Speak Up for Funding Vital Foreign Assistance Programs in FY12

Make a Call to Your Representative this Week. There are many  members of Congress who  understand how important foreign assistance  is to the U.S. as well as how important it is to the  individuals and families it ultimately reaches. Because foreign aid is not disappearing from our national budget, it is  critical that even those who do not favor it insist that it be used in smart, effective ways. It is important that  our representatives know that foreign aid is vital to our economy, our  security,  and our global leadership. Encourage your representative to support at least one of the effective solutions articulated in our appropriations requests (microfinance, TB, Global Fund, GAVI, Education for All). Our representatives must submit their requests electronically to the chairs of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee by May 20, so we need to act this week to give our representatives time to make the request. (The House is in recess May 16-20, but members can still make requests during that time.) Call and ask for the  foreign policy aide, make the request to support  funding levels for one  of our priorities noted above, and follow up by  sending appropriate information.  Our action sheet can help you with this.

Make a Call to Your Senators. The Senate must refuse the House's approach to reducing our federal deficit. Let both of your senators know that   we expect them to do better. The House of Representatives passed a budget for 2012 that would make  draconian cuts to foreign assistance programs—the same programs that boost U.S. exports, according to the Chamber of Commerce, and make us safer, according to 70 retired military leaders. Cutting foreign aid as the House recommends risks our economy, our security, and lives.

Ask Your Member of Congress to Lead on GAVI Vaccinations

We have an opportunity to save 4.2 million children's lives by 2015 with two new vaccinations to protect against rotavirus and pneumonia. Yes, it's that simple; we can give these new vaccinations to kids in 44 countries (as, right  now, these kids don't have access to the vaccines), and we'll see millions of children stay alive! Do you want a piece of this action? Read on.

There is a key moment coming up on June 13 when donor nations will meet in London to make pledges to GAVI Alliance, the organization with the plan to save all these lives. Pledges made at the conference will determine whether or not GAVI will have funds to roll out the rotavirus and pneumococcal vaccines. We need to make sure that President Obama and others in the administration hear loud and clear that we want the U.S. to do it's part to save these lives. A pledge of $450 million over three years at the London conference is what's needed from the U.S. Here's what you can do:

• Learn about the diseases and the vaccines. Check out this 4-minute video about rotavirus and learn about GAVI.
• Help with a sign-on letter. If you want to ask your member of Congress to lead on creating a sign-on letter to the President, please contact Ken Patterson or Lisa Marchal. We'd like President Obama to receive bi-partisan letters from both the Senate and the House with lots of signatures on them showing support for a bold U.S. pledge.
• Write a letter to the editor. Write a letter to your paper for Mother's Day. No mother should have to watch her child die because of lack of access to vaccinations. Let your community and your members of Congress know your view. (They read the paper, too.) For more in-depth GAVI information you can share with your local paper, check out the GAVI editorial packet in our newsroom (available this week).
• Write to your member of Congress about GAVI. Use our action alert to write to your member of Congress about the need to fund GAVI adequately in 2012 so that the world can undertake this critical vaccine initiative.

RESULTS Austin Weekly Call Tonight - 9pm - 5/5/11

Tonight (Thursday) at 9:00 PM

Dial-in Number: 1-218-862-1300

Conference Code: 889419

Having a (TB) Ball with RESULTS

40 now full soccer balls packed into Eloise's car, ready for distribution to school children. The balls are covered with TB tips and facts. One more way RESULTS is fighting TB.

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April 25 Global Weekly Update

Funding GAVI to Save 4.2 Million Children's Lives by 2015: If We Don't Do It, Who Will?

The answer is, nobody. Right now there are no Congressional champions for vaccines even though the US helps fund GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations). We need champions in the House and Senate now because there is an incredible opportunity to roll out two new vaccinations (one for rotavirus and one for pnemococcal disease), in 44 countries. This will save an estimated 4.2 million children's lives by 2015. Since the rotavirus vaccination was introduced in the US in 2006, hospitalizations due to rotavirus have dropped 56 to 86 percent. In developing nations where rotavirus is the biggest diarrheal killer of kids under age five, the rotavirus vaccination could save 500,000 lives per year.

On June 13 donor nations will come together in the United Kingdom for a GAVI pledging conference. The outcome of the conference will determine whether we'll GAVI has the resources to save 4.2 million lives with these new vaccines. What is needed from the US is a 3-year pledge totaling $450 million. We must make these new medical innovations available around the globe. Here's what you can do:

• This week, learn about GAVI, rotavirus, pneumococcal disease, and our campaign to fund GAVI for 2012 at $175 million. Use our action alert to call your members of Congress.
• Write a letter to the editor for Mother's Day (May 8) highlighting this exciting campaign to save 4.2 million young lives. We will have a sample letter available on our Take Action page on Friday, April 29. 
• If you think your member of Congress could be a leader in asking President Obama to make a US pledge of $450 million over 3 years at the June 13 conference, contact Ken Patterson for assistance this week in making the request.

Other Top Actions to Assure Funding for Vital Foreign Assistance Programs

1. Call Your Senators. The House of Representatives passed a budget for 2012 that would make draconian cuts to foreign assistance programs—the same programs that boost US exports, according to the Chamber of Commerce, and make us safer, according to 70 retired military leaders. The Senate must refuse this approach to reducing deficits. It risks our economy, our security, and lives. Let both of your senators know that we expect them to do better.

