ONE members from Birmingham met with Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL-7) on Tuesday to discuss important legislation that would move the U.S. closer to our commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The seven ONE activists took turns briefing Rep. Davis on three pieces of legislation: The Education for All Act, The Global Child Survival Act, and the GROWTH Act. (Rep. Davis had previously signed on as a co-sponsor for the Jubilee Act!)

Rep. Davis, commented that this legislation builds a “case for American values.” He said that there is a perception “that America is no longer interested in marginalized people around the world.”

Davis’ district consists of some of the poorest counties in the US where as much as 30-40% of the population live below the poverty line. Davis says he is sometimes asked how he can spend time on global poverty issues when the needs at home are so great. He responded that “in a strong country, addressing poverty abroad and poverty at home should not be an either/or issue but a both/and issue”

We also took the opportunity to talk with Rep. Davis about ONE Vote 08. Davis, a Harvard Law School classmate and supporter of presidential candidate Barack Obama, has been campaigning widely for Senator Obama, both on the campaign trail and on national cable news programs.

Our meeting ended with the requisite “white ONE banding” and group picture. Oh! And Rep. Davis said that he “would be happy to co-sponsor” these three important pieces of legislation. We hit the TRIFECTA!

-Elaine VanCleave, Birmingham, AL, ONE leader

[Pictured above: Mildred Sanford, Judy Donaldson, Betty Likis, Rep. Artur Davis, Nick Foster, Elaine VanCleave, Jeannette Bell, and Kelli Hepner]

Every time ONE members meet with US Representative Spencer Bachus (R-AL), we always start our meeting by thanking him for his leadership on global poverty issues. As an original co-sponsor of the Jubilee Act in 1999, Rep. Bachus was in on the ground floor and has worked tirelessly on debt relief issues alongside Bono/DATA and Bread for the World, both founding members of the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History.

When Rep. Bachus first championed debt relief in Congress, his colleagues didn’t “get it”.

“People on both sides of the aisle told me there was no political upside to this,” Bachus said in an interview at the time. Now, those same skeptics see just how forward thinking he was – not only has debt cancellation reduced poverty, improved health care and education, but it has also decreased poor countries dependency on foreign aid. This year, Rep. Bachus, in a bi-partisan effort with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), introduced the Jubilee Act of 2007 – legislation that will further extend debt cancellation to the world’s poorest countries without imposing harmful economic reforms.

Earlier this year, Rep. Bachus joined Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) to also introduce the Education for All Act. Rep. Bachus recognizes the importance of education in ending the cycle of poverty and further sees education as “an investment in international security.” “Young people who are reading books aren’t building bombs,” Bachus said in an interview with the Birmingham News. He added, “The US has always succeeded because of the strength of our ideas. We need to fill the vacuum with a message of hope, not hate, in these countries. We can’t play educator to the world, but we can certainly come closer than being the policeman to the world.”

We ended the meeting by briefing Rep. Bachus on both the Growth Act and the Child Survival Act. He enthusiastically received the information and felt confident that these were both measures he could support. He promised an answer within the week!

When ONE members asked how we could help him, Rep. Bachus pointed out that letters to the editor are very effective. A point well taken and often heeded. For example, when ONE members were unable to get an in-district meeting with our senators during the August recess to discuss the Farm Bill, we wrote letters to the editor of the Birmingham News publicly stating our position. Even without a face-to-face visit with our senators, local ONE Campaigners were able to effectively communicate our viewpoint.

Many thanks to Rep. Bachus for his continued leadership.

[People in picture are: John Derrick, Elaine VanCleave, Rep. Spencer Bachus, Suzanne Martin, Mark Connell]

If, like me, you’re not in a presidential primary state, it might feel like politicians are no where to be found.

Not so.

Right now, it’s August recess and members of Congress are in there home districts, giving you the perfect chance to go meet with them and talk to them about extreme poverty. You don’t have to be an expert on the issues, the most important thing is really just going and letting them know that you care.

Find out more and sign up for a lobbying visit here:
http://www.one.org/event/lobbyvisits/

With eighteen Congressional seats in Los Angeles County alone, it was time to get the Los Angeles ONE team together to generate action around the August Recess. Over forty volunteers showed up at Wednesday night’s LA ONE Volunteer meeting, including two staff-members from Congressman Adam B. Schiff’s office and Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich’s publicist, as well as the Founder-Director of Friends of The United Nations.

All attendees had the opportunity to express why they signed up for the ONE Campaign and what they hope to accomplish by being a volunteer. Although most were new to the lobbying world, there was a definite interest in letting their member of Congress know that they care about extreme poverty and global disease. We discussed all pertinent pieces of legislation that ONE is focused on, including the Education for All Act, The Global Child Survival Act, the GROWTH Act and Jubilee Act. We also talked about ONE Vote ‘08 and the importance of engaging Presidential Candidates (see the Candidate Trackr) when they are in town.

Lead volunteer Amy Quinn was by my side assisting with the meeting, and ONE member Jeanine, who was new in town from Maryland, was a great help in facilitating as well. Thanks to all of you who took the time (and braved the LA traffic) to join the meeting and learn more about ONE. Let’s keep the momentum going and let all eighteen Representatives know that we care about extreme poverty.

Special thanks goes out the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for donating the meeting space and a consistently gracious and accommodating staff.

Last night, 150 ONE members from across the country joined on a ONE conference call to learn more about lobbying their member of Congress during the upcoming August recess. Joining the call from ONE HQ was Josh Peck, Internet Director; Erin Erlenborn, Director of Government Affairs; and myself from our Field department.

Here are the highlights:

• Lobbying your Member of Congress is one of the most powerful ways to use your voice in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease.

• We walked through step-by-step how to set up a meeting with your member of Congress. You can find that information here.
• During this August recess, ONE is pushing four pieces of legislation: the U.S. Commitment to Child Survival Act, the Education for All Act, the GROWTH Act, and the Jubilee Act.
• While it may be intimidating to set up a meeting, remember that your member of Congress wants to hear what you have to say and it’s not as hard as it looks.

Thanks so much to everyone who joined. For those of you that missed the call, check out the August recess lobbying page and set up a meeting with your member of Congress today.