Today at an event at the National Press Club hosted by The Atlantic, participants gathered to discuss domestic and international water and sanitation issues.

While speaking about the Water for the World Act, which Senator Durbin introduced, ONE members got a nice shout-out. As you know, we launched our Water for the World campaign earlier this year, which included a special message from Matt Damon to ONE members in June. In the process, ONE collected the names of over 100,000 people who supported improving access to clean water and sanitation for the world’s poorest people.

Here’s what Senator Durbin had to say:

As I said, we introduced our bill in March. By mid-June we had six Senate co-sponsors.

Then the ONE Campaign launched a campaign with other non-profits to enlist more co-sponsors.

Matt Damon, the actor, is the spokesperson for that effort. I don’t know if he used the old Bourne Ultimatum or what, but whatever he said is working. We now have 26 co-sponsors — Democrats, Republicans and Independents – as well as the Majority Leader.

Senator Edward Kennedy, the “Lion of the Senate,” was a stalwart champion for ending extreme poverty in the poorest parts of the world. He lent his powerful voice for human rights, for an end to child poverty, and for freedom. From Bangladesh to South Africa to Ireland, Sen. Kennedy’s fingerprints remain on the movement against global poverty, and the world is better off for it. Most recently, he signed onto the reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a bill that authorized $48 billion over the next 5 years to improve global health for the world’s poorest people. He is already missed.

Senator Paul Kirk, a longtime Kennedy aid and friend, is temporarily filling the late senator’s seat. Sen. Kirk recently cosponsored the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act (S. 624), bringing the total number of cosponsors of that bill to 25. We thank him for his support, and look forward to working with him in the fight against extreme poverty.

-Arjun Mody

Thanks in part to the efforts of more than 107,000 ONE members, we’ve hit our target of 20 cosponsors for the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act — which would provide 100,000,000 people with first-time access to safe drinking water and sanitation on a sustainable basis by 2015.

Our thanks to Senators Harry Reid and Dianne Feinstein, who signed on to cosponsor the bill last week. Here’s the full list of cosponsors:

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Bob Corker, Bob (R-TN)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Sen. Byron Dorgan D-ND)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

ONE’s Government Affairs team is following the bill’s progress closely, and we are hoping for a hearing this fall. We’ll post another update when things get moving.

Meanwhile, let’s not stop at 20 — this bill and the 884 million people globally who lack access to clean water deserve more attention. Sign the petition here, and don’t forget to share it with your friends.

Thank you,

-Emily Stivers

There’s been a lot of great momentum lately about providing clean water for the nearly one billion people in the world without it. In 2005, Congress passed the Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act, and from 2007 to 2008, US funding for water, sanitation, and hygiene programs went up 45%.

So what’s missing from this picture, you ask? The system to implement it. If we want to make a difference in helping poor families around the world access clean water, we need a modern and efficient aid agency to deliver on our promises. USAID needs an overall plan for fighting poverty in order to get the most out of this amazing infusion of resources for providing clean water. The best way to make a long-term difference in water and sanitation is to integrate water – and all other the other life-saving assistance that ONE members fight for – into a single strategy for fighting global poverty.

The current system is broken. There’s not even a single place in the US government to find out what the US is currently spending on water & sanitation and in what countries. In the Water for the Poor Act of 2005, Congress mandated an annual report on the government’s progress. But because there are fifteen different US agencies implementing water or sanitation programs overseas, the report does not capture all our efforts. The Millennium Challenge Corporation provided $429 million to help countries upgrade their water delivery systems and connect more households to clean water last year. But that investment is not even reflected in the Water for the Poor Act Report country data, which only reports USAID and State Department activities.

A scattered bureaucracy may not sound like such an urgent problem, but lives hang in the balance: without a clear direction, our water and sanitation assistance simply isn’t going where it’s needed the most. In 2008,

• Jordan received over $41 million from USAID for water and sanitation programs in FY 2008, even though 98% of its population already has access to improved drinking water.
• Niger, where only 42% of the population has access to improved drinking water, received only one-fiftieth that amount.

Learn more about why lending your voice to the fight for foreign assistance reform can also mean improving access to clean drinking water and improved sanitation for the world’s poorest.

-Porter McConnell, Aid Reform Campaign, Oxfam America

This Monday in Chicago, ONE held a rally at The Field Museum’s Water Exhibit to celebrate the Paul Simon Water for the World Act. The event featured US Senator Richard Durbin, an original cosponsor of the Water for the World Act, and we were joined by many ONE members, local guests and partner organizations.

Before the event started, I caught up with Shayne Moore, a ONE member since inception. Shayne and I talked about the power of “Moms” in the world and the important role that women play both in ONE and in global development. Shayne even told me some of her work with partner groups and how as a mother of three, she felt strongly about supporting the life saving work of the Global Fund.

Sheila Nix, ONE’s executive director, opened up the event by talking about the lack of clean water in many parts of the developing world and just how crucial clean water is to global health issues. She went on to highlight the importance of the Water for the World Act and the potential it has to help usher in clean water to millions of lives around the world. Sheila also highlighted the prominent role that many of ONE’s partner groups play both on the ground in Africa, and in advocacy here in the US. Before she introduced Senator Durbin, she highlighted his efforts on the Water for the World Act, and his greater role in many other essential programs and for being one of the earliest and strongest backers of the Global Fund.

Senator Durbin then spoke about how ONE’s petition around Water for All put a growing bi-partisan force behind the legislation, saying that when it was first introduced, only a few other senators had signed on, but after ONE members across the country weighed in, alongside many other individuals and organizations, the list of co-sponsors is growing and Senator Durbin even noted Senator Isakson’s support from across the political aisle. Senator Durbin even singled out Water Advocates and noted Matt Damon’s special taped message to ONE members.

