Wednesday - April 14th
8 PM
25 East Pearson Street (Loyola Law Center)
Come to a free screening of Invisible Children’s first film The Rough Cut and hear the story of one of the Ugandans featured in it, Boni!
Last night, just about when we hit the 100th hour, co-founder of Enough Project and former Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton released a video in support of our efforts here in Oklahoma City.
We’ve been passing these out today. A quality read.
Dear Oklahomans,
Staying outside Senator Coburn’s office for 24 hours a day – especially when overnight temperatures dip below freezing – no doubt sounds a bit extreme, because it is! But please allow us to explain why we have chosen to be here instead of at our jobs or in school. It is for a worthy cause.
Right now, in central Africa, a terror group called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is stealing children from their homes and families and forcing them to become child soldiers. They are attacking vulnerable communities, burning down churches, and maiming their victims. In the last year, this group has abducted and killed thousands of innocent people.
With leadership from our government, this violence is preventable.
There is currently a bill in Congress – called the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (S.1067) – that seeks to spur such leadership. It has more bipartisan support than any legislation focused on Africa in America’s history (62 Senate cosponsors!), and Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma is one of its biggest champions.
But Senator Coburn is blocking the passage of this bill because it authorizes funding to help the victims of this violence without an “offset” that clarifies where the funds will come from. Let us be clear: this bill does not directly expand our budget or deficit, and Senator Coburn knows that. He also knows that attaching an offset to it would result in the bill’s likely death. So he has decided to block the passage of this bill - supported by 99 other Senators - to make a purely symbolic point, even as the LRA continues its campaign of violence and terror.
All we want is to see Senator Coburn engage personally in finding a compromise that upholds his own principles and still addresses this urgent crisis.
Because we feel so strongly about stopping this senseless violence, we are not going home until such a compromise is reached.
You can help us by writing or calling Senator Coburn to request that he allow this bill to pass, and by visiting www.coburnsayyes.com where you can find more information or make a tax-deductible donation to support this cause.
Thank you!
-Us
Due to me almost vomiting on the streets on my way back to the Chase building (hey, Mom and Dad, if you’re reading), I thought I’d do a little roundup of all the media coverage that relates to what’s been going on here.
KSBI News coverage of the rally on Friday in front of the State Capitol
NewsOK article about our campaign
A statement from Senator Feingold
Secretary Clinton’s first public statement regarding the LRA
Fox 25’s totally unbiased video. Can’t wait to have Senator Coburn as our VP.
If you all see anything more, let me know and I’ll post it on here.
Take care!
