Sunday, July 22, 2007

You Go, Guv!

While I was in Washington in June, I attended the most amazing rally, the launch of the ONE Campaign's ONE Vote 08 initiative. This is an unprecedented bipartisan effort to make global health and extreme poverty foreign policy priorities in the 2008 presidential election.

The ONE Campaign makes this goal clear:
"The next president will take office in a time of great hope: there are effective and affordable solutions that save lives. AIDS drugs can now cost as little as $1 a day. A $5 bed net can keep a child from dying from a mosquito bite. With the force of more than millions of members from all 50 states and a coalition of more than 100 non-profit, religious and charitable groups, ONE Vote '08 will educate and mobilize voters to ensure that the next American president is committed to using "strategic" power to end global poverty and keep America strong.
"

St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill, the site of the rally, was bursting at the seams, not only with people but with a level of energy that I can only describe as "electric hope." And why not? Several key high-level operatives from both the Democratic and Republican parties have not only endorsed the goals of Vote 08 but have also become involved in trying to make global poverty and disease a key topic of discussion during the presidential campaigns. In fact, Vote 08 is chaired by two former Senate Majority leaders, ex-Sens. Bill Frist of Tennessee and Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

The Vote 08 Camapign is keeping a running tab of comments that presidential candidates are saying about the Millenium Development Goals and The ONE Campaign. Click here to see. And here is a video of the rally on YouTube

Bread members and ONE activists at ONEVote 08 Rally
Many of us in New Mexico are well aware that one of those presidential candidates is our own Gov. Bill Richardson. I was extremely pleased when I learned that Richardson issued an entire press release endorsing The ONE Campaign last week!
I'm sure the Vote 08 Campaign was the major reason why he decided to make the statement. Nevertheless, we are extremely pleased at this decision. I cannot help but say, You GO Guv!

But please don't view this as an official endorsement of Richardson's candidacy. My hope that every single one of the candidates for both parties adopts such a clear position on the global poverty and the MDGs.


Governor Bill Richardson's
Open Endorsement of ONE Campaign

For Immediate Release: 07/11/2007

SANTA FE, NM -- Democratic Presidential candidate Governor Bill Richardson released the following statement today, praising the ONE campaign and calling for a sustained effort to eradicate poverty in the developing world:

"Millions dead from disease in the developing world, mothers who go to bed hungry every night, children who have never seen the inside of a classroom -- this is our burden. Our belief is that we can and must do better.

"I am proud to support the ONE campaign in its efforts to alleviate suffering and transform the developing world. Accomplishing these goals will require an enduring will and an abiding faith in the dignity of every human being. I am confident that we will be successful.

"As a former UN Ambassador and a diplomat, I know that just as poverty-stricken neighborhoods produce crime, poverty-stricken states produce terrorism. Ending world poverty is thus not only a moral imperative, it is vital to the security of the United States. ONE's specific targets -- fighting HIV/AIDS, improving education, providing housing, ensuring the health of mothers and children, and providing safe, clean water -- are critical for the developing world and America alike. Our next President must actively support these goals at home and abroad.

"We need a Marshall Plan for the 21st century. Developed nations, public organizations, and private companies must coordinate a sustained, focused, intensive effort to wipe out the developing world's most pressing problems. The original Marshall Plan lifted Europe from the ravages of war and established the United States as the dominant economic player in the world. I believe that during the coming century, our nation's economic security -- and the security of the world economy -- depends on replicating that success in the developing world.

"I applaud the ONE campaign for beginning the hard work that the world community must collectively finish. Only if we can work together will we have the strength to solve this problem."

Monday, July 09, 2007

A Lobby Day Buzz (a month later)

