Letter to The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Chairman, Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Committee on Appropriations and The Honorable Judd Gregg, Ranking Member

Letter

The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chairman
Subcommittee on Foreign Operations
Committee on Appropriations
127 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Judd Gregg
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Foreign Operations
Committee on Appropriations
123 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Gregg:

Thank you for your ongoing support of funding for the United States Agency for International Development's Polio Eradication Initiative. I am writing to respectfully request your continued support for the appropriation of $32 million for the Polio Eradication Initiative in the FY 2010 Foreign Operations appropriations bill.

Eradication efforts are clearly working as we have seen the number of countries with indigenous polio drop to four. In addition, two billion children have been immunized, five million have been spared disability and over 250,000 deaths have been averted from polio. However, until the world is polio-free, every child, even those in the United States, is at risk.

This tremendous progress would not have been possible without the financial and political commitment of the United States and your personal leadership in working with your peers to ensure there is sufficient support to achieve the shared vision of a polio-free world.

In order to continue this tremendous progress toward global polio eradication, I respectfully request your continued support for the appropriation of $32 million for the Polio Eradication Initiative in the FY 2010 Foreign Operations appropriations bill. The Polio Eradication Initiative is worthy of support because it is one of the few programs that reaches even marginalized and underserved populations, and is crucial to U.S. efforts to combat childhood diseases worldwide.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Roger Wicker
United States Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senator

Sherrod Brown
United States Senator

Tom Harkin
United States Senator

Russell Feingold
United States Senator

Bernard Sanders
United States

Ron Wyden
United States Senator

Jack Reed
United State Senator

Frank R. Lautenberg
United States Senator

Mark Begich
United States Senator

Bob Corker
United States Senator

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