Part of my weekly task at the Borgen Project was to create a YouTube video addressing one of the bills that we support as a non-profit. I chose to talk about the Digital Gap Act and addressed it to Senator Tammy Duckworth. The Digital Gap Act is a bill that would help build Internet infrastructure in countries that don't currently have access to them. Right now, around 60% of the world doesn't have access to the Internet. This means that more than half of the world doesn't have access to life saving technology. As always, visit https://borgenproject.org/ to learn more about this bill and the others we support. For now you can watch the video down below!
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ATTENTION TO ALL MY EDWARDSVILLE PEOPLE: On April 1st I will be holding an informational meeting talking about the Borgen Project. This 20-minute meeting will allow people in and around the Edwardsville area to explore the Borgen Project. Attendees will also receive information, via handouts, about volunteering for the Borgen Project and how they can get involved with their congressional leaders. Read the flier below for more specific information: Kristina
Borgen Project Ambassador There is a common misconception that people's individual efforts won't be seen or heard. I'm here to tell you that is NOT true. As a Borgen Project ambassador, I'm going to tell you a couple ways that your voice will certainly be heard. 1. Email your congressional leaders. At the end of each week congressional staffers tally how many emails they got for each issue from their constituents. Email your leaders to grab their attention about a specific topic you think needs more coverage. You can email through this link: borgenproject.org/action-center/ 2. Call your congressional leaders. Same goes for emails and calls with tallies at the end of every week. Simply say "Hi my name is ___ and I want Representative/Congressman ___ to support ___." Most likely an intern will pick up the call. Sometimes they will ask for your zip code, address, or email. You can find your leaders phone numbers on their websites. 3. Email the White House. There are a special group of workers that read each email that is sent to the White House every day. If your email is of a topic that they deem is important, they read it to the President. 4. Mobilize other individuals to do the above. The more people that email and call your leaders, the more attention is brought to your issue. Ask friends, family, coworkers, anyone that can help you! **Don't know who your congressional leaders are? Each individual has one representative and two senators that represent them in Congress. These leaders are responsible for hearing their citizens concerns and doing their best to appeal to these. Those are just a couple of the ways that you can get in contact with your congressional leaders. Don't forget to visit https://borgenproject.org/ for more information :) Kristina Borgen Project Ambassador As I said in my last post I was going to be making a YouTube video this week, which I did. This video is addressed to Senator Dick Durbin to bring his attention to the International Affairs Budget and protect the funding for it. That's really all I have to say about the video. Like the video and leave a comment :) **PS this is the first YouTube video I've made, so don't judge Kristina Borgen Project Ambassador The International Affairs Budget needs to be protected, and here's why.
Before I dive into why it needs to be protected, I need to establish what this budget covers. According to Chairman John Yarmuth, Function 150 deals with international affairs. Inside Function 150, within the discretionary budget, consist of two categories: 1. International development and humanitarian assistance, and 2. International security assistance Both of those combined have a spending of $57 billion (in 2019). The overall fiscal federal budget for 2019 was $4.4 trillion. That means less than 1% of the United States overall budget was spent on international affairs. Whats shocking is the idea that the International Affairs Budget covers programs that are absolutely necessary for development abroad. Some of these programs include: - fighting deadly diseases (i.e. HIV, malaria) - humanitarian relief during natural disasters - educating children, especially more girls - providing clean water The list goes on... The United States has the capabilities of spreading our wealth in knowledge and power to other countries. If you're thinking that we need to focus on our own country's poverty, don't worry we have a separate domestic budget for that. The idea I'm trying to portray is this: we need to protect whatever funding we have left for international affairs. Once that budget is protected we need to work on increasing it, so we can continue to help others in need. For now, Kristina Borgen Project Ambassador Sources: https://budget.house.gov/focus-function-150-international-affairs-0 https://www.cbo.gov/publication/55824 https://www.careaction.org/blog/what-exactly-does-international-affairs-budget-pay https://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2019011100 Hi – I’m new to this so bear with me while I try and figure this blog thing out.
If you read my about page you probably know that I work for the Borgen Project. To sum up what we are in one sentence: we are a non-profit organization that works to end world poverty and hunger by mobilizing people around the world. My job position is public relations and marketing intern, so I spend most of my time reaching out to my congressional leaders and posting on my social media accounts (which are linked on my about page). ANYWAYS, I’m eager to show you guys what I have been working on this week. Stay tuned for a YouTube video on why everyone should support the International Affairs Budget. Kristina Borgen Project Ambassador |
AuthorA college student trying to make a difference by fighting to end extreme poverty. Archives
April 2020
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