ONE Calls on Senate to Ask Sen. Clinton about America’s Global Poverty Efforts

Washington, D.C. — Hundreds of phone calls and emails are landing in the offices of members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on the eve of that panel’s confirmation hearing for Senator Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State.

ONE, a global advocacy organization focused on addressing extreme poverty and preventable diseases, is urging Senators to probe Mrs. Clinton’s plans to elevate U.S. foreign assistance and include development as a key part of the Obama Administration’s national security plans.

Tom Hart, ONE’s Director of Government Relations, issued the following statement ahead of Tuesday’s hearing:

“Development assistance has the power to save millions of lives from extreme poverty and preventable disease while helping to make America more secure here at home. We have seen how proven, effective, affordable initiatives work. They deserve strong support from the new administration as a significant piece of our national security strategies.

“ONE urges Mrs. Clinton, once confirmed, to make the elevation and modernization of development assistance a top issue at the State Department. Replacing despair and disease with sustainable opportunity and lifesaving programs is both the right thing to do and a strategic opportunity in some of the most fragile parts of the world.

“As candidates, both President-elect Obama and Hillary Clinton laid out robust and comprehensive plans for development during the campaign (http://www.onevote08.org/ontherecord/obamaupdated.html). Mrs. Clinton now has the opportunity to move those plans into action and, in doing so, transform how the world sees America.”