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Senate agrees to triple anti-AIDS
funding
Associated Press – July 17, 2008
By Jim Abrams
The Senate voted Wednesday to triple spending for a
much-acclaimed program that has treated and protected
millions in Africa and elsewhere from the scourges of AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis.
The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to
$48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious
foreign public health program ever launched by the United
States.
The legislation would replace and expand the current $15
billion act that President Bush championed in a State of the
Union address and Congress passed in 2003. That act expires
at the end of September.
In a statement, ' said that when the program was launched in
2003, about 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were
receiving anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. Today, the
program supports lifesaving anti-retroviral treatment for
more than 1.7 million people around the world, he said. It
also has supported treatment and prevention programs that
have helped HIV-positive women give birth to nearly 200,000
infants who are HIV-free.
"Traveling in Africa earlier this year, Laura and I had our
most recent opportunity to witness the effectiveness of this
program," he said. "We were honored to see the doctors,
nurses and caregivers of all faiths working to save the
lives of their fellow citizens. And we met the patients,
including many children, who understand and appreciate
America's generosity."
The Democratic-led Senate, rarely in agreement with the
White House, gave Bush credit for initiating the program.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee and a chief negotiator in crafting the
bill, said the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief,
known as PEPFAR, is "the single most significant thing the
president has done."
The global AIDS program will save tens of thousands, if not
hundreds of thousands, of lives, Biden said, "and the
president deserves our recognition for that."
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., top Republican on the Foreign
Relations Committee, and co-negotiator with Biden, said the
program "has helped to prevent instability and societal
collapse in a number of at-risk countries." He added that it
has "facilitated deep partnerships with a new generation of
African leaders, and it has improved attitudes toward the
United States in Africa and other regions."
Biden said he had been coordinating with House leaders and
was confident they could come up with a final version
"within a matter of days."
The bill passed by the House in April approved $50 billion,
including $5 billion for malaria, $4 billion for
tuberculosis and $41 billion for AIDS. Of the AIDS money, a
proportion — $2 billion next year — would go to the
international Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria. Actual spending levels still have to be approved in
annual appropriations bills.
Earlier Wednesday, the Senate, acceding to arguments that
Congress must also address humanitarian issues closer to
home, agreed to set aside $2 billion of the $50 billion for
American Indian water, health and law enforcement projects.
"We don't have to go off of our shore to find third world
conditions," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., sponsor of the
amendment with Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.,
and others. Biden said House negotiators had indicated they
would accept the change.
The Senate vote came after months of negotiations with
Senate conservatives wanting assurances that the new AIDS
bill would continue to include programs promoting abstinence
and fidelity and would not discriminate against religious
groups in allotting funding.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., saying he wanted to prevent money
from being diverted to irrelevant development programs,
secured language that more than half the money would go to
treating AIDS victims.
He said he was still concerned about how to pay for the $50
billion program. But Coburn, a medical doctor, said he
believed that "this is our most successful foreign policy
initiative in my lifetime. This is the most effective thing
we have done to build America's prestige, esteem and
respect."
Senate changes will have to be worked out with the House.
Those include a measure added to the Senate bill by Sens.
John Kerry, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore., that would
reverse a policy that has made it difficult for HIV-positive
foreigners to visit or seek residency in the United States.
"For 20 years the United States has barred HIV-positive
travelers from entering the country even for one day," said
Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality.
"Today the Senate said loud and clear that AIDS
exceptionalism must come to an end."
The Senate was able to reject several proposed amendments
offered by Republicans to cut the spending level in the
bill. Supporters of tripling current spending said that 33
million are infected by HIV/AIDS around the world and that
13,000 people die every day from AIDS, TB and malaria.
"The amount per year, about $10 billion, is less than 1
percent of this year's federal budget, and this is a small
price to pay for a program that will save millions of lives
and foster good will around the world," said Dr. Paul Zeitz,
executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance.
The bill is S. 2731.
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