Ask your Members of Congress to Support the Global Poverty Act
Tell your member of Congress to cosponsor the Global Poverty Act (HR1302). This important legislation would require the US government to implement a poverty reduction strategy and to report to Congress on its progress on an annual basis.
By asking Congress to cosponsor the Global Poverty Act, you will be taking a crucial step to helping improve the lives of the 1 billion people who live in slum conditions worldwide.
As the most free and prosperous nation on earth, the United States has a moral responsibility to commit at least a small portion of its budget to global poverty reduction. Please cosponsor the Global Poverty Act (HR 1302) and ask the House leadership to make its passage a top priority this year
Please Cosponsor the Global Poverty Act (HR 1302)
Dear Representatives,
As a strong supporter of Habitat for Humanity’s efforts to increase the volume and effectiveness of US poverty-focused development assistance, I urge you to cosponsor the Global Poverty Act (HR 1302). This important legislation would require the US government to implement a poverty reduction strategy and to report to Congress on its progress on an annual basis. By giving focus to the reduction of global poverty you will also be taking a crucial step to improving the lives of the 1 Billion people who live in slum conditions worldwide.</p>
<p>According to the 2002 and 2006 National Security Strategies, “A world where some live in comfort and plenty, while half the human race lives on less than $2 a day, is neither just nor stable. Including all of the world’s poor in an expanding circle of development—and opportunity—is a moral imperative and one of the top priorities of US international policy.” </p>
<p>The bipartisan Global Poverty Act addresses this imperative by
• Declaring it official U.S. policy to promote the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the U.N. Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme global poverty in half by 2015;
• Requiring the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to carry out that policy;
• Establishing broad guidelines for the strategy from aid, trade, and debt relief, to working with the international community, businesses and NGOs, to ensuring environmental sustainability;
• Requiring that the President’s strategy include specific and measurable goals, efforts to be undertaken, benchmarks, and timetables; and
• Requiring the President to report back to Congress annually on progress made in the implementation of the global poverty strategy.</p>
<p>As the most free and prosperous nation on earth, the United States has a moral responsibility to commit at least a small portion of its budget to global poverty reduction. Please cosponsor the Global Poverty Act (HR 1302) and ask the House leadership to make its passage a top priority this year. </p>
<p>Thank you for your consideration and continued commitment to making global poverty history.
[Your name]