[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 41 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E573-E574]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          CHILD SURVIVAL, TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL AND MICROCREDIT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 1998

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit my testimony which I 
presented this week at the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign 
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs into the Record of 
the House of Representatives.

[[Page E574]]

  Mr. Chairman, thank you for giving me this opportunity to come before 
you today to speak about the important programs contained in your 
foreign assistance bill. I am a strong supporter of a number of these 
programs, including child survival, tuberculosis control and 
microcredit.
  I want to begin by thanking you for your unwavering protection of 
child survival programs over the past few years. I know that it is 
thanks to you and this Subcommittee that each year this program has 
been specifically protected and expanded. Child survival programs 
provide life-saving vaccinations and micronutrients to millions of 
needy children in the developing world. I know that I do not have to 
tell you, Mr. Chairman, that child survival programs mean simple, cost-
effecient solutions like oral rehydration therapy, which prevents 1.5 
million child deaths each year, and five cent capsules of vitamin A, 
given to children three times a year, which reduce child death rates by 
as much as twenty-five percent in affected populations. The 
vaccinations that are funded each year, Mr. Chairman, are a large part 
of the reason that three million children are immunized from diseases 
and, therefore, able to escape death. I am aware that you have had to 
push hard for the protection of child survival programs, and I commend 
you for your dedication to these children.
  I would also like to thank you for expanding your Child Survival and 
Disease Account by $50 million in FY98 to include more funding for 
infectious diseases. I thank you for that increase, because I know how 
critically important such funding is, especially in terms of our global 
fight against the disease of tuberculosis.
  The spread of TB concerns me, because it is often considered a 
disease of the poor and a problem of the developing world--and yet, we 
are all in danger of contracting it. It is on the rise around the world 
and here in the United States, where it is estimated that fifteen 
million Americans are infected with the bacteria that causes TB. This 
city of Washington, D.C. where you and I spend so much of our time, is 
one of TB's ``hot zones'' in the United States--and my own district in 
Southern California is at risk, as people travel back and forth across 
our international border. With two million people crossing 
international borders each day, stopping this threat at the border is 
not a realistic option. This disease is a danger to the health and 
economic well-being of all Americans, and we must do more to control 
it.
  According to the World Health Organization, infectious diseases cause 
nearly thirty percent of deaths in poor countries, and they receive 
only 1.5 percent in foreign aid. I know that you are doing your part to 
see that the percentage of aid going to infectious diseases is 
increased. Thanks to your $50 million ``set-aside'', the Administration 
increased its funding for tuberculosis control programs from roughly $1 
million a year to $15-20 million. This is a significant increase, but I 
am still concerned that it will be insufficient to keep up with the 
spread of tuberculosis--and so I urge you to do more. You have my full 
support for a significant increase in funding within your legislation 
for tuberculosis control programs for FY99.
  Finally, I would like to thank you for your support for microcredit 
programs in the past, and I ask that you expand and specifically 
protect this successful and proven program in your foreign assistance 
bill next year. I understand, according to a recent USAID report, that 
funding for microcredit has declined between 1994 and 1996. In 
addition, AID has not achieved a goal that it set for itself in 1994 to 
spend half of overall microcredit funding on programs serving the 
poorest people. Only $42 million went to poverty-targeting of a very 
reduced overall level of $111 million for 1996. Given the positive 
effects of this program on the lives of poor families and poor 
children, I believe that the United States should be doing more in this 
area. Just as with the child survival program, however, I think that 
without your direction, USAID will continue to underprioritize this 
program which is capable of changing the lives of millions of people. 
Therefore, I request that you significantly expand and protect this 
program which does so much for poor families in the developing world.
  Thank you for considering these requests as you draft your 
legislation this year. I appreciate this opportunity to apprise you of 
my interest in the child survival program, in tuberculosis control, and 
in microcredit.

                          ____________________