Washington, DC –  As Congress makes difficult decisions regarding the United States budget, ONE members from across the U.S. are urging lawmakers to make careful choices, establish key priorities, and avoid drastic cuts to a tiny section of the budget that would save little, but cost millions of lives.

Effective poverty-fighting programs costing less than 1 percent of the federal budget have saved millions of lives that would have been lost to polio, measles, AIDS, malaria and other preventable, treatable diseases and put tens of millions of children in school. The recently passed House budget slashed several of these life-saving programs. ONE members are calling on the Senate to avoid similar cuts.

“I’m convinced more than ever that real change starts at home. As a stay-at-home mom and a conservative, I’ve lobbied for programs that work, such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund and I’ve been on the ground to witness those programs in action,” said Shayne Moore, ONE member and author of Global Soccer Mom.  “I wrote my book and became a ONE member because I believe that no one -regardless of where you happen to be born – should have to live in extreme poverty or without access to lifesaving medication.”

“As Congress faces tough decisions on the budget,  it’s up to us – as teachers, students and ONE members – to ensure we protect American efforts that make it possible for a sub-Saharan farmer to grow food for his family, for a woman with AIDS to give birth to a healthy, HIV-free child and for a child to sleep safely under the protection of a bed net,” said Danielle Depas, a high school teacher and sponsor of the ONE chapter of more than 200 students at her Florida school.  “It’s more important than ever for us to come together as a community in South Florida to ensure our representatives support America’s poverty-fighting efforts across the world that are saving lives.”

“I am a student at University of Delaware. I will graduate next year. If there is anyone who is concerned about our growing deficit, it’s me.  After all, it will be me and people my age who will have to deal with it down the line.  However, even though I believe that cuts need to be made, I also believe those cuts need to be wise,” said University of Delaware student and ONE Campus Leader Conor Leary. “Cuts to programs like PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis – that make up less than 1% of our federal budget – could kill millions.  Slashing this assistance is not going to have any real impact on the deficit, but it will have real, immediate and devastating effects for the world’s poorest.”

“I know that families everywhere are facing challenging times and tight budgets.   At the same time, and as a mother of three, it’s important to me that Congress continue to provide leadership in programs that help keep moms – many of whom live on less than $1.25 a day – and their children healthy,”  Said Rachel Fox, a long-time ONE member and Congressional District Leader in North Carolina.