DES MOINES, Iowa… ONE members played a central role in Thursday’s Iowa presidential caucuses.  With attention turning to the upcoming New Hampshire primary, ONE members will continue to urge Republican and Democratic candidates to hold firmly to their commitments to tackle extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world.

David Lane, ONE President and CEO, spent the day with Iowans, capping months of grassroots campaigning and advocacy by ONE members.  In the past few weeks, ONE members across the country reached out directly to more than 50,000 Iowa caucus goers.  After the caucus on Thursday, Lane commented on the nonpartisan progress already made in this campaign.

“Because of the dedicated work of ONE members and our partner organizations, candidates have embraced the idea that America can and must renew its place as the world’s humanitarian leader.  We can use our compassionate convictions to save the lives of the children and families living in brutal poverty while creating a more secure future for our own nation.  Now attention turns to New Hampshire, and, wherever the candidates go in the Granite State, ONE members will be there to hold them to their promises.  By uniting with one voice, we can change the future of our country and our world.”

The winning candidates in Iowa – Republican Mike Huckabee and Democrat Barack Obama – have made public commitments to combat global poverty and disease.  Both candidates are part of ONE’s On the Record Challenge, producing videos and providing specific answers to questions on HIV/AIDS, malaria, infant mortality, clean water and education in the world’s poorest countries.

Senator Obama, in his remarks on Thursday night, called the common threats of the 21st century “poverty, genocide and disease.”  As part of ONE Vote’s On the Record Challenge, Senator Obama committed to lifting the 33 percent cap on U.S. contributions to the Global Fund while also doubling funding for the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI).  The Senator pledged to increase funding for child and maternal health and to ensure that increases in other assistance programs do not come at the expense of these two areas.  Obama committed to launch the “Add Value to Agriculture Initiative” to spur research and innovation in this area.  He committed to make American policy of the Millennium Development Goals and see progress toward meeting them by the end of his first term in office.

In ONE’s On the Record Challenge, Governor Huckabee pledged to work for universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment; to work to reduce maternal and infant mortality; and to cut in half the number of people worldwide without food or clean water.  He also pledged to build water and sanitation infrastructure and invest in increasing agricultural productivity.  Huckabee committed to support an increase in microfinance and trade opportunities. Finally, the former Arkansas governor also supports reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and increasing America’s commitment to the Global Fund.

ONE, through its ONE Vote ’08 initiative, is not endorsing or opposing any candidate, but is encouraging all presidential candidates to address these critical issues.  To see the commitments that each candidate has made, visit http://www.onevote08.org/ontherecord.

On The Record is a project of ONE Action to educate voters about the presidential candidates’ plans on issues of importance to ONE Action’s members. Only 501(c)(3) activities are funded by The ONE Campaign.

ONE is a grassroots effort of more than 2.4 million Americans, rallying Americans and pressing our leaders to fight the emergency of extreme poverty and preventable global disease.  For more information, visit ONE.org.

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