(Originally published in Bread blog, July 6, 2007)
What's that you hear? A Lobby Day Buzz? But it's been almost a month since Lobby Day. And the buzz doesn't appear to be coming from Capitol Hill.
What's that? Did I hear you right? The buzz is coming from the First Plaza Galleria office building in downtown Albuquerque? And on the day after Independence Day?
Yes folks. We managed to get a visit with Rep. Heather Wilson herself on July 5. We considered this a coup because our appointment in Washington was with an unresponsive aide. (And even though we had more responsive and engaging aides in our four other Lobby Day visits to the offices of New Mexico representatives and senators, none of those elected officials were present at our Washington meetings last month).
We felt our audience with our congresswoman went extremely well. There was a more relaxed feel about it. There's something about meeting outside the Beltway in our home turf (and dare I say the congresswoman's home turf). In fact, I wouldn't call it a meeting. It was more like a conversation. Rep. Wilson was very aware of Bread for the World's concerns regarding the Farm Bill. After all, she had received almost 300 letters from about a dozen offerings of letters in Albuquerque!
Another plus about having the meeting here in Albuquerque was that were able to invite a couple of friends who represent coalition partners (the Community Food Security Coalition and the New Mexico Association of Food Banks) to support our Bread for the World positions and add their two cents to the discussion.
Rep. Wilson listened closely to our requests to boost the Food Stamp program, promote rural development, support producers of specialty crops, strengthen nutrition programs and place a limit on subsidies for the five "big" commodities. In the end, she made no specific promises, although she nodded her head in agreement several times during our meeting. Of this we can be sure: that our requests will be prominent on her radar screen when farm-bill legislation reaches the floor of the House.
Now that we've had a taste of this outside-the-beltway "Lobby buzz," we are thinking that perhaps we should occasionally schedule other meetings on the home turf during future congressional breaks. (And not only with Rep. Wilson, but with Rep. Tom Udall, Rep. Steve Pearce, and Sen. Pete Domenici and Sen. Jeff Bingaman).

Friday, July 06, 2007

A Tribute to Ann Sims (and her persistence)

"If you don't ask, it won't happen...

"Persistence pays off..."

"Sometimes righteous indignation can lead to good things..."

Okay, I'm paraphrasing these clichés. But in our case they hold true regarding the reason why we were able to hold a face-to-face meeting with Rep. Heather Wilson about the 2007 Farm Bill, which is the subject of our 2007 Offering of Letters"

And much of the credit should go to Ann Sims, who is one of our most passionate Bread for the World activists in New Mexico. We are proud to say that she is also a member of our organization's board of directors.

It's putting it mildly when I say that our visit to Rep. Wilson's office in Washington on Lobby Day (June 12) was extremely disappointing. We met with an unresponsive aide, who took few notes and kept looking at her watch. We felt disrespected.

Rather than shrug off the visit, Ann decided to take action. First she called Rep. Wilson's office to complain. Then she asked if there was a way we could meet with Rep. Wilson here in Albuquerque during the Fourth of July congressional recess. At first, she was told that since we'd already made our case on the Farm Bill in Washington, there was no reason to present the same information to the congresswoman. But Ann insisted. She reiterated the bad experience with the aide, hinting that we were not sure whether our message had gotten through to Rep. Wilson.

So on July 5 we gained a face-to-face audience with our congresswoman here in Albuquerque. Ann and I and two colleagues from coalition partners (Mark Winne from the Community Food Security Coalition and Laurel Wyckoff from the New Mexico Association of Food Banks) were present at the meeting. Ann set the tone for the meeting by pointing out that legislation on the farm bill was the single most important anti-hunger issue that she has lobbied on during her years as Bread activist.

I'm happy to say that our meeting with Rep. Wilson went extremely well. There was a more relaxed feel about it. There's something about meeting outside the Beltway in our home turf (and dare I say the congresswoman's home turf). In fact, I wouldn't call it a meeting. It was more like a conversation. Rep. Wilson was very aware of Bread for the World's concerns regarding the Farm Bill. After all, she had received almost 300 letters from about a dozen offerings of letters in Albuquerque!


Rep. Wilson listened closely to our requests to boost the Food Stamp program, promote rural development, support producers of specialty crops, strengthen nutrition programs and place a limit on subsidies for the five "big" commodities. And Mark and Laurel were able to add their two cents to these issues, as well as bring up related concerns of their own. In the end, she made no specific promises, although she nodded her head in agreement several times during our meeting. Of this we can be sure: that our requests will be prominent on her radar screen when farm-bill legislation reaches the floor of the House.

My thoughts after the meeting were that we probably wouldn't have achieved as much were it not for Ann's persistence.

Read another version of this piece on the Campus Bread blog


(Note: the above photo of Ann was taken by fellow Bread for the World activist Elaine VanCleave from Birmingham at the 2007 National Gathering in Washington)