senate floor had to agree to the proposed legislation.

Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid asked for UC for PEPFAR twice this morning: Once with no amendments, and a second time with 4 amendments (2 from the Republican side and 2 from the Democratic side.) Both attempts failed to pass.

This means we now have no choice but to look to push for PEPFAR reauthorization after Congress’s scheduled recess.

This legislation is critical to millions of lives, and this means that President Bush will have a more difficult time pressuring other wealthy countries to follow the U.S.’s leadership and give more to global AIDS when he attends the July G8 summit in Japan.

Earlier in the week we were hopeful after Sen. Reid set a deadline for the completion of negotiations, with the intent of calling for UC and a vote on this important legislation. We do know that the major differences with Sen. Coburn have been addressed and that he has lifted his hold on the bill. Unfortunately not all the senators have come to an agreement yet – 3 in particular have maintained their holds and a 4th objected on the floor.

We are hopeful that negotiations will continue through the July 4th recess and that the momentum we built through the last few weeks will continue, culminating in a vote soon after the Senate comes back into session.

We will keep you updated with more analysis and plans. As ONE members, we have to be prepared to take action the next chance we get. The people who need this funding don’t have a voice in America’s legislative system – but we do.

-Virginia Simmons

Based on a comment made by Reid a couple hours ago, we hope to see an agreement in the next 24 hours. (Once some key senators are able to craft this agreement, the Senate should be able to move passed the current obstructions and onto the next step in the reauthorization process.) We expect to know more tomorrow, and will let you know when we do.

Reid’s comments from a 2pm press conference today:

“The global AIDS bill, the PEPFAR — I spoke to Senator Biden before lunch today. He asked me if I could wait for another 24 hours before I brought a unanimous consent request to pass this. He said almost all the problems are worked out.

I hope that’s the case. It’s something we need to do. It is important.

The president said he wants it. Now we’ve got to get folks on the other side of the aisle, the Republicans, to join with the president on this.”

Just a few moments ago Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke of movement on PEPFAR during his morning remarks. I transcribed his comments below.

We are hopeful that negotiations are moving forward, but the agreement is not yet complete. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Reid:

“We also are going to bring before the body within the next 24 hours the PEPFAR legislation. What is that? It’s the AIDS legislation that the president is in favor of and we’ve been trying to move.

It’s been held up on the other side by a senator or two.

And we are hope that we can complete that. Again I will ask consent that that be passed today.

It’s my understanding having spoken to Senator Enzi that he and Senator Biden have worked something out on that and hopefully the senator on the other side who’s objected to this will no longer object to it.”

-Virginia Simmons

Last night Senate Majority Leader Reid issued a statement setting Tuesday, June 24, as the deadline to complete talks about PEPFAR and move the bill forward.

Some excepts from his statement:

“…Because Democrats and Republicans worked together and reached that common goal, we have had a positive impact on the lives of tens of millions of Africans. That is a tremendous start.

But the work still ahead is just as daunting as the work completed…

That is why we must renew the commitment that President Bush, Democrats and Republicans in Congress all made together in 2003. It is time to reauthorize the PEPFAR program. The House of Representatives passed the reauthorization bill by an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee followed suit. President Bush and Senate Democrats strongly support this legislation.

As is the case with every compromise, the legislation is not perfect but it is a crucial next step. We stand ready to act because we know that AIDS is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem. No one owns this problem. It falls to all of us, Americans and all people of the world, to fight and beat it…

It is confounding and indefensible that a small group of Republican Senators have placed a hold on this legislation, preventing us from moving forward. They should have followed the lead of President Bush, Members of Congress from both parties, and a diverse group of world health organizations and nonprofits. They should have abandoned their obstruction long ago….

These negotiations are ongoing and we are all hopeful that we will soon have a compromise agreement. Given the importance of this legislation, I have set a deadline of next Tuesday for all parties to reach a final agreement. I want to be clear that I am committed to getting this legislation completed.”

You can read Senator Reid’s full statement after the jump. (more…)

The window to reauthorize PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) for five more years and $50 billion is closing. At this critical moment, a handful of senators are blocking all action on the bill.

We need champions to pass this bill and keep America on the path to saving millions of lives in the developing world. Luckily, we have you and two very important senators.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are the two most powerful members of the U.S. Senate, and we know they are strong supporters of American leadership against these global killers.

Please add your name to the petition and send a message that now is the time for Senators Reid and McConnell to stand up for the world’s most vulnerable people and get this lifesaving legislation to the floor of the U.S. Senate for a vote.

-David Lane

This week I had the opportunity to attend the Elko County Democrats’ Roosevelt / Kennedy Dinner with special guest Senator Harry Reid. During the evening’s program, I was given a few minutes to introduce the ONE Campaign, the ONE Vote ‘08 initiative, share some statistics on extreme global poverty, and to encourage all of those present to sign the declaration and get involved. The response was enthusiastic and committee leaders took declaration sign-up forms, ONE bands, and printed materials to share at their next meeting.

The next morning, I represented ONE at the Nevada AFL/CIO convention in Reno. In addition to meeting dozens of people interested in ONE at our table in the lobby, I was afforded a few minutes to address the entire group in attendance. I shared ONE’s message and encouraged the hundreds there to join the 17,000 Nevada ONE member’s already fighting to end extreme poverty on a global scale.

It’s exciting to be a part of the many events and gatherings at which ONE is making its voice heard throughout Nevada.

-Adam Bellamy