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

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 about the involvement of young people who are working to engage their peers to become educated and involved as the next generation in the fight against extreme global poverty and health diseases.

One of the highlights of the meeting was when the congresswoman asked if she could have a ONE T-shirt so she could show her support at future events. All in all, the meeting helped demonstrate to Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen her constituents’ support for alleviating the suffering of those living in extreme poverty and dying from preventable disease. We look forward to working with her in the future on these issues.

-Sara Paterni, Southern Florida Field Organizer

(Photo from left to right: Danyelle De Pas, Alix Gordon, Sara Paterni, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, Rafael Batista, Terriah Proechel (CARE USA), Sherri Porcelain, Betsy Skipp (RESULTS))

“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.I filmed Pete Wentz discuss his trip to northern Uganda, as well as students who had traveled to the area last summer. They are part of Invisible Children’s Schools for Schools program, and I am currently working on a documentary to tell their powerful story. These students have raised over three million dollars to rebuild schools in northern Uganda, and coming to DC is a big part of their activism. From behind the camera, I couldn’t help but notice the beginning of change, not only for our friends a world away, but also for us.

People may misperceive what our country is about, but I see a generation of idealists, working together to fight for freedom and justice. Hopefully, when the larger story is told, America will be about the little people – young and old, famous and shy – doing something great: giving opportunity to those in need.

-Mariana Blanco

Photos
-Mariana Blanco, fourth from left, with Schools for Schools students in front of the White House. This program has raised more than $3 million in one year for war-torn schools in northern Uganda.
-Mariana Blanco filming two students involved with Invisible Children at the U.S. Capital. She is currently working on a documentary film that tells their story.
-Pete Wentz, bassist from Fall Out Boy, has been involved with Invisible Children for over a year. He joined 800 people in Washington, DC to lobby for peace in northern Uganda.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jessica Fairchild Conrad

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

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.

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

As seen in the pictures, our team includes: Jerry Freewalt (Columbus Catholic Diocese), Mark Diemer (Grace of God Lutheran Church), Gini Lohmann Bauman (Sojourners), Larry Hollar (Bread for the World). Being the group photographer that day, I was included in spirit.

The sign-on letter included faith leaders from Central and Southern Ohio representing over 2,000 congregations and over 650,000 people of faith.

There are two purposes for this sign-on letter:

1. To show the Ohio senators that the faith community cares about these issues; and
2. To urge the Senate to push for a better and stronger Farm Bill that helps farmers domestically while keeping in mind farmers globally.

Beth Thames, the Deputy State Director for Senator Brown, and Lynn Stevens, the Community Relations Coordinator for Senator Voinovich, gladly accepted the letters and took the time to hear our concerns. Our mission is over but the mission for the Senate is just beginning. Hopefully we will have some good news this Fall.

-Katie Andrews, ONE Regional Organizer

On September 7, ONE Campaign Miami made its second visit of the year to Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s office.

Daniel Pedreira, her Congressional Aide, received us graciously and was genuinely interested in hearing about ONE. After introductions, Adam explained ONE and our fight against extreme poverty and treatable disease. Adam, Alix, Hannibal and Michael each described the legislation we are supporting, including the GROWTH Act, Global Child Survival, the Education for All Act, and the Jubilee Act, and we asked for the Congresswoman’s help in getting this crucial legislation to the floor for votes.

Gail, from our local partner organization RESULTS came along and provided terrific reinforcement on the Global Child Survival Act. She also brought news that big increase in TB funding had passed Congress the night before.

We discussed the Millennium Development Goals and arranged to email the 2007 UN and DATA Reports on the status of extreme poverty in the world to the congresswoman’s aid Daniel Pedreira. Coincidentally, there was a great article that day about Save the Children, Bill Frist and ONE in the New York Times that I sent along too.

After our last visit, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen agreed to sponsor the GROWTH Act. We are hopeful for good results from this meeting as well.

-Alix Gordon – ONEmiami

The days leading up to the meeting were a bit nerve-racking since ONE member Ana M. Ortuno and I didn’t know what to expect. We were both first-time lobbyists, and also the only two constituents who had, until then, agreed to attend the meeting. Still, we knew it would be a great experience for the both of us and created a great partnership that helped us achieve a successful meeting.

First, we met at a Starbucks a few days prior to the appointment to go over talking points. Then, Ana notified Joan from ONE about the meeting, which I had secured with the Congressman a few weeks earlier through a scheduling process that happily turned out simpler than expected: send a meeting request by fax, wait three or four days for a response and set a date. Once Ana contacted Joan, e-mails from other ONE members and affiliates started pouring in and we realized we should have given notice earlier! To our relief, Alicia Smith from World Wings International, who had previous experience being an advocate for CARE, joined our team even though she found out about the meeting only the night before.

When we met with the Congressman, I introduced ONE and Alicia introduced World Wings International and CARE, WWI’s international charity. Then we went through the Acts and Amendments that we were there to discuss. We began with the Education for All Act, which Rep. Diaz-Balart quickly stated that he will support. Alicia then spoke about an important reform needed to re-allocate dollars to better prevent the spread of HIV among monogamous, married women in Africa (whose husbands are not being faithful!). He agreed to look into the proposal. He also agreed to closely review the Global Child Survival Act. As for the Fairness in Farm and Food Policy Amendment, since it did not pass when it was presented recently in Congress, we asked him to keep the topic of reforming the U.S. Farm Bill in mind for future discussions; he agreed. He also agreed to support the GROWTH Act and saw merit in the proposal to help women in developing countries.

Though we were a bit nervous initially, Ana and I grew at ease as the minutes went by. It also helped that the representative was very cordial and gave us his full attention. He even asked us to introduce ourselves and backgrounds individually. At the end of the meeting, we had the added bonus of having the representative’s brother, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, join us for a photo. (He had arrived moments before our meeting came to a close.)

The experience was very gratifying, especially for our first time lobbying! As a final step, the three of us will each send a thank you note to the congressman.

-Cibeles Duran