UNIVERSITY COALITIONS for GLOBAL HEALTH

Action Alert: Call In and help “PEP Up PEPFAR”

Here’s a script for the super-urgent calls to Congress! We know that the bill reauthorizing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is great. However, some Republicans are threatening to strip all the new, bold visioning programs from the bill. The Democrats have promised to back the proposed bill - they just have to show up to vote. Now is the time to make sure the bill survives committee intact; now is the time to call the Democrats.

1. Call up the offices by Wednesday at the latest, and the receptionist will answer.

2. Say your name, and that you are with the University Coalitions for Global Health. If you are from the same state as the listed Member of Congress, say you’re from that state. If you’re not from his/her state, don’t worry about mentioning where you’re from. The key here is volume, so even if you’re not from the same state, call anyway.

3. Explain that you’d like Rep. ____ to make sure to vote in committee on Feb. 7th on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Here’s a sample script:

* On Feb. 7th, the Foreign Affairs Committee will be voting on reauthorization of U.S. global AIDS and health programs. Chairman Lantos has written a truly important bill that will prevent the senseless death of 3 million people worldwide each year.

* This bill needs to pass the Committee with at least $50 billion for global AIDS over five years, and include the important new targets for treatment, health workers, and require the purchase of the best quality medication available at the lowest cost.

* The only way to ensure that the bill emerges in the best form possible is for every Democratic Committee Member to show up at 1pm on Feb. 7th and stay until the voting is completed. Will Rep. ______ be attending the entirety of the markup?

Call the following members of the House Foreign Operations Committee:

HIGH PRIORITY: If your setting up a call in day, call all of these Representatives:
Faleomavaega (Amer. Samoa) — (202) 225-8577
Ackerman (NY) — (202) 225-2601
Delahunt (MA) — (202) 225-3111
Smith (WA) — (202) 225-8901
Klein (FL) — 202-225-3026
Sherman (CA) 202-225-5911

MID-PRIORITY: Have your core chapter members call all of these Representatives:
Wexler (FL) — (202) 225-3001
Engel (NY) — (202) 225-2464
Delahunt (MA) — 202-225-3111
Meeks (NY) — 202/225-3461
Watson (CA) — 202-225-7084
Carnahan (MO) — (202) 225-2671
Tanner (TN) — (202) 225-4714
Green (TX) — (202) 225-1688
Woolsey (CA) — 202-225-5161
Jackson Lee (TX) — (202) 225-3816
Hinojsa (TX) — (202) 225-2531
Crowley (NY) — (202) 225-3965
Wu (OR) — (202) 225-0855
Linda Sanchez (CA) — (202) 225-6676
Scott (GA) — (202) 225-2939
Costa (CA) — 202-225-3341
Sires (NJ) — 202-225-7919
Giffords (AZ) — (202) 225-2542

For background information, check out this site, and you can also download the Student Global AIDS Campaign “Pep Up PEPFAR” toolkit.

Email sdevita@globalhealth.org if you have an questions. Good luck!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 11:18 am and is filed under Events, HIV/AIDS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.