Recess Advocacy Toolkit - August 2013

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It is time to tell Congress that deep cuts to these lifesaving and poverty-reducing programs harm our national interest and undermine our moral leadership around the world. Get involved by meeting with your member of Congress and showing them how much support there is for poverty-focused development programs throughout the U.S.

With Congress in recess, August can be a perfect time to catch your member of Congress in their natural habitat – their home districts – where they are often more relaxed, and have more time to hear from constituents like you. It’s their job! So make the most of this great opportunity and call your member of Congress, schedule a meeting with them or their staff and show them how much support there is back at home for lifesaving and poverty-reducing international programs.

• Meet Your Member
• Attend a Town Hall Meeting
• Write to Your Local Newspaper
• Learn More

*This estimated cut does not include Overseas Contingency Operations.

Meet your Member

Call your member of Congress and ask them for a meeting – they love to interact with constituents, especially when they’re pleasant, respectful and full of good ideas. You might be asking, “I’m not a Washington insider. Am I the best advocate for these programs?” The answer is Yes!

Members of Congress listen to their constituents far more than they listen to Washington lobbyists or other experts – you’re their boss since you vote for them.

1. Find your member’s home-district phone number (though the one in Washington might work well, too).

• If you’re not sure who your member of Congress is, enter your zip code here.

2. Call them and say:

• Hi, my name is John/Jane Doe and I’m a constituent of Rep. XYZ. I am a strong supporter of programs that help alleviate poverty overseas and make the world safer and more prosperous. Does Congressman XYZ have time to meet with me (and a group of my friends?) to talk about these issues during the August recess?
• If they say yes, then great! Get scheduling. Try to be as flexible as you can be, since they’re very busy, even during recess.
• If they say no, ask to meet with their staff. Most of the time, they will be willing to do that much for you – and meetings with staff can be very effective too.

3. After you’ve scheduled the meeting, start preparing!

• We’ve got loads of materials to help you make the case.
• Prepare your “speech.” When you meet with the congressman or their staff, you’ll need to be extremely succinct in your presentation so that you don’t take too much of their time. So, once you feel you’ve read the materials enough to understand them, try constructing a short speech, in words you feel comfortable with, that makes the case.  
• Here's an example: 

I believe that foreign assistance plays a key role in protecting our national security, expanding economic growth and creating a more stable, peaceful world. U.S. foreign assistance provides lifesaving services to people as well as support for longer term development programs that help people pull themselves out of poverty – all for less than 1% of our federal budget.

The United States is facing a tough budget environment and we understand that no program will go untouched by cuts. When the House passed its budget plan, however, foreign aid faced at 21% cut while other bills including Defense, Homeland Security, and the legislative branch received increases. To propose a deep cut for some and increases for others is not sharing the burden.

The Senate’s proposed funding level better reflects our values as Americans and a deep commitment to helping the world’s most poor and vulnerable. Supporting the Senate funding levels will help protect the important work poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance programs do.

4. When the day of the meeting arrives, make sure to bring some materials with you.

• InterAction Congressional leave behind flyer
• Moral/faith-based arguments for foreign assistance
• Economic arguments for foreign assistance
• National security arguments for foreign assistance
• House and Senate FY2014 funding recommendation sign-on letters

5. During the meeting, be polite, grateful and positive.

• Start off by saying how much you appreciate the opportunity to meet and how appreciative you are of the member's efforts to support international affairs. (Even if they don’t support international affairs, it can’t hurt to start off by giving them some love!)
• Then briefly lay out the case in no more than 2 minutes (see the example above).
• Ask them what their thoughts are on the issues.
• If they say they’re already on board, thank them for their support and ask what you can do to help them continue to support these lifesaving programs.
• If they push back and explain why they can’t support the  programs, be polite but firm in your reply.
• DO say: “I understand what you’re saying and I know we have to balance our budget, but I just wanted to let you know how much support there is for this in our district and that many of my friends feel the same way I do.”
• DO NOT get into a debate with them: your goal isn’t to convince them you’re right, your goal is just to demonstrate local support for these programs.
• Finish by asking if there’s anything you can do to follow up and continue the relationship.
• Make sure to get email addresses for the staff you meet – that’s how most communication takes place in congressional offices, making it incredibly simple to build relationships and remind them over and over again of your support for these poverty-reducing programs.
• After the meeting, send an email to the member or the congressional staffer and thank them for their time and their thoughts. Remind them of the meeting you had and let them know you’ll continue to be in touch as opportunities arise for Rep. XYZ to demonstrate his/her support for these lifesaving and poverty-reducing programs that make our world a safer and better place to be.

