GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Compassion Forum, hosted Sunday night by the Center for Faith in Public Life and cosponsored by the ONE Campaign, Oxfam America and Messiah College, brought new attention to critical issues of fighting extreme poverty and preventable diseases around the world.

The ONE Campaign, a global advocacy organization that presses governments for policies that address extreme poverty and preventable diseases around the world, urged the presidential candidates to make good on the promises they have made to target poverty and diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis – diseases with simple, effective, affordable treatments.

The interactive website allows voters to view for the first time videos of the major candidates responding directly to issues such as extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, hunger, universal education and preventable disease. The website also features written specifics from each of the candidates on these issues, and gives voters user-friendly web tools to compare and discuss their policies and positions.

ONE President and CEO David Lane issued the following statement after the Compassion Forum.

“There is power in these issues — power to save lives, power to change the world, and even power to win an election. Millions of Americans want our next president to champion the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. They want our next president to show the world a different side of America – the America of hope and healing.

“This forum forced the candidates to take a hard look at their proposals and share their ideas for a foreign policy that uses the healing power of America and not just our military power. Moving forward, success in U.S. foreign policy will be less a matter of imposing will and more of shaping behavior. We can achieve that goal by helping to treat and prevent diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. We can transform an entire generation of people by fighting extreme poverty. This work is the common point between our American convictions and aspirations, and the practical foundation for a new approach to U.S. foreign policy.

“Our next president must have the wisdom to recognize these truths, and the courage to lead the way.”

Through efforts on the ground in local communities across the United States and online at ONE.org, ONE members are reaching across political aisles to ask elected officials and candidates to increase efforts to fight preventable disease and extreme poverty.

Via millions of emails and letters and hundreds of thousands of phone calls to the President and Congress, and hundreds of direct contacts with presidential candidates, ONE members have asked that America do more to lead the world in bringing hope and opportunity to the world’s poorest people.

Disease, famine and poverty are rampant problems that take the lives of thousands everyday while depriving millions of a future full of their potential. Solving these problems is a common interest in our community, our state, our nation and our world. Increasing our efforts at home will not only save the lives of millions of people – we will also transform how those people see us. It will increase our national security, protect our economy and build a better, safer world for us all.

The ONE Campaign is a global advocacy organization uniting millions of people to press government leaders to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world. For more information, visit www.ONE.org.

ONE Vote ’08: Saving Lives, Securing Our Future does not endorse or oppose any candidate, but urges all presidential candidates to take a stand on these critical issues and present their plans to solve problems associated with global disease and extreme poverty. The non-partisan effort brings together a broad range of talent.  Co-chaired by former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Bill Frist of Tennessee and Tom Daschle of South Dakota, ONE Vote’s advisory team includes former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, political strategists Jack Oliver, Steve Jarding and Dina Powell, former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, presidential advisors Donna Brazile, Tucker Eskew and Mike McCurry, pollsters Geoff Garin and John McLaughlin, and leaders from the faith community, national security experts and many others.

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.