It is officially August Recess and here in Florida we are taking advantage of the opportunity to meet locally with our elected officials and their staff while they are in town.

Earlier today, we had the chance to sit down with Josh Maddock, District Representative for Congressman Ron Klein (Fl-D-22). We told Josh all about ONE and the more than 4,000 ONE members living right here in the 22nd Congressional District which spans the eastern coast of Florida from Boca Raton up through parts of Jupiter.

First and foremost, we thanked Josh for Rep. Klein’s previous support on some of our legislative priorities, including the reauthorization of PEPFAR and the Jubilee Act. We were also pleased to report that Rep. Klein voted against the Lewis/Culberson amendment which, if passed, would have cut significant funding from the FY2010 Foreign Affairs Appropriations Bill.

As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, we knew that Rep. Klein would be familiar with recent efforts to re-write the Foreign Assistance Act with the goal of restructuring and improving coordination and aid effectiveness. We asked that Rep. Klein consider joining the more than 100 members of Congress who are already cosponsors of this important bill.

Before leaving, we also talked about the importance of developing a long-term approach to improve agricultural sustainability and asked that Rep. Klein become a cosponsor of H.R. 3077, The Global Food Security Act. We know that the United States is a global leader in providing emergency food and disaster assistance, however, these interventions, while critical, are not sustainable solutions to improve the lives of millions that are vulnerable to food insecurity.

-Sara J. Paterni

Today, ONE member Phillip Williams met with his US Congressional Representative, Jim McGovern of MA. Phillip took time to explain ONE to Rep. McGovern and let him know that in 2009, it is not only possible to fight global disease and extreme poverty, but it is a priority!

Phillip told me that Rep. McGovern was very familiar with ONE’s issues and agenda as he is already a co-sponsor of Education for All, Jubilee, and Global Child Survival Act. And as a member of the House Budget Committee, Phillip asked Rep. McGovern to hold, or increase the upcoming budget number for the international affairs account – the part of the budget that contains all of the US’s global life saving humanitarian programs. Rep. McGovern said that he understood the importance of these issues and mentioned how global development ultimately leads to greater national safely and security at home.

Today Phillip took time to let his Representative know that saving lives in the poorest parts of the world is an important issues to him and he urged action in the 111th Congress. But ONE members everywhere should follow the lead of Phillip and contact their new Senators and Representatives to let them know about ONE and our efforts to fight global disease and extreme – stupid – poverty.

-Matthew Bartlett

ONE and CARE volunteers united for a meeting with Congressman Sestak’s (D, PA-7) senior advisor Jason Marmon. We thanked the Congressman for his support of PEPFAR and the Jubilee Act and for his co-sponsorship of Education for All. Marmon expressed frustration at what he described as “gridlock” in the Congress and said that Representative Sestak wanted to remain in session instead of go to recess this summer in order to finish the important work ahead of them.

He regretted that many legislative needs would not be met in the month of September before the recess until January but he said that the congressman will continue to champion issues such as universal education and foreign aid in the interest of national security.

-Lauren Conn

Be sure to check out the op-ed about debt, healthcare and the urgency of passing the Jubilee Act in the Senate written by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu in Wednesday’s Baltimore Sun. Writes Tutu:

Lesotho’s situation snows how debt and extreme poverty create a crisis for children…Lesotho has only six pediatricians looking after its 800,000 children. One-third of Lesotho’s children are not in school. Meanwhile, Lesotho’s debt repayments equal its entire education budget.

He continues:

As the Senate now considers the Jubilee Act, it can do it’s part to help ensure that Africans and Asians are able to sue their own resources for their own development.

Read the full op-ed, “Debt cancellation a victory for the world,” on The Balitmore Sun’s site.

-Monét Cooper, Jubilee USA

The Jubilee Act just passed the House 285-132.

The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) in June 2007 and would push for an international agreement to write off United States’ loans to qualified countries and urge the U.S. to work with other rich nations to do the same.

The money poor countries would have had to pay to debt would be directed to infrastructure development, education and health care, among other improvements.

