Hey TBFighters,
Our friends from Partners in Health Engage (PIHE) chapters across the country are on the hill today, August 10, and we want to support them by contacting congressional offices. Remember that if you have spoken to a specific staffer at Hill Day, through another meeting, or email, this is a great time to use that personal contact - or, you can reach out to an office through their public phone number, website form, or email.
Defending Existing Global Health Funding
PIHE Hill Day is advocating for Global Health spending - and you can support them by contacting your reps and senators, letting them know that advocates are on the hill, and asking that they sign on to an oversight letter. Remind your elected officials that they hold the power of the purse!
Both Representatives and Senators can sign onto the oversight letter for this funding. The deadline for signing is end of the day on Tuesday, August 18. You can use this script for calls or emails, adding in why global health and TB are important issues to you. You can (and should!) also adjust it to your officials’ priorities and interests. If you are calling, instead of giving the Quill URL you can tell mention the “Letter Defending Global Health Programs” through Sen. Markey (for Senators) or Reps Amo and Walkinshaw (for Representatives):
Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent in [city, state, zip code]. I am contacting your office to ask [Senator/Representative name] to sign onto the congressional oversight letter to the State Department and Office of Management and Budget defending global health funding and reinforcing Congressional intent. Advocates from Partners in Health Engage are on the hill today and may be meeting with your office, and I am reaching out to support them.
Right now, only 7% of the FY25 Global Health Programs funding at the Department of State has been obligated, even though it expires on September 30, 2026. The OMB is also proposing to use $1.35 billion from that account for USAID closeout costs - closeouts only needed because of the devastating DOGE cuts. Programs were shuttered over a year ago, so it's unclear what closeout costs remain, and this unfairly targets the Global Health accounts to service all of USAID closeouts. As you may know, USAID has saved over 70 million lives, and this money is still desperately needed around the world.
The State Department is also proposing changes to how PEPFAR operates, shifting from a collaborative model where the CDC works with other countries directly to a “fee-for-service” model where countries contract select PEPFAR services. This change will lead to less support through PEPFAR throughout the world, and limits the CDC’s ability to monitor disease outbreaks in other countries that could spread to the United States.
You can sign by COB on Tuesday, August 18 via Quill at https://quill.senate.gov/letters/letter/38707/opt-in/view/22c1faf6-e65a-4703-a4db-23934885f0bf/
If you have any questions, please contact Anna Zimmerman in Rep. Amo’s office ([email protected]), Maha Syed in Rep. Walkinshaw’s office ([email protected]), or Kei Helm in Senator Markey’s office ([email protected]).
Thank you for your consideration
[your name]
Reminder: End TB Now Act
The End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2026 (S.4751) is in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and we can help it move forward. It proposes a multi-pronged approach to diagnose, treat, and prevent TB, including increased funding for vaccine and treatment research, public health programs, and global partnerships.
Contact your senators, especially those on the Foreign Relations Committee, to urge them to co-sponsor the bill, and support it through the process. Already contact them about this bill? It’s great to call again! We’ll let you know if and when it makes it to the Senate floor and the House of Representatives. You can use the phone call script in a previous TBFighters newsletter, or email template from fellow TBFighter Katherine.
Committee Members: Risch (R-ID), Shaheen (D-NH, already a co-sponsor), Barrasso (R-WY), Booker (D-NJ), Coons (D-DE), Cornyn (R-TX), Cruz (R-TX), Curtis (R-UT), Daines (R-MT), Duckworth (D-IL), Hagerty (R-TN), Kaine (D-VA), Lee (R-UT), McCormick (R-PA), Merkley (D-OR), Murphy (D-CT), Paul (R-KY), Ricketts (R-NE), Rosen (D-NV), Schatz (D-HI), Scott (R-FL), Van Hollen (D-MD)
Yours in activism,
TBFighters