Attend a Town Hall Meeting

1. Scheduling: Members of Congress often have town halls in their districts. You can find out about them by getting on their email distribution lists or by going on their websites. Let us know if you need help finding one.

2. Prepare!

• We’ve got loads of materials to help you make the case.
• Prepare your “speech.” When you meet with the congressman or their staff, you’ll need to be extremely succinct in your presentation so that you don’t take too much of their time. So, once you feel you’ve read the materials enough to understand them, try constructing a short speech, in words you feel comfortable with, that makes the case.  
• Here's an example: 

  I believe that foreign assistance plays a key role in protecting our national security, expanding economic growth and creating a more stable, peaceful world. U.S. foreign assistance provides lifesaving services to people as well as support for longer term development programs that help people pull themselves out of poverty – all for less than 1% of our federal budget.

  The United States is facing a tough budget environment and we understand that no program will go untouched by cuts. When the House passed its budget plan, however, foreign aid faced at 21% cut while other bills including Defense, Homeland Security, and the legislative branch received increases. To propose a deep cut for some and increases for others is not sharing the burden.

  The Senate’s proposed funding level better reflects our values as Americans and a deep commitment to helping the world’s most poor and vulnerable. Supporting the Senate funding levels will help protect the important work poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance programs do.

3. On the day of: Town halls usually last about 60-90 minutes and begin with an introduction by the member, laying out the work they’ve done to support the district or a particular program. Then they open it up to questions and comments from constituents. This is your chance to shine!

• As we’ve seen in the past, this part of the meeting can sometimes get quite contentious, so senators and representatives often appreciate and remember the quiet, well-spoken participant who treats them nicely instead of yelling.
• Introduce yourself and thank them for taking your question.

4. Some town halls are on a specific topic – health care, veterans, etc. – so be cognizant of that and tie your question to the topic.  (Precious few will focus on international issues, though it does happen on occasion.)

• If the topic is health care, for example, start off by saying “I know we’re here to talk about health care here in at home, but I also wanted to raise the issue of health care for people overseas who don’t have even the basic access to doctors we do...”
• If the topic is veterans, you can start by saying “I am so grateful for your support of our veterans and one thing I know they support is poverty-reducing programs overseas that reduce our need to send our military abroad…” 
• If it’s another topic completely, do your best to tie your question to the topic, or at the very least, recognize that your comment isn’t on the exact topic of the town hall before posing your question.

5. After the meeting, people often stick around to chat with the member or with each other.

• Follow up with the member or their staff by giving them your contact information and asking for theirs. Afterwards, send an email to the member or the congressional staffer and thank them for hosting the town hall and for their thoughts. Ask them if you could schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss the issues in greater depth. Remind them of the comment you made in the meeting and let them know you’ll continue to be in touch as opportunities arise for Rep. XYZ to demonstrate his/her support for these lifesaving and poverty-reducing programs that make our world a safer and better place to be.     
• You can also use this as an opportunity to follow up with your fellow constituents. This might be a good chance to find other like-minded people who want to support international affairs also.   

Write To your local newspaper

August can also be a slow news period and newspapers may be looking to find ways to fill space and get local viewpoints into the mix. Your voice can make a difference in swaying opinion in your community. Send a letter to the editor of your hometown newspaper or – even better – contact the editor and ask if they would accept an op-ed. We’ll be happy to help you craft it. Here’s a simple letter you can use as a basis for a letter to the editor.

