[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 8 (Thursday, February 3, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             AIDS IN AFRICA

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I know we are nearing the end of the day, 
and there are no further votes today or tomorrow. I will be reasonably 
brief.
  I wanted to come to the floor when my colleague, Senator Durbin, and 
others were speaking about the crisis dealing with AIDS in Africa. I 
wasn't able to come. I would like to mention that issue for a couple of 
moments; then I would like to talk about the issue of trade.
  Today in the Democratic Policy Committee luncheon, we heard from the 
President's chief adviser on the subject of AIDS policy, and we also 
heard from Rory Kennedy, who has done a 12-minute documentary film, an 
award-winning film on the issue of AIDS in Africa. I know my colleagues 
came out to the floor and spoke on that subject following the 
Democratic Policy Committee luncheon.
  It is almost unthinkable what has happened, especially in Africa, 
with respect to the subject of AIDS. AIDS is a scourge, a plague that 
is affecting the entire world. It is the first plague since the bubonic 
plague for which there is no cure, no vaccination, no significant 
remedy. It is devastating to a number of parts of this world, 
especially the continent of Africa. Twenty million people have died in 
Africa from AIDS; 14 million people are currently infected with HIV or 
AIDS in the continent of Africa.
  We can't pretend it doesn't matter to us. AIDS is affecting all of 
the world, including our country. It has a devastating effect on 
Africa, a devastating impact on the millions and millions of children 
in Africa who now have no parents, who are left homeless by this 
scourge called AIDS. We must, as a country, gather with others in the 
world and combat this deadly plague.
  We are spending substantial resources to try to find a cure for AIDS. 
We are also joining with others to try to find ways to educate people 
about how to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. Some countries in Africa 
have begun to take emergency steps and have been successful and are 
beginning to stem the tide of the spread of AIDS, but it is not nearly 
rapid enough. These steps need to be taken with much greater urgency, 
and our country needs to be a part of that with other countries in the 
international community.
  I would first like to compliment Rory Kennedy, who appeared today and 
played for us a 12-minute documentary film that almost takes your 
breath away when you see on film what has happened to the children and 
the families in Africa with the decimation of so many families as a 
result of death from AIDS.
  We must do more. I compliment my colleagues, Senator Durbin, Senator 
Bryan, Senator Feinstein, Senator Feingold, and others, many of whom 
have traveled to Africa in recent months, and my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle as well who are involved in this. We must work 
together to address this issue.

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