URGENT action needed to support Global AIDS and Health programs

[Guest guest]

Please forward widely to your networks, and forgive duplication! This is our first chance to really influence the next 5 years of US global AIDS efforts, please take a minute to read this. Thanks! -Kaytee

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We need your help! Do you have one hour to spare between now and Wednesday to ensure the next 5 years of the US Global AIDS Initiative continue the progress of the last five years? If you do, email or call Kaytee from Health GAP (kaytee@... or 267-334-6984) to let her know and get a list of people who need calls.

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs will be voting on the reauthorization of the US global AIDS and health initiatives (a greatly improved and expanded version of PEPFAR) on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 1pm. Congressman Lantos and his staff have fought hard to get the best bill possible introduced, one that includes:

continuing the progress towards treating the U.S. share of one-third of the people with HIV in developing countries ending the required abstinence-only-till-marriage earmark which is proven to not work training and support for hundreds of thousands of urgently needed new healthcare workers $50 billion over five years – the minimum funding increase needed to support the program, instead of the flat-funding proposed by outgoing President Bush more flexible support for needle exchange programs worldwide, an expansion of the program to include TB, Malaria, nutrition, new protections for the rights of women and young people and microbicides, and a repeal of the shameful HIV immigration ban.

This is a truly spectacular bill! But some members of Congress are opposed to this kind of expansion and correction of PEPFAR, and have stated that they will introduce a series of amendments to try to strip all the new programs, funding and policies from the bill.

The first step to making it law is to get the best bill possible through the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Feb 7. Our best chance of passing the bill without these harmful party-line amendments is to make sure that all of the members of Congress who support us show up to vote -- and stay for the entire session! If several members who would have voted in favor of the bill don’t show up, then we’ll have a hard time defending all of the good things in the bill from attacks.

Do you have an hour between now and Wednesday to call several Members of Congress on the Committee and encourage them to show up for the vote on Thursday, Feb. 7th?

If you can help make calls, email Kaytee Riek at kaytee@... or call 267-334-6984 to get a list of names and numbers to call, plus a script. This is a very simple thing to do, even if you’ve never called Congress before.

Your help is needed right now! Every supportive Member of Congress who shows up to vote on Feb. 7th matters, and every call to their offices gets us closer to ensuring they show up to vote.

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Kaytee Riek

Grassroots Organizer

Health GAP (Global Access Project)

phone: 267-334-6984

kaytee@...

www.healthgap.org