Lobby Visits
This Monday the 4th, I began our August “crunch” to meet with our respective Congressman and Senators while they are in recess. Many members use the August congressional recess to host town halls and forums in their communities – so check out their websites for a schedule to meet up with yours. If you can go, wear a ONE T-shirt and use your voice for the world’s poorest people. These events are free and open to the public so it is a great opportunity to let your representatives in Congress know that you care about fighting extreme poverty and global disease.
My first town hall meeting of this August’s recess was with Congressman Christopher Carney. About 40-50 of his constituents came and spoke directly with the congressman about issues that are important to them.
After the meeting concluded, I was able to meet with Congressman Carney and his Chief of Staff. I made sure to thank him for his support of the AIDS, TB and Malaria funding bill PEPFAR and spoke with him about ONE Vote ’08. Lastly, I mentioned a few of the amazing things our volunteers have accomplished in Pennsylvania and asked if it might be possible to set up a meeting with him and ONE members from his district.
All in all, this was a great experience and fantastic exposure for ONE and the world’s bottom billion people.
-Brian Sweeney, Pennsylvania ONE Field Organizer
Aug 5th, 2008 2:12 PM UTC
By Field
On Sunday Miami ONE Members in Miami, met with Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to thank her for her leadership in the passage of PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS RElief) and for her continued support of policies to fight global disease and extreme poverty around the world.
The congresswoman expressed tremendous appreciation for our efforts on the ground and commended ONE and our partner organizations for working together to engage the community and raise awareness about extreme poverty. She was especially happy to hear (more…)
Great report back from Ross of SetonHall University of ONE students and members lobbying Senator Robert Menendez last Monday.
“Last week the luck of the Irish was with the ONE Campaign. New Jersey members of ONE and our partner organization CARE met with Senator Robert Menendez to discuss his support for several anti-poverty bills going through Congress. For my part in the meeting I thanked the senator for co-sponsoring and voting for the Biden/Lugar amendment to the FY09 international affairs budget which, as many of you might know, restored $4.1 billion dollars…”
Read the rest on the ONE Campus Challenge Blog.
(Mariana Blanco, Invisible Children’s filmmaker and editor, joined 1,000 young Americans to lobby Congress on the crisis in Northern Uganda.)
I had never been to lobby in DC before, and now that its been a few weeks, the best way I can describe the Northern Uganda Lobby Days is in familiar terms–it was like a film, I think Rocky: Day one was the training montage; day two the fight on Capitol Hill, the fight to get our voice heard. I am a filmmaker for Invisible Children, and the world on Capitol Hill always struck me as cryptic and intimidating; but for two days at the end of March, I met person after person, sincerely excited to be involved in our effort.
Let’s skip to action. On day two, 800 individuals met with more than 200 staffers and Congressmen, making it one of the largest lobbying groups for Africa. I started the day surrounded by mostly young students in suits, practicing their speeches. There was urgency in the air – the LRA and the Ugandan government had made significant steps toward peace just days before. The day suddenly became weighted and relevant.
It was my job to stay near the action. (more…)
Nov 1st, 2007 4:23 PM UTC
By Field
On Tuesday, members of the ONE Miami group visited Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Miami office for the third time this year.
Ed Cooke from the United Nations Association got us the appointment and national Jubilee USA organizer Brian Swarts led the meeting. We were joined by Dr. Bradford Brown of the NAACP and Steve Forester, a Senior Policy Advocate for Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami (Haitian Women of Miami) and my fellow ONE member, Mary Sarah Agliotta.
We went to the congresswoman’s office to advocate primarily for the Jubilee Act but also for House Resolution 241, legislation to relieve the debt incurred by Haiti, the most poverty-stricken nation in the Western Hemisphere. Brian spoke of the importance of debt relief, the 40-day fast of Rev. Duncombe and the great evil of vulture funds.
Ed Cooke spoke of the importance of fulfilling our commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, and the new Trick or Treat for UNICEF program being revived. Steve Forester was our man for H.R. 241, as he has advocated for Haiti for nearly 30 years.
Dr. Brown, who has advocated for civil rights for 43 years, represented the NAACP’s support for Jubilee and H.R. 241.
I spoke of ONE’s gratitude for the congresswoman’s sponsorship of the GROWTH Act, our support for the Jubilee Act and pressed for co-sponsorship of the Global Child Survival Act. We spoke with her very well-prepared aide, Mr. Ariel Fernandez, who graciously agreed to pass our information along to the congresswoman and her full Foreign Affairs committee.
We are hopeful for results.
-Alexandra Gordon, ONE Miami
During the last two weeks, ONE members sent more than 48,000 letters and made 4,200 calls to their members of Congress urging them to support the Jubilee Act.
Before we took these thousands of actions, there was a Jubilee bill in the House with just 52 cosponsors, and no companion bill in the Senate.
Now, after Jubilee USA and ONE’s campaigns, 27 more representatives have signed on to cosponsor the Jubilee Act in the House, the Senate has introduced a companion bill and 10 key senators have signed on to cosponsor it.
You can see the full list of representatives and senators who have shown their support by cosponsoring here and here on Thomas.loc.gov.
If your representative or either of your state’s senators are signed on, please thank them using our online tool.
If your representative’s or either of your senators’ names aren’t on the list, there’s still plenty you can do to encourage them.
1.) Write a letter to your members of Congress.
2.) Call their office. All the talking points you need are here.
3.) Write a letter to the editor to your local paper about unjust debt in the developing world and the Jubilee Act.
4.) Schedule a meeting with your representative’s state or DC office. Email giveyourtime@one.org for all the resources you’ll need.
Use the comment thread below to let us know if your representative and senators have signed on yet – and to add your ideas or questions about how to get their support for this critical bill.
Oct 24th, 2007 10:09 AM UTC
By Field
On Monday the PACCAR Medical Education Center had a groundbreaking
ceremony in Chillicothe, Ohio. According to speakers at the ceremony,
the new educational facility will address such issues as advancements in
technology, the shortage in health care workers, economic development
and quality of life. It seemed to be a perfect setting to discuss our
efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. I brought ONE
Chillicothe’s balladeer bard Josh Ray and Regional Organizer Katie
Andrews–together, we had a perfect trio to talk to Congressman Zack
Space, 18th District, Ohio, who was in attendance.
Congressman Space and his District Director Ken Engstrom sat down with
us and discussed the Child Survival Act, the Education For All Act and
the Jubilee Act.
Congressman Space said he agreed with the spirit of our cause and that
he would look over the information packet we gave him. He also said that
he became impressed with the ONE Campaign after Bono met with the
freshman of the 110th Congress, and that he is proud of the great work
that ONE Chillicothe members are doing in the 18th District.
-Chris Cooper, ONE Member in Chillicothe, OH
