The eyes of the nation are on South Carolina as voters here go to the polls this Saturday. ONE members in South Carolina have been all across the state talking to candidates, campaigns and voters. To recap some of the past few days, we started last Sunday in Myrtle Beach. ONE had a booth as part of the SCGOP experience exhibition there, and we handed out coffee and talked to voters and SC politicos about our ONE Vote 2012 campaign. The great response and support from everyone we spoke to was inspiring, and showed how these issues really resonate with people from all political backgrounds.
ONE Volunteers Doug and Stuart at the ONE Vote booth in Myrtle Beach
This week, ONE’s South Carolina team attended the US Global Leadership Council’s (USGLC) dinner and forum on protecting development and foreign assistance at the Citadel. Field Organizer Charlie, Congressional District Leader Caitlin, super volunteer Hannah, and I listened to Senator Lindsey Graham stress the dangers of making foreign assistance the scapegoat of deficit reduction. He then made the case for smart, results-oriented programs that help save millions of lives and help keep America competitive in a global economy.
This week, five former Secretaries of State, representing both Democrats and Republican administrations, sent a letter to Congress raising concerns about additional cuts to diplomacy and development programs in the FY12 appropriations. Former Secretaries Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and George Shultz wrote they “have seen first‐hand how the International Affairs Budget is a strategic investment to advance America’s interests throughout the world” and urge members of Congress to oppose devastating cuts to these vital programs.
It’s almost summer here in Washington, DC—and you know what that means? Time to sign-up for national conferences! Several of our partners are hosting events and advocacy workshops in Washington, DC from May through July, and we hope you’ll be able to join them.
Find out more and RSVP by clicking the links below—and don’t forget to tell your family and friends to sign-up, too!
There is broad bipartisan agreement in Congress — as well as among current and past administrations — that programs funded by the International Affairs Budget provide critical investments in global development, diplomacy and democracy. We know from our collective experience that these strategic tools are essential to achieving our goals of protecting national security, building economic prosperity, and providing humanitarian assistance.
In order to accomplish those goals, the U.S. requires a full range of civilian and military options. Yet, despite modest increases over the last decade, the International Affairs Budget remains under-funded. It represents less than 1.5 percent of all federal spending. As a result, our civilian-led development and diplomatic efforts are often hindered, thus placing unnecessary burdens on our men and women in uniform.
On a related note, support for the proposed International Affairs Budget has a wide range of support in Washington. So the USGLC did something really clever and put together a word cloud to illustrate where this support lies. Check it out:
On Monday night, several ONE staff and I attended a dinner hosted by the US Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) honoring Secretary Clinton for her extraordinary leadership. Clinton delivered a powerful speech about the importance of a balanced, smart power approach to foreign policy based on strengthened development and diplomacy tools. She stated that it has been her goal as the 67th Secretary of State to “make sure that diplomacy and development were elevated alongside a strong defense.”
She praised USGLC and others in the development community for advocating for a robust International Affairs budget and educating Americans about the importance of development and diplomacy. You can find the full transcript of her speech, photos from the event and media coverage here.
I think this will be of interest to a lot of ONE members. This Wednesday the US Global Leadership Coalition will be hosting an interactive dialogue with Senior State Department Leadership. Coinciding with the launch of their Putting Smart Power to Work campaign, the dialogue will be hosted by Judy Woodruff and will include State Department officials such as Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew and the Acting USAID Administrator Alonzo Fulgham.
The event runs this Wednesday from 8:30-10:00 am EST. Everyone’s invited to participate, and you can RSVP here. You can also watch the live webcast on USGLC’s website here.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
