[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 156 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S14284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REGIONAL COOPERATIVE HEALTH PROGRAM FUNDING THROUGH WYE SUPPLEMENTAL 
                           ASSISTANCE-FUNDING

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise today to urge the United States 
Agency for International Development (USAID) to allocate some of its 
Wye Supplemental Assistance Funding to the first regional cooperative 
health program ever designed to serve both the Palestinians and 
Israelis. Improving the health of Palestinians and Israelis through a 
successful cooperative endeavor would provide a vibrant prescription 
for peace in the Middle East.
  This important health program, which pairs the Kuvin Center for the 
Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases of the Hebrew University in 
Jerusalem with the Palestinian Al-Quds University, has requested 
support from USAID as a $20 million, five-year program. The purpose of 
this program is to find innovative ways to fight infectious diseases in 
the region, and calls upon these Universities to build a permanent, 
collaborative infrastructure for improving the health of the 
Palestinian and Israeli people.
  United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has said the most 
important projects for promoting peace and cooperation between nations 
are what she calls ``people projects''--those projects that people of 
all races, religions, and beliefs can support. This program, which 
seeks to protect local people from the infectious and parasitic 
diseases that are among the leading causes of death in the West Bank 
and Gaza, is a great example of fostering cooperation through people 
projects of mutual interest.
  USAID has successfully funded similar health programs in Egypt and 
Turkey, but this is the first such program proposed for the Israeli and 
Palestinian people. Members of Congress, the President, and the State 
Department all support this program. If USAID funds the program, it 
would give the United States scientific and fiscal oversight through 
both USAID and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
  I support the funding for this regional collaborative effort as a 
powerful example of what a working relationship should be in the Middle 
East and I believe that it should be given the highest funding priority 
out of the Wye package.

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