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.