Global Weekly Update May 30, 2011

Top Action: FY12 Senate Appropriations Deadline on Monday June 6!

The Senate Foreign Operations Subcommittee of Appropriations will get a chunk of money to spend on foreign aid, military aid, diplomacy, and other international matters. As citizens, we want Congress to spend those dollars on the most effective poverty alleviation programs. The only way to assure that your voice is heard is for your senator to write and speak to the senators leading the Foreign Operations Subcommittee before the final decisions are made. It will be too late to make changes if they wait until it arrives on the floor for a vote. They need to act now.

Urge your senators to submit at least one appropriations request to the Senate Foreign Operations Subcommittee before Monday June 6 on any of the following: education, microfinance, the Global Fund, GAVI, or TB. The tools you need to make this request, including a sample letter and fact sheets for each appropriations issue, can be downloaded from our website.

You can also take a simple on-line action and send the on-line action to your friends and action network. More voices will make a difference.

$450 Million Over Three Years for Vaccinations Will Save 4.2 Million Lives

On June 13 the United States and other donors will gather at the GAVI Alliance pledging conference and decide whether to fund a plan to save over 4 million lives by making new vaccines widely available. Here’s how you can help ensure this pledging moment meets its goal:

1. Thank your representative for signing the the Van Hollen GAVI letter if he/she signed. Rep. Chris Van Hollen circulated a sign-on letter in the House to USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah in support of a three-year, $450 million U.S. commitment to GAVI. If your representative didn’t sign, ask him/her to write their own letter to President Obama. You can send him/her a copy of this letter as a draft. Here is a list of the 62 House signers:

1) Bobby Rush, 2) Aaron Schock, 3) Colleen Hanabusa. 4) Charles Rangel, 5) Barbara Lee, 6) Alcee Hastings, 7) Karen Bass, 8) Earl Blumenauer, 9) Jay Inslee, 10) Edolphus Towns, 11) Frederica Wilson, 12) Donna Christian-Christiansen, 13) John Conyers Jr., 14) Mike Honda, 15) Ben Lujan, 16) Bob Filner, 17) Donald Payne, 18) G.K. Butterfield, 19)Corinne Brown, 20) John Garamendi, 21) Lloyd Doggett, 22) Lois Capps, 23) Sander Levin, 24) Hank Johnson, 25) Jesse Jackson Jr., 26) Keith Ellison, 27) Norm Dicks, 28) Raul Grijalva, 29) Maxine Waters, 30) Leonard Boswell, 31. Gwen Moore, 32) Jared Polis, 33) Zoe Lofgren, 34) Jan Schakowsky, 35) Betty McCollum, 36) Jim McDermott, 37) Jerry McNerney, 38) Martin Heinrich, 39) Shelley Berkley, 40) Gerald Connolly, 41) Sheila Jackson Lee, 42) George Miller, 43) Bobby Scott, 44) Henry Waxman, 45) Fortney “Pete” Stark, 46) David Wu, 47) Chellie Pingree, 48) Jim Moran, 49) Andre Carson, 50), Chris Murphy, 51) Steve Rothman, 52) Dale Kildee, 53) Rosa DeLauro, 54) Kathy Castor, 55) Donna Edwards, 56) Jim McGovern, 57) Danny Davis, 58) Emanuel Cleaver, 59) Rush Holt, 60) Peter DeFazio, 61) Chris Van Hollen, 62) Al Green.

2. Generate media in support of GAVI. RESULTS activists across the country have had their letters supporting childhood vaccines published in their local papers (check out some examples). Use our online tool to write a letter to the editor of your local paper, and check out this month’s action sheet for some timely news hooks. You can also download our editorial packet and ask your local paper to write in support of a strong U.S. pledge at the GAVI replenishment conference.

3. Ask your senator to write to the president. There is not yet a Senate sign on letter, so ask your senators to write separately to the president using our draft letter.

4. Take our on-line action. Ask your senators to weigh in on GAVI appropriations with the Foreign Operations Subcommittee using our simple on-line action, and send it to your friends.

Exciting Speakers Announced for the International Conference!

We are excited to announce that Valerie Harper — actress, anti-hunger activist, and RESULTS/REF board member — is joining our International Conference this year as our special guest at the Capitol Hill reception on June 21! Other speakers include:

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund

Helen Evans, GAVI Alliance interim chief executive officer and deputy chief executive officer

Ambassador Mark Dybul, Georgetown University Law visiting professor and  Co-Director, Global Health Law Center, O’Neill Institute; U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, 2006–2009

Ambassador Mark Green, former ambassador to Tanzania and congressman (R-WI), senior director at U.S. Global Leadership Council

Almeta R. Keys, executive director of the Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center in D.C. and former Head Start parent

Review our agenda for all the great sessions and workshops.

Other News You Can Use as You Prepare for the International Conference

Want to either tweet about the conference or follow tweets as they emerge? Use or track the #RESULTSConf hashtag.

Have you booked a meeting with your member of Congress? Let us know online! To book a time to prep for your meeting with our legislative staff, contact Jen Maurer with the following information:

• Day and time you’d like to talk
• Who will be on the call
• Whether you’d like to use your own phone line or dial into a conference call line

You’ll receive confirmation of the meeting, who you’ll talk with, and logistics. Days and evenings that are available for meetings include June 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Haven’t looked at the emerging conference agenda lately? Check it out online!

Be sure to check out the IC information page on our website, as we have all you need to help prepare for your trip, including information on our dynamite reception on Capitol Hill. (You can invite your members of Congress using a invitation letter from your local RESULTS group (Word) that you can customize) or our handy flyer (pdf).

Did you know we have an interactive online grassroots forum? The forum will enable activists to communicate and collaborate more directly. Click on My RESULTS, get your personalized sign-in name, and start collaborating.

May 30–June 5: Senate recess

June 6–12: House recess

June 11: UPDATE! Joint Grassroots Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709. Our guest will be Ambassador Tony Hall of the Alliance to End Hunger.

June 19–21: RESULTS International Conference

July 9: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709.