After the event, we took a quick tour of the water exhibit and after a few ONE members and guests were able to speak with Senator Durbin and thank him for his participation in the event, and for his actions in the Congress to help bring clean water to the world’s poorest people. I even had the chance to thank him for the chance meeting back in New Hampshire when I spotted him in a ONE shirt.

No matter where you live, clean water is one of the most crucial tenants to a healthy life. And no matter where you live in the US, your voice can help bring clean water to millions around the world when you take action with ONE.

-Matthew Bartlett

Recently, as we wrote about on the ONE blog, Senator Joe Lieberman signed on to become a cosponsor of the Water for the World Act (S.624) which so many ONE members across the US have enthusiastically supported and encouraged their senators to do the same.

In addition to signing on this important piece of legislation introduced by Senator Richard Durbin, Senator Lieberman has a special message for ONE members which I’ve included below. We’ll continue to keep you posted on mounting momentum and new developments for the Water for the World Act, which you can ask your senators to support here.

Below is the message from Senator Lieberman and a list of current Water for the World cosponsors. Thanks for all your hard work!

Ask your senator to sign on as a cosponsor for the bipartisan Water for the World Act, and don’t forget to share the petition with your friends.

And the list of 18 current cosponsors (2 more to go to reach our goal of 20!):

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Bob Corker, Bob (R-TN)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Sen. Byron Dorgan D-ND)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT)

-Chris Scott

As part of his advocacy work on behalf of clean water and sanitation around the world, actor and advocate Matt Damon recently visited new water projects in India. While there, he took the opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 ONE members who signed our petition to senators asking them to cosponsor the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act, and showed us an example of the kind of projects this bill will support. Senators Durbin (D-IL) and Corker (R-TN) have led the charge so these types of project can reach over 100 million people globally.

Check out the video:

Thanks in part to the efforts of ONE members and our partners, support for the Water for the World Act is growing in the Senate. Since we began our campaign in early June, 8 senators have signed on as cosponsors. And just since our last update, Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) has signed on, bringing the total count to 14 cosponsors:

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Bob Corker, Bob (R-TN)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Sen. Byron Dorgan D-ND)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)

Our legislative experts estimate we need 20 cosponsors to get the bill a hearing and move it through the Senate, so we’re going to keep our campaign open in the hope of accumulating even more grassroots support — hoping to meet our goal of 150,000 petition signers — for the Water for the World Act. If you haven’t already, you can sign the petition here. And be sure to share it with your friends, here:

In addition to his thanks to ONE members, Matt Damon invites us all to check out the website of his new organization, water.org.

Water.org is a non-profit organization that has transformed hundreds of communities in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America by providing access to safe water and sanitation. Founded by Matt Damon and Gary White, water.org works with local partners to deliver innovative solutions for long-term success. Their microfinance-based WaterCredit Initiative is pioneering sustainable giving in the sector. You can learn more at water.org.

And thanks to everyone who took action on behalf of the Water for the World Act. Slowly but quite surely, our voices are making a difference.

-Emily Stivers

At the beginning of this month, the voices of over 100,000 ONE members from across the country echoed through the halls of the U.S. Senate. Your voices in support of the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act made their way into every single Senate office. Since July 1, the day the petitions were delivered, four more members of the Senate have signaled their support and signed on as cosponsors of this important piece of legislation. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) cosponsored on July 6; Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) cosponsored on July 8; and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) just cosponsored on July 15. This puts on record a total of 13 senators supporting the bill.

We are leaving our Water for the World campaign open until the bill passes in the hope of reaching our goal of 150,000 signatures, so please sign if you haven’t already and share it with your friends. Meanwhile, we are continuing to work with our NGO partners and the U.S. Senate in moving this bipartisan legislation forward. Our goal still remains 20 senators on the record as cosponsors.

Every voice matters.

-Arjun Mody

Right now, ONE Members across the country are making a big push to get clean water out to highly impoverished parts of the developing world by contacting their Senators and urging them to sign onto the Paul Simon Water for the World Act.

But in the late Senator Paul Simon’s home state of Illinois, people can get a chance to learn more about water around the world by visiting The Field Museum in Chicago.

At the Water exhibition, people can discover the importance of Earth’s most vital and fleeting resource and examine how living things adapt to extremes of wet and dry environments, and learn how human behavior alters precious aquatic ecosystems. Become inspired by conservation efforts from around the world and discover what you and your family can do to protect and conserve our planet’s water. Through hands-on activities, immersive dioramas, artifacts, and multi-media, this exhibition presents life’s essential element that unites us, surrounds us, and challenges us, now on display at The Field Museum.

So if you live in the Chicago area – or plan on visiting — don’t miss this chance to see Water at the Field Museum.

-Matthew Bartlett

Recently I discovered that Miami is one of the top cities for access to clean water. As a resident of Miami-Dade county this is great news. However, I am also quickly reminded how lucky we are. The very things we take for granted, opening a faucet, grabbing a glass of water are not possible for millions of people worldwide.

Yesterday Danielle DePas, Sara Paterni and I visited the offices of Senators Martinez and Nelson to ask for their support on the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009 (s. 624).

This important bill will help provide 100 million people with sustainable access to clean water and sanitation. It is shocking to learn that currently more than 1 billion people do not have access to clean water and that 2 out of every 5 people do not have access to basic sanitation services.

I am hopeful that Florida’s senators will take a critical step toward providing access to clean water for the poorest people around the world by cosponsoring this important legislation.

-Alix Gordon, Miami ONE Member