ONE.org Delivers Over 200,000 Letters from Supporters to Hill

Washington, DC – Members of ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History descended on Capitol Hill on Friday to complete the delivery of the largest letter writing effort by ONE Campaign members to date. In more than 25 trips to deliver over 211,000 letters to members of the House and the Senate, ONE volunteers delivered the message that passage of the U.S. Commitment to Global Child Survival Act and the Education for All Act of 2007 is important to members of the ONE Campaign.

“ONE’s grassroots supporters are continuing to show Congress and their representatives that they are a force to be reckoned with, sending over 211,000 letters to their Congressional representatives about the importance of these two bills,” Kimberly Cadena, ONE spokesperson, said. “ONE supporters across the country are working to educate their representatives in Congress about how important these bills are. ONE members are letting Congress know that they are paying attention, and that the passage of these bills matters not only to them, but to millions of children around the world whose lives would be saved and improved by the legislation.” These efforts continue the legislative push ONE’s grassroots supporters began earlier this year. In February 2007, members of the ONE Campaign sent over 200,000 letters encouraging Congress to protect $1 billion in funding for the fight against extreme poverty and global disease. In response, Congress committed to a $1.45 billion increase for 2007. This funding means over 350,000 people will receive lifesaving AIDS medicines, over one million anti-malaria bed nets will be distributed and over 120,000 people will receive treatment for tuberculosis.

In March 2007, thousands of ONE supporters across the U.S. called their senators and asked them to support the Smith-Dodd amendment that fully restored a $2.2 billion cut to the International Affairs budget, which houses most of the funding America commits to alleviating global poverty. The amendment passed on March 23, 2007.

The bi-partisan U.S. Commitment to Global Child Survival Act promotes the use of effective, affordable preventative measures such as immunization, antibiotics, clean drinking water and vitamin supplements to save the lives of almost 30,000 children under age 5 that die each day from preventable and or treatable diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia and measles.

The bi-partisan Education for All Act of 2007 calls on the United States to dramatically scale up its investment in basic education and prioritizes funding to eliminate school fees, expand access to education, train teachers, build infrastructure, promote civic education and life skills training as well as support initiatives that reach the most disadvantaged populations. Under this legislation, the United States would provide $3 billion by 2012, which is America’s proportionate share of the $10 billion required to put every child in school.