[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1772-E1773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         INTRODUCTION OF THE AIDS MARSHALL PLAN FUND FOR AFRICA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 5, 1999

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to introduce legislation designed 
to focus both attention and resources on the global emergency of HIV/
AIDS, which is wreaking havoc in developing countries, most tragically 
in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  Throughout much of the First Session of the 106th Congress, much 
information has been disseminated and discussed about the HIV/AIDS 
crisis in Africa. While AIDS has afflicted Africa since the late 
1980's, the latest increases in the HIV/AIDS infected population are 
staggering. The disease is quite literally obliterating entire 
communities and devastating the continent.
  The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) 1999 Annual Report notes 
that of the 14 million people world wide who have died from AIDS, 11 
million are from the nations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  UNAIDS, the United Nations coordinating entity which tracks and 
combats HIV/AIDS, estimates that 22.5 million Sub-Saharan African 
adults and children are currently living with AIDS.
  Additionally, the HIV/AIDS virus is devastating southern Africa. In 
Zimbabwe, 1 out of every 5 adults is infected with HIV/AIDS, and an 
estimated 1,400 people die every week from AIDS. In South Africa, an 
estimated 3.6 million people are infected with the HIV/AIDS.
  A 1999 Census Bureau report states that the average life expectancy 
in Botswana, malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe fell from 
approximately 65 years of age to 40 years of age. This represents the 
lowest life expectancy rates in the world and is largely due to the 
mortality rates from HIV/AIDS.
  In April, I had the opportunity to participate in a Presidential 
Delegation to Southern Africa to examine the growing crisis of African 
children orphaned by AIDS. These children now total 7.8 million and are 
estimated to reach 40 million by 2010. The 1999 annual report by the 
United Nations Children's Fund tells us, and I couldn't agree more, 
that ``the number of orphans, particularly in Africa, constitutes 
nothing less than an emergency, requiring an emergency response'' and 
that ``finding the resources needed to help stabilize the crisis and 
protect children is a priority that requires urgent action from the 
international community.''
  Not only do we have a moral imperative to address this epidemic, but 
it is in our own best interest to do so. HIV/AIDS in Africa is more 
than a humanitarian crisis, it is an economic crisis, crippling 
Africa's workforce in many areas and creating even greater economic 
instability where poverty is ever-present. For example, companies such 
as Barclays Bank and British Petroleum are now hiring two employees for 
each skilled job, assuming that one will die from AIDS. The Southern 
African AIDS Information Dissemination Service estimates that over the 
next 20 years, AIDS will reduce by one-fourth the value of the 
economies of sub-Saharan African countries. We cannot create successful 
and sustainable economic partnerships with African nations unless we 
address, in a substantial manner, the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
  Additionally, HIV/AIDS poses serious national security concerns among 
the continent and globally. Perhaps the most stunning example is the 80 
percent HIV infection rate of the military forces of Zimbabwe. 
Fledgling democratic nations, such as Nigeria, have yet to begin 
testing and educating their populations. Nigeria also has soldiers 
returning from peacekeeping operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone. If 
these soldiers are not tested and advised about the serious nature of 
their infections and educated about the risk they pose to others, we 
will be facing a whole new level of devastation from the epidemic.
  Mr. Speaker, I am convinced that the United States must take the lead 
in developing an immediate and sustained response to this crisis in 
Africa and globally. It is in our own national interest to aggressively 
attack the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, just we have with other diseases 
such as small pox and polio. Communicable diseases know no boundaries. 
As the world gets smaller, we have an obligation to eradicate HIV/AIDS 
from the face of the earth to protect the world family from its 
devastating effects. To date our response as a nation to this global 
epidemic has been sorely inadequate. For this reason, today I am 
introducing the AIDS Marshall Plan Fund for Africa Act (AMFPA). The 
AIDS Marshall Plan will assist African governments and non-governmental 
organizations to combat and control AIDS by providing grant funding for 
HIV/AIDS research, education, prevention and treatment.
  Specifically, this legislation creates the AMPFA Corporation that 
shall be a new United States government agency. The Corporation shall 
work in conjunction with the heads of appropriate federal agencies 
currently engaged in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. The 
AMFPA Corporation shall be governed by a Board of Directors with the 
advice and guidance from an International Advisory Board made up of 
distinguished leaders with impeccable integrity and commitment to the 
health and well being of people throughout the world. The Corporation 
shall also consult with representatives from community-based African 
health, education and related organizations regarding the efficacy of 
providing grant funding in African countries.
  The Corporation shall also create a public-private partnership by 
soliciting funds from private companies and donor nations--especially 
the G8 countries--to contribute significant resources to its grant 
making activities.
  Mr. Speaker, I realize that accountability is a key issue in today's 
foreign assistance environment. Therefore, the Corporation shall create 
self-sufficiency requirements for grant recipients to ensure their 
programs become increasingly independent of AMFPA funding.

[[Page E1773]]

Additionally, the Corporation shall create criteria for African 
governments to establish matching funds based upon ability to pay and 
to demonstrate a national commitment to combating HIV/AIDS by 
establishing, for example, a national HIV/AIDS council or agency.
  Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the administrative costs, or overhead 
associated with the AMPFA Corporation, are mandated to be no more than 
8 percent of the Corporation's overall budget. The AMPFA Act authorizes 
the appropriation of $200 million for each of the fiscal years 2001 
through 2005. Also, for each of the fiscal years 2002 through 2005, the 
Act authorizes an appropriation to fund an additional amount equal to 
25 percent of the total funds contributed to the Corporation.
  Mr. Speaker, in a June 1999 lecture entitled ``The Global Challenges 
of AIDS'', United States Secretary General Kofi Annan stated that ``no 
company and no government can take on the challenge of AIDS alone. What 
is needed is a new approach to public health--combining all available 
resources, public an private, local and global''. It is my intent that 
the AIDS Marshall Plan for Africa serve as a replicable model for 
addressing this crisis globally. Already, this proposed legislation has 
received the support of over 40 Members of Congress and has caught the 
interest of the African diplomatic corps, African and African-American 
organizations, AIDS activists, and global health organizations that are 
interested in providing assistance to pass the legislation.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I am committed to seeing this legislation 
through to final passage and encourage my colleagues to review the 
legislation and to contact me or my staff with questions. This bill 
will support Africa in a substantive and meaningful manner.

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