Here at Enough, we’ve been partnering with our friends over at Resolve over the past few weeks in a campaign called “Start Something to Finish It” – or S2F – which calls on members of Congress to ensure that President Obama’s strategy to stop the Lord’s Resistance Army is funded in next year’s budget and can be fully implemented in the coming months. Considering that the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act was passed with an historic level of bi-partisan support, we wish that we could just assume that the strategy that resulted from the bill would be funded. But such is not the case in Washington these days.
So far, we’ve asked our supporters to sign a petition calling on support for funding from all members of Congress but now the campaign moves into a new phase. This week and through the end of the campaign, we’ll be honing in by targeting of four influential appropriators that have the most sway in the process: Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), along with Representatives Kay Granger (R-TX) and Nita Lowey (D-NY). In a recent blog post, Resolve explains why we’re focusing on these four individuals:
Though every member of Congress gets to have a say, these four make the final calls (for more detail on this, see the S2F game plan page). In the coming weeks, they will be writing the budget for next year. Unless they choose to set aside new funds to implement the White House strategy released in November, new efforts to bring LRA leader Joseph Kony to justice and see LRA atrocities finally ended cannot become reality.
We’re calling on any supporters who live in these members' areas (or who can recruit someone that does) to take action by participating in an in-district lobby meeting or gathering and sending postcards in the next couple of weeks when the crucial decisions will be made.
Thanks to those that have already participated in the campaign. Stay tuned for more actions you can take help deliver the funding this LRA strategy deserves.