[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1120 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1120

      To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase the 
authorization of appropriations for fiscal year 2002, and to authorize 
 appropriations for fiscal year 2003, to combat HIV and AIDS, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 28, 2001

    Mrs. Boxer (for herself and Mr. Smith of Oregon) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase the 
authorization of appropriations for fiscal year 2002, and to authorize 
 appropriations for fiscal year 2003, to combat HIV and AIDS, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Global AIDS Research and Relief Act 
of 2001''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) AIDS.--The term ``AIDS'' means the acquired immune 
        deficiency syndrome.
            (2) Association.--The term ``Association'' means the 
        International Development Association.
            (3) Bank.--The term ``Bank'' or ``World Bank'' means the 
        International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
            (4) HIV.--The term ``HIV'' means the human immunodeficiency 
        virus, the pathogen, which causes AIDS.
            (5) HIV/AIDS.--The term ``HIV/AIDS'' means, with respect to 
        an individual, an individual who is infected with HIV or living 
        with AIDS.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) According to the Surgeon General of the United States, 
        the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune 
        deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) will soon become the worst 
        epidemic of infectious disease in recorded history, eclipsing 
        both the bubonic plague of the 1300s and the influenza epidemic 
        of 1918-1919 which killed more than 20,000,000 people 
        worldwide.
            (2) According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/
        AIDS (UNAIDS), more than 36,100,000 people in the world today 
        are living with HIV/AIDS, of which approximately 95 percent 
        live in the developing world.
            (3) UNAIDS data shows that among children age 15 and under 
        worldwide, more than 4,300,000 have died from AIDS, more than 
        1,400,000 are living with the disease; and in 1 year alone--
        2000--an estimated 600,000 became infected, of which over 90 
        percent were babies born to HIV-positive women.
            (4) Although sub-Saharan Africa has only 10 percent of the 
        world's population, it is home to more than 25,300,000--roughly 
        70 percent--of the world's HIV/AIDS cases.
            (5) Worldwide, there have already been an estimated 
        21,800,000 deaths because of HIV/AIDS, of which more than 80 
        percent occurred in sub-Saharan Africa.
            (6) According to UNAIDS, by the end of 1999, 13,200,000 
        children have lost at least one parent to AIDS, including 
        12,100,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa, and are thus 
        considered AIDS orphans.
            (7) At current infection and growth rates for HIV/AIDS, the 
        National Intelligence Council estimates that the number of AIDS 
        orphans worldwide will increase dramatically, potentially 
        increasing threefold or more in the next 10 years, contributing 
        to economic decay, social fragmentation, and political 
        destabilization in already volatile and strained societies. 
        Children without care or hope are often drawn into 
        prostitution, crime, substance abuse, or child soldiery.
            (8) The discovery of a relatively simple and inexpensive 
        means of interrupting the transmission of HIV from an infected 
        mother to the unborn child--namely with nevirapine (NVP), which 
        costs $4 a tablet--has created a great opportunity for an 
        unprecedented partnership between the United States Government 
        and the governments of Asian, African, and Latin American 
        countries to reduce mother-to-child transmission (also known as 
        ``vertical transmission'') of HIV.
            (9) According to UNAIDS, if implemented this strategy will 
        decrease the proportion of orphans that are HIV-infected and 
        decrease infant and child mortality rates in these developing 
        regions.
            (10) A mother-to-child antiretroviral drug strategy can be 
        a force for social change, providing the opportunity and 
        impetus needed to address often longstanding problems of 
        inadequate services and the profound stigma associated with 
        HIV-infection and the AIDS disease. Strengthening the health 
        infrastructure to improve mother-and-child health, antenatal, 
        delivery, and postnatal services, and couples counseling 
        generates enormous spillover effects toward combating the AIDS 
        epidemic in developing regions.
            (11) A January 2000 United States National Intelligence 
        Estimate (NIE) report on the global infectious disease threat 
        concluded that the economic costs of infectious diseases--
        especially HIV/AIDS--are already significant and could reduce 
        GDP by as much as 20 percent or more by 2010 in some sub-
        Saharan African nations.
            (12) The HIV/AIDS epidemic is of increasing concern in 
        other regions of the world, with UNAIDS estimating that there 
        are more than 5,800,000 cases in South and Southeast Asia, that 
        the rate of HIV infection in the Caribbean is second only to 
        sub-Saharan Africa, and that HIV infections have doubled in 
        just 2 years in the former Soviet Union.
            (13) Russia is the new ``hot spot'' for the pandemic and 
        more Russians are expected to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS by the 
        end of 2001 than all cases from previous years combined.
            (14) Despite the discouraging statistics on the spread of 
        HIV/AIDS, some developing nations-- such as Uganda, Senegal, 
and Thailand--have implemented prevention programs that have 
substantially curbed the rate of HIV infection.
            (15) Accordingly, United States financial support for 
        medical research, education, and disease containment as a 
        global strategy has beneficial ramifications for millions of 
        Americans and their families who are affected by this disease, 
        and the entire population, which is potentially susceptible.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) help prevent human suffering through the prevention, 
        diagnosis, and treatment of HIV/AIDS; and
            (2) help ensure the viability of economic development, 
        stability, and national security in the developing world by 
        advancing research to--
                    (A) understand the causes associated with HIV/AIDS 
                in developing countries; and
                    (B) assist in the development of an AIDS vaccine.

SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE AUTHORITIES TO COMBAT HIV AND AIDS.

    Paragraphs (4) through (6) of section 104(c) of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(c)) are amended to read as 
follows:
            ``(4)(A) Congress recognizes the growing international 
        dilemma of children with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 
        and the merits of intervention programs aimed at this problem. 
        Congress further recognizes that mother-to-child transmission 
        prevention strategies can serve as a major force for change in 
        developing regions, and it is, therefore, a major objective of 
        the foreign assistance program to control the acquired immune 
        deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic.
            ``(B) The agency primarily responsible for administering 
        this part shall--
                    ``(i) coordinate with UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO, national 
                and local governments, other organizations, and other 
                Federal agencies to develop and implement effective 
                strategies to prevent vertical transmission of HIV; and
                    ``(ii) coordinate with those organizations to 
                increase intervention programs and introduce voluntary 
                counseling and testing, antiretroviral drugs, 
                replacement feeding, and other strategies.
            ``(5)(A) Congress expects the agency primarily responsible 
        for administering this part to make the human immunodeficiency 
        virus (HIV) and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) 
        a priority in the foreign assistance program and to undertake a 
        comprehensive, coordinated effort to combat HIV and AIDS.
            ``(B) Assistance described in subparagraph (A) shall 
        include help providing--
                    ``(i) primary prevention and education;
                    ``(ii) voluntary testing and counseling;
                    ``(iii) medications to prevent the transmission of 
                HIV from mother to child;
                    ``(iv) programs to strengthen and broaden health 
                care systems infrastructure and the capacity of health 
                care systems in developing countries to deliver HIV/
                AIDS pharmaceuticals, prevention, and treatment to 
                those afflicted with HIV/AIDS; and
                    ``(v) care for those living with HIV or AIDS.
            ``(6)(A) In addition to amounts otherwise available for 
        such purpose, there is authorized to be appropriated to the 
        President $600,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002 and 
        2003 to carry out paragraphs (4) and (5).
            ``(B) Of the funds authorized to be appropriated under 
        subparagraph (A), not less than 65 percent is authorized to be 
        available through United States and foreign nongovernmental 
        organizations, including private and voluntary organizations, 
        for-profit organizations, religious affiliated organizations, 
        educational institutions, and research facilities.
            ``(C)(i) Of the funds authorized to be appropriated by 
        subparagraph (A), priority should be given to programs that 
        address the support and education of orphans in sub-Saharan 
        Africa, including AIDS orphans and prevention strategies for 
        vertical transmission referred to in paragraph (4)(A).
            ``(ii) Assistance made available under this subsection, and 
        assistance made available under chapter 4 of part II to carry 
        out the purposes of this subsection, may be made available 
        notwithstanding any other provision of law that restricts 
        assistance to foreign countries.
            ``(D) Of the funds authorized to be appropriated by 
        subparagraph (A), not more than 7 percent may be used for the 
        administrative expenses of the agency primarily responsible for 
        carrying out this part of this Act in support of activities 
        described in paragraphs (4) and (5).
            ``(E) Funds appropriated under this paragraph are 
        authorized to remain available until expended.''.
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