To the editor:

With all the talk about sequestration and the pain from budget cuts to programs here at home, it is important we focus our attention on foreign assistance as well.  While representing just 1% of the total U.S. federal budget, foreign aid plays an enormously important role in helping pull people out of poverty, protecting U.S. interests abroad, and developing economies around the globe that can serve as our future trade partners. 

While we must balance our budget, any cuts should be applied as evenly as possible, and not disproportionately impact one part of the budget over another – especially one as crucial as foreign assistance. The House of Representatives has currently proposed placing a disproportionate share of the cuts onto the U.S. foreign aid budget, by cutting 15-20% from it, while other bills – including Defense – would not be cut at all, or would even receive an increase.  This is not “sharing the burden” and is an unwise and unfair way of distributing the cuts.

The Senate’s proposed funding level better reflects our values as Americans and a deep commitment to helping the world’s most poor and vulnerable. Supporting the Senate funding levels will help protect the important work of poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance programs.

It does not serve our interests to cut foreign aid and could do irreparable harm to our standing around the world. I urge Congress to do better.

Sincerely,

John/Jane Doe

Learn More

Poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance makes up less than 1% of the federal budget. Yet these programs have saved and changed lives, while advancing the interests of the United States and improving our standing in the world. As a percentage of GDP, the U.S. is spending almost 50% less on foreign assistance than we did during the Reagan Administration.

What is poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance?

Poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance refers to foreign aid that helps the world’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

Development programs help people and countries lift themselves out of poverty, building better lives for themselves and their children. These programs build sustainability by helping family farmers increase their productivity, improving health care, getting children to attend and stay in school, or providing access to safe water and sanitation.

Humanitarian relief programs help save lives and alleviate the suffering of those who have been affected by natural and man-made disasters such as conflict, drought and floods by providing emergency access to food, medical assistance, water and shelter.

Every year, InterAction publishes Choose to Invest, which explains the importance of the poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance accounts we advocate for. The FY2014 version can be found here. 

Why does SFOPs funding matter?

These are not just numbers on a piece of paper. The programs funded by the SFOPs account are lifesaving and life-changing. These cuts would have real consequences for people all over the world who are working to lift themselves out of poverty and recover from crisis. Our efforts abroad are not only the right thing to do, but they ensure our standing in the world as a global leader and increase economic opportunities for average American citizens and businesses.

Deep cuts on an account that is less than 1% of the federal budget will not resolve the deficit. But they will roll back gains in global health, food security and other areas at a time when one in eight people suffer from hunger and more people are displaced than at any other time in the past 15 years.

Why should the United States fund foreign assistance programs?

The United States has the unparalleled ability to convene a broad range of stakeholders from the public, private, corporate and nonprofit sectors who together have the resources and expertise to develop more integrated country strategies to address extreme poverty.

Being involved in poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance is in the United States’ best interests.

1. The United States should be a moral leader helping people around the world who live in extreme poverty. As Americans, we believe that every person has dignity and rights that cannot be denied. The United States can be a force for change to make sure every person has the opportunity to help themselves.
2. Now, more than ever before, U.S. economic growth is linked to global trade. For American businesses to prosper, they will most likely need to find people beyond our borders to buy their goods. By helping people around the globe to increase their economic buying power, we help them buy American products and grow our economy here at home.
3. Recent U.S. National Security Strategies see our national security apparatus as three-pronged, with defense, diplomacy and development each having important roles. Most global problems do not require military solutions. To alleviate poverty, halt the spread of disease and prevent conflict, we need strong diplomatic and assistance programs.  By failing to make adequate investments in nonmilitary policy tools, we miss important opportunities to create shared prosperity and enhance our own security.

Comparison of House versus Senate Funding Levels

Explainer Video

Not Just Numbers: Foreign Assistance in the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget from InterAction on Vimeo.