Flooding the Senate
25 days. More than 100,000 signatures. A team of 13 partner organizations. A hundred million lives in the balance.
All this, culminating in ONE day on Capitol Hill.
I was a proud part of a team of nearly 40 ONE volunteers, staff, interns and partners who flooded the Senate yesterday with our petition for the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act, S.624 — a bill to bring first-time, sustainable water and sanitation access to 100 million people by 2015.
The energy at ONE’s DC headquarters, our initial meeting place, was awesome. That’s what happens when you bring together passionate, motivated individuals for a great cause and a real chance to make a difference. This group was buzzing with news about the petition (we hit the 100k mark on Monday after only 25 days of campaigning) and, of course, S.624.
“ONE’s campaign to ensure passage of the Water for the World Act of 2009 is critical,” explained John Sauer, Communications Director for Water Advocates. “Safe drinking water and sanitation are the bedrock of global health, affecting all aspects of development, education, and basic human security. It is time to end the appalling casualty toll of unnecessary death and sickness due to water-and sanitation-related diseases. Proven solutions exist and can be provided. ONE’s efforts today are bringing us closer to adequately addressing this global crisis.”
Our joint campaign is already getting results. We learned from Shannon Penberthy, Associate Director of Global Government Relations for ONE partner organization Procter & Gamble, that Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) recently agreed to join Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) as new cosponsors for S.624. That brings the total count to 10 cosponsors, thanks in large part to the hard work of P&G, Water Advocates, ONE and all our partners. ONE’s Government Affairs team estimates the bill needs at least 20 cosponsors to move forward in the Senate, so we’re already halfway there!
After that exhilarating news, we deployed in small groups to Capitol Hill, where we delivered our petition (with a thank-you note to those senators who already signed on as cosponsors) to all 100 Senate offices.
“The impact of ONE members visiting offices and personally delivering this important message on behalf of the world’s poorest people is immeasurable,” explained Arjun Mody, ONE’s Assistant Director of U.S. Government Relations. “You can’t duplicate the passion and power of ONE members armed simply with a wrist band and a voice. We made an impact today with each and every U.S. Senate office.”
Thanks to our efforts and those of our partners, we believe the Water for the World Act is now poised to reach our goal of 20 cosponsors, and eventually become law. But while that may take more time to achieve, I for one already consider this campaign a huge success — in raising awareness about the 884 million people without access to clean water and 2.5 billion without access to adequate sanitation worldwide, bringing U.S. citizens together on this critical issue, and getting senators and their staff to at least look twice at a simple bill that only exists to do good in the world.
Our volunteers echoed my sentiments. “I am thrilled for ONE, those who participated in the campaign, and all those who will benefit from the eventual passing of this bill. It’s a strong and vital piece of legislation, and I’m proud to have done my part,” said Ola Kareem, a volunteer from Washington, DC.
A heart-felt thanks to all our volunteers, our hard-working partner organizations, and everyone who took a few moments out of their busy lives to sign our petition.
Together, we are changing the world.
-Emily Stivers
TAGS: Uncategorized