Next step – a Senate vote.

The House of Representatives Votes on the Jubilee Act Wednesday, April 16 at 10:45 a.m.

The Jubilee Act will be debated and voted on the House floor on Wednesday, April 16. Watch it live on C-SPAN as the vote happens.

Please call your representative via the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 today and ask him/her to vote “Yes”.

Use Jubilee’s quick email form to send a message to a friend, colleague or group and urge them to take action on the Jubilee Act!

-Monet Cooper, Jubilee USA

I wanted to share the good news with you that the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation passed by voice vote out of the House Financial Services Committee yesterday. We anticipate consideration by the full House of Representatives as early as Tuesday.

After the jump Jubilee’s release and an article about it that appeared in Congressional Quarterly. – Neil Watkins, Jubilee USA

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It’s official, the Jubilee Act will be voted on in the House Financial Services Committee this coming Thursday, April 3 at 10 a.m. You can watch the debate and the vote here.

If your member of Congress is on the House Financial Services Committee, now would be a great time to give him/her a call and urge a yes vote on Thursday!

The committee vote is the only thing standing between the Jubilee Act & consideration by the full US House of Representatives!

We expect that after the committee vote the Jubilee Act will move fairly quickly. It will probably be considered by the full House of Representatives by Monday, April 14.

You can find a list of the members of the House Financial Services Committee here.

-Monet Cooper, Jubilee USA

We’ve received a lot of calls and emails from Jubilee supporters who have called during our Leap Into Action Call-In Days their senators and representatives about the Jubilee Act (S. 2166 and H.R.2634), which will soon to be considered in the House and Senate.

The Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation will expand eligibility for 100 percent debt cancellation without harmful economic conditions to 67 impoverished countries in the Global South.

When you call your senators or representative, you’re calling on behalf of the millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and Asia who suffer when debt repayment must be prioritized over health care, education and clean water.

Every day, Sub-Saharan Africa sends $100,000 back to America in debt payments. Imagine what could be done with that money if it were to stay in those countries.

The call you make today is a part of a national campaign to pass the Jubilee Act within the 55 legislative days Congress has this year. This is the last and final session of Congress before the elections with most of the legislative days being frontloaded prior to June.

This tight deadline makes it even more imperative for ONE members and others to call their members of Congress and urge them to co-sponsor this bill.

Get the Call Script here.

More Information About the Jubilee Act here.

-Monet Cooper, Jubilee USA

Today, as part of Jubilee’s “Measure Up” campaign, a group of global poverty advocates and debt campaigners met with Senator Voinovich’s District Representative in Columbus, Ohio. The purpose of the meeting was to ask the Senator to become a co-sponsor of the Jubilee Act (S 2166). Our group of 4 was made up of Katie Andrews, organizer for the ONE Campaign, Ginnie Vogts, an organizer for Results, Loretta Raiford local volunteer with ONE, and Brian Swarts, national organizer for Jubilee USA.

The group highlighted for Khisha Fallon, the District Representative, the importance of reducing global poverty and the effectiveness of debt cancellation. Katie spoke about debt is holding back a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa from reaching the Millennium Development Goals. Ginnie pointed out that reducing poverty is critical to increasing global security, as impoverished countries are more vulnerable to political instability and even terrorist activity. Loretta shared her experiences working in refugee camps in Uganda, and seeing the heart-breaking need there for increased investment in health care, education and clean water. Lastly, Brian emphasized the fact that it makes good economic sense to take pro-active steps to fight poverty in places like sub-Saharan Africa, where many countries are so poor that they cannot reduce poverty through economic growth alone – cooperation from other countries is essential.

While Senator Voinovich has not issued a statement on the Jubilee Act, Khisha has said that she will pass on our ideas to him. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Voinovich would be joining Ranking Member Richard Lugar (IN) and Senator Johnny Isakson (GA) in co-sponsoring the Jubilee Act.

-Brian Swarts, National Field Organizer, Jubilee USA