I couldn’t agree more with Senator Coons. Coons is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, and last week he released a welcome report entitled “Embracing Africa’s Economic Potential.”

Global Apparel, Ltd, an apparel manufacturing company in Kenya, exports garments to the US under AGOA – providing much-needed jobs for Kenyans. Photo credit: Morgana Wingard/ ONE.

In the report, Senator Coons lays out the case for an economic engagement policy with Africa that will be beneficial to Americans and Africans alike. As Coons points out, “[T]here is a clear and pressing need for increased US economic engagement in sub-Saharan Africa.

Read the report here

 
Increased trade facilitates growth for US businesses as well as our African partners, simultaneously strengthening our own economy and Africa’s emerging markets. In addition to creating jobs here at home, investment abroad allows US companies to project American values in critical areas of the world.”  The report clearly illustrates the investment potential in Africa.

The report lays out six key recommendations for US policymakers as they consider economic engagement with Africa:

- Support African-led efforts to improve the business climate on the continent and remove barriers to trade;
- Reauthorize and strengthen the African Growth and Opportunity Act well in advance of its 2015 expiration;
- Improve coordination between US government agencies and develop a comprehensive interagency strategy for increased investment in sub-Saharan Africa;
- Increase the presence of US Foreign Commercial Service Officers in sub-Saharan Africa to help US companies navigate the business climate in the region;
- Increase support for agencies that provide financing to encourage US commercial engagement overseas, mitigate investment risks, and generate a profit for American taxpayers; and
- Engage the African diaspora community in the United States to strengthen economic ties.

The recommendations in this report are the type of smart, bipartisan policies that – if implemented properly – would likely produce exciting, quantifiable results. They recognize the huge potential for Africa, and would produce economic opportunities for Americans and Africans. At ONE, we are dedicated to fighting extreme poverty – and we know this will take a lot of smart ideas and committed actors. Reports like this one are a welcome addition to the conversation.

Photo Credit: John Kerry’s official website

A former member of the US Navy, Kerry completed two tours of duty in Vietnam. After returning home, he was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1982 before entering the US Senate. Through his leadership in Congress, Kerry has become a trusted figure in international affairs and foreign policy. His work as an informal special White House envoy to both Afghanistan and Pakistan has proven his strength as a diplomat. He helped coordinate the US response to 9/11 and subsequent policies toward Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East peace process.

We here at ONE believe Senator Kerry will make an excellent Secretary of State – and one who understands our concerns.  As the Senator stated in the opening statement at his confirmation hearing, “American foreign policy is also defined by food security and energy security, humanitarian assistance, the fight against disease and the push for development, as much as it is by any single counter terrorism initiative – and it must be.”  In a February 2012 op-ed he wrote for the Wall Street Journal, Senator Kerry stated that “energetic global leadership is a strategic imperative for America, not a favor we do for other countries.”

Kerry has consistently spoken out in support of our issues and the importance of humanitarian assistance in achieving national security. Members of his office have even met with ONE volunteers to discuss the importance of funding cost-effective development programs and he gave us a shout out in a speech a few years back, encouraging the audience to join ONE in our efforts to end global poverty and preventable disease. Watch a video of Kerry speaking with a ONE member here.

We’re looking forward to working with the new Secretary of State as we continue the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease – it’s a fight he’s been instrumental at waging from the halls of the Senate, and one we know he’ll continue.

This week, we got the sad news that Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii passed away.  Senator Inouye was a giant in the Senate, and he will be remembered for many things. He was a World War II hero who was awarded the Medal of Honor, the second-longest serving senator in US history, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the first Japanese American to serve in the House, and the first to serve in the Senate. His legacy is deep.

He believed in reaching across the aisle, and his friendships in the US. Senate knew no parties. Here at ONE, we’ll remember him as a champion of the world’s most vulnerable populations, as a warrior for justice.  Senator Inouye’s career was marked by a promise he made to himself when he began his service  – “I promised myself that whenever I was confronted with an injustice, I would not stay silent.  I would gather the facts, step forward and work to correct the wrong.”  I’m not sure we could say it better.  Mahalo, Senator.

On October 14th, former US Senator Arlen Specter lost his fight with cancer. Both as Republican or Democrat, Senator Spector understood the importance of the international affairs to America’s security and leadership in the world, and while his party may have changed, his support for the world’s poorest people was unwavering. Year after year, Senator Specter joined a bipartisan group of senators to call for robust funding of programs that help fight extreme poverty and preventable diseases. He will especially be remembered as a champion of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on the Senate Appropriations Committee, helping to save millions of lives. The Senator was also a great friend to ONE and engaged with us so many times. His office doors both in DC and across Pennsylvania were always open to our members, and his staff warmly received our messages – a true reflection of the man they served.

Just a week after losing Senator Specter, we also lost former US Senator George McGovern. Throughout his long career, Senator McGovern was devoted to fighting hunger. Senator McGovern was the first director of the Food for Peace program and later served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for Food and Agriculture. In this role, he worked closely with his friend U.S. Senator Robert Dole to broaden the scope of global school feeding and nutrition programs. This work resulted in the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. Through this program, over 22 million children around the world have been provided healthy meals.

The work of both men will endure, and here at ONE, we are determined to follow their examples, and continue the fight against extreme poverty. It’s the best way we know how to say “Thank you, Senators.”