Call Your Representatives. There are many members of Congress who understand the importance of foreign assistance to the US, and to the individuals and families it ultimately reaches. So there will be a foreign aid budget, even if your Representative or Senators doesn't like foreign aid. For more conservative members it's good to educate them about the importance of foreign aid to our economy, our security, and our global leadership, but also to encourage them to make sure that foreign aid is used wisely. Encourage them to support at least one of the effective solutions articulated in our appropriations requests (microfinance, TB, Global Fund, GAVI, Education for All). Call and ask for the foreign policy aide, make the request to support funding levels for one of our priorities noted above, and follow up by sending information. Our action sheet can help you with this.

Thursday Evening Meeting

Agenda

GAVI opportunities
"Hosting" a showing of Turk's new movie
Planning for a meeting with Rep. John Carter

RESULTS Austin Education & Action meeting
Thursday 4/28 -7:00-8:30 PM
Carver Branch Library
1161 Angelina Street

A Letter from Dr. Joanne Carter

As I send this, Congress and the White House have agreed to a compromise spending package for the rest of 2011 which may contain deep cuts to programs that support poor and vulnerable families here and around the world. I know many of you have fought hard against proposed cuts to vital programs in the FY 2011 budget — the budget for the rest of this year — expressing alarm at the $60 billion in cuts passed by the House of Representatives 235-189 in February. The package agreed to late last night cuts $37.8 billion in spending in 2011. The FY 2011 Budget The House proposed in February to slash funding for global health, important early childhood services in the US, basic education programs around the world, microcredit, and other effective programs that benefit communities most in need, including: A 40 percent cut to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, which would mean 372,000 people will not be tested and treated for tuberculosis, 58,286 HIV-positive pregnant women will not receive drugs to prevent transmission of the virus to their children, 414,000 people will not be provided with antiretroviral (ARV) medications. Drastic cuts to Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care assistance, which would mean 368,000 low-income children and their families losing services, 16,000 Head Start/Early Head Start classrooms closing and 55,000 Head Start/Early Head Start teachers and staff losing their jobs. While the details of the specific cuts in the compromise funding package for the rest of 2011 are not decided, the package agreed to last night includes almost 2/3 of the level of spending cuts passed by the House. In other words, millions of lives are at stake. And, this is just the first of several battles to save lives, protect and create jobs, and shape the priorities of the United States. FY 2012 Budget Resolution Next week, the House of Representatives will vote on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget proposal for 2012 (that also impacts future years), one that is even more extreme. It is difficult to emphasize strongly enough how much damage this budget would do to vital programs that mean life or death for millions, young and old alike, and to our nation's economy. Your voice is urgently needed. We're asking RESULTS activists across the United States who care about poverty and hunger here and around the world to join together and call Congress next Tuesday, April 12, and to ask others to do so the same – it is vitally important to make our voices heard before the House's vote on the Ryan budget resolution. On Tuesday, call your Representative — you can call the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at (888) 245-0215 and ask to be directed to your Representative's office – and deliver a message like this*: “I am a constituent and I strongly urge you to stand up against any budget cuts that will harm poor and vulnerable people here in the US and around the world and to vote NO on the House Budget Committee's Budget Resolution. The Ryan budget resolution would lead to deep cuts in important foreign aid investments that save lives and strengthen our economy here in the US and around the world. It would slash investments in programs like Head Start, child care, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, education... in fact, all the investments that help Americans to be economically secure.  It denies vital help for low-income and middle class people while giving trillions of dollars in tax cuts to millionaires and big corporations. Please reject these extreme proposals – they would weaken federal protections in a recession and stall economic growth for us all.” Please note: If you know your representative is already fighting these poverty-related cuts, please change your message to thank them for standing up for the poorest and encourage them to continue to fight cuts in the 2012 budget. If you have time, please call your senators. While the Senate will not take up this proposal in its current form, the debate and public outcry against these cuts will shape the priorities of deficit-reduction legislation Congress will take up in the next few months. This budget shrinks funding to such an extent that every human needs program here in the United States and around the world is threatened. If you wish to emphasize other important issues in your call, please do so. Thank you to the Coalition on Human Needs for the use of this toll-free line. We know you are busy. But these far-reaching proposals to cap and cut essential services are a call to conscience. On Tuesday, please call and get others to do so also! We suggest you download and print our call-in flyer to distribute to others this weekend leading up to the call-in day. Hunger Fast On Saturday's national conference calls, we'll discuss the budget situation in more detail, and also how RESULTS staff and volunteers can stand in solidarity with critical programs and vulnerable people by participating next Wednesday in the Hunger Fast launched by RESULTS ally and former member of Congress Tony Hall. This will be a powerful follow-on to Tuesday's national call-in day. At least 30,000 people across the United States and 28 members of Congress are joining Rep. Hall in his fast and standing together to protect vulnerable people from budget cuts that lack conscience. BACKGROUND INFORMATION To read a summary of the House Budget Committee's proposal and what it will mean for struggling families in America, click here. For more details, click here to see the letter RESULTS and dozens of organizations have signed expressing our concerns Read an op-ed by former President George W. Bush speechwriter, Michael Gerson, explaining “The real world effects of budget cuts” on poor around the world. If you don't know who your senators or representative is, or can't get through to the Capitol switchboard, click here to find the direct number to your Congressional offices (not toll-free).   For more information about RESULTS and how you can make a difference, including our work in communities across the country to create the political will to end poverty, please visit our website: www.results.org. And thanks for all that you do!