Bringing the Aloha Spirit to Capitol Hill

May 29th, 2009 7:35 PM UTC
By Christopher Berg

As a Hawaii ONE member, I talk a lot about the Aloha Spirit— the Hawaiian tradition of affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. One of the interpretations of the word aloha is the recognition of the spirit of others, and the notion that we all share the responsibility to care for that spirit.

In a world where millions of people are without the basics— clean water, shelter, medicine and education, it is no wonder that hundreds of Hawaiians have called, written and visited our Senator, Daniel Inouye, asking him to leverage his power as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and exercise his aloha spirit to help fully fund US programs that help lift millions out of extreme poverty.

After multiple office visits in by fellow ONE members in Hawaii and a successful petition drive with more than 600 signatures, I decided it was time to take our message to Washington D.C.!

Yesterday afternoon, I visited Capitol Hill to meet with Sen. Inouye’s Foreign Policy aide, Mary Yoshioka. “Sen. Inouye must take the lead to make sure America keeps its promise in the spirit of Aloha to work with the world’s most vulnerable people to end extreme poverty and disease,” I appealed to Mary.

I explained why Hawaiians feel it is so crucial that Sen. Inouye uphold the President’s budget request by allocating $51.85 billion for the Foreign Operations Bill, which funds critical life-saving and development programs like PEPFAR, MCC and Child Survival.

As a Hawaii resident with family members in the Armed Services, I understand that it is not only in our country’s moral interest to help the world’s poorest people, but that it is also in our national security interest that the United States strengthen our efforts to fight global poverty, a belief publically shared by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Mary Yoshioka said the Senator is a strong supporter of ONE’s issues and will “do his best” when it comes to the allocating President Obama’s full request for the International Affairs Budget and encouraged ONE members to reach out to other Senators and bring them together to support our agenda. She also mentioned the past visits from ONE members at Sen. Inouye’s Honolulu office and that she was impressed by the number of Hawaiians who signed the ONE petition.

Let’s export the Aloha spirit by helping the world’s poorest people to lift themselves out of poverty!

-Hawaii ONE member, Mary-Louise Dunigan

PS- Ask Senator Inouye to fully fund the President’s State and Foriegn Operations Budget here.

TAGS: From ONE Members, Hawaii