DATA Statement on Bono's Meetings with US Presidential Candidates

02.09.07

Bono, lead singer of U2 and co-founder of the African advocacy organization DATA, is in the U.S. this week meeting with legislators, presidential candidates and others about the strategic importance of fighting extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa.

On Monday and Tuesday, he met with Senator Sam Brownback, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John Edwards, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator Chuck Hagel, Senator John McCain, Senator Barack Obama and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. He looks forward to exchanging ideas with all the campaigns in the coming months.

In unstable political times, helping poor countries with tested, affordable interventions is not only the right thing to do -- it's the smart thing to do. We expect that the candidates will be hearing from voters on these issues during the coming elections.

Contact: Taylor Thompson at 202.360.1306, tthompson@data.org