NM Sens should sign USAID bill

AS A MOTHER and grandmother, I look forward to the happiness I enjoy with my family on Mother’s Day. I know, however, that this happiness and family joy is not possible in families of the 6.3 million children who die every year of preventable and treatable diseases.

Over the years, our country has helped reduce this number of childhood deaths by more than half through efficient programs with proven success. Now we have another opportunity to reduce these avoidable tragedies even more efficiently and faster.

New legislation in the U.S. Congress is being developed to give more structural support, targeted goals, mea- sured achievement and more accountability to our USAID programs. It is a way of increasing the outcomes of our dollars without increasing our investment.

My wish for this Mother’s Day is that our senators, Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, will cosign this bill in the Senate when it is introduced, and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan will also be a cosigner when the bill appears in the House. As their constituent, I make this wish knowing they have the power to support this worthy effort toward a healthier, safer, but less heartbreaking world. SANDRA DUCKERT Results Volunteer Corrales