Global Weekly Update May 24, 2010
Two More Days: Get Your Senator to Sign the International Affairs Budget Letter — Closes Wednesday!
Did see the New York Times story yesterday on the drop in deaths of children under 5? Child mortality rates are dropping faster than anyone expected. New research demonstrates that “vaccines, AIDS medicines, vitamin A supplements, better treatment of diarrhea and pneumonia, insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria and more education for women are among the factors that have helped lower death rates.” These are all programs that receive major support from the International Affairs budget, and they are working. Call your senator today!
The Senate sign on letter to the leadership of the Appropriations Committee requesting full funding for the International Affairs budget now has 28 signers (see list below). This letter needs to be delivered on Wednesday, so we’ve got about 48 hours left for any follow up calls or emails. Read this blog entry to learn more.
There are 29 senators who signed a letter to the President in December requesting robust International Affairs spending, but have not signed this current letter. If your senator is on this list, remind them of their prior support and urge them to lend their name to this effort again. Call your senator today!
Current Signers (28): Kerry, Lugar, Durbin, Feinstein, Bond, Akaka, Cardin, Casey, Collins, Gillibrand, Lautenberg, Shaheen, Klobuchar, Landrieu, Bingaman, Levin, Johnson, Kaufman, Menendez, Wyden, Sherrod Brown Lieberman, Tom Udall, Hagan, Merkley, Whitehouse, Mark Udall, Johanns.
Senate Priorities (these senators signed a December budget letter to president on this issue): Mark Begich (D-AK), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Roland Burris (D-IL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Bob Corker (R-TN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Al Franken (D-MN), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Herbert Kohl (D-WI), George LeMieux (R-FL), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jim Risch (R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Arlen Specter (D-PA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), George Voinovich (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA)
Cosponsors for the Education for All Act — New Resource Available!
Please continue to urge your members to cosponsor the Education for All Act of 2010 (H.R.5117). Read this summary of the bill.
New resource! Check out this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) fact sheet (pdf) to help you answer some questions from staff.
For more information, please visit our education action page. The FAQ fact sheet should be available on 5/25.
Get Ready for the IC!
Have you scheduled a prep call with D.C. legislative staff so you are prepared for your meetings before you come to D.C.?
Have you scheduled your meetings with members of Congress?
Contact the scheduler to request a meeting. Download and edit this sample letter to send to their office. See our Activist Milestone: Meet Face-to-Face with Your Member of Congress for additional tips on scheduling and planning your meeting.
When you schedule your Hill meetings for the IC, please let Lisa Marchal know ([email protected]) the following info: 1) Name of member, and if it is a face-to-face, 2) the name of the staffer that will be attending, 3) date, time, location, and who will be attending (include if this is a global, domestic, or joint meeting), and cell phone for key contact person. Lisa can also be contacted at (317) 489-9173.
Can you help others come to D.C.?
Every year, we try our best to raise funds for the Karen McQuillan Scholarship to ensure those who have a difficult time covering the costs. While we are proud to say that we have covered the costs for one such deserving individual, there remain a few more this year that are waiting for our help. We are only $200 away from covering our second scholar’s costs, and only $1,000 away from covering a third.
Whether or not you have registered, we urge you to make a donation of any size so that financial constraints aren’t the only thing keeping passionate advocates from coming. Every little bit helps. Thank you so much.
On the Donate page, click “Donate to REF” and then in the comments section make it out to “KMcQ Scholarship”.
May 24: Premiere of the documentary, “The Lazarus Effect” about the remarkable transformation of people infected with HIV/AIDS when given access to antiretroviral medicine. HBO. 9:00 pm ET and on YouTube.
May 26: Training Call: Researching your member of Congress. Led by RESULTS Regional Coordinator Allison Gallaher. 9:00 pm ET. Call (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262.
June 12: June Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. Call in at (888) 409-6709.
June 20–22: RESULTS International Conference, Washington, D.C.