On July 27, the House of Representatives’ State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee will meet to finalize the Fiscal Year 2012 funding for the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act.  Read on to learn how you can help prevent drastic funding cuts.

The Water for the Poor Act has helped to improve the lives of millions of people around the world. In Fiscal Year 2009 alone, the investments made by possible by the act improved water supply to more than 6.4 million people.  These efforts not only improve health, but also lay the groundwork for gains in economic development, public health, child survival, basic education, gender equality and food security.  To learn more about the Act, read this one page summary put together by the WASH Advocacy Initiative.

Your support in maintaining current funding levels for the Water for the Poor Act is more crucial than ever. Please take a minute right now to customize this sample letter (Word document) and fax it to your Representative.  You can find your Representative and his or her contact information here.

There are a number of Members of Congress that have particular influence over the appropriations process.  If your Representative is on this list, we strongly encourage you to reach out and remind him or her of the importance of water and sanitation globally.  To see a list of these influential members, click here (PDF).

Thank you again for your continued dedication to WASH issues! If you have any questions on reaching out to your Member of Congress, please contact us on Twitter, Facebook or our Contact Page.