[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 30, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H7390-H7391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE THREAT OF AIDS STILL WREAKS HAVOC DOMESTICALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms.

[[Page H7391]]

 Millender-McDonald) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, the world we live in is becoming 
more complex each and every day. The tragic and heinous events of 
September 11 transformed the way Americans and people in this world 
respond to news.
  In the aftermath of recent events, our country and the world is 
experiencing a state of high anxiety directly related to threats of 
bioterrorism, and most recently, anthrax contamination. House offices 
were closed, and some remain closed, while anthrax contamination is 
eliminated. Postal offices have been shut down for periods of time, and 
postal workers have succumbed to anthrax inhalation and died from their 
exposure to this very deadly chemical agent.
  Indeed, a war is being waged on numerous fronts to preserve freedom 
and the health of our Nation and its world partners. However, Mr. 
Speaker, there is another deadly vital threat that has been wreaking 
havoc domestically and internationally. That threat is the scourge of 
HIV/AIDS.

                              {time}  1900

  While our Nation and its global neighbors have undertaken a campaign 
to stave off the threats of terrorism poised by ideological fanatics, 
millions have died and millions are suffering from HIV/AIDS. Their 
plight is there. Yet global concerns revolve around potential 
terrorism. Perhaps that is because the specter of 6,000 lives lost to 
terrorist acts still looms large. However, the reality is that HIV/AIDS 
has claimed the lives of over 25 million people including an estimated 
4 million children, most of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  The global AIDS crisis in Africa is without question the most vexing 
humanitarian crisis in recent history. The statistics are shocking and 
alarming. Eight thousand people died from AIDS every day last year and 
six people died every minute. Fifty-eight million people have been 
infected since the virus was first recognized 20 years ago. Recent 
projections are that the total will exceed 100 million by 2007. These 
numbers are mind-boggling. As a mother and grandmother, I am struck by 
the fact that AIDS has orphaned over 10 million children in Africa. By 
2010 there would be more than 40 million AIDS orphans. Therefore, 
proactive measures must be initiated.
  I and many of my colleagues in a bipartisan way responded to the 
challenge put before us. On September 5, I introduced the Peace Corps 
HIV/AIDS Training Enhancement Act of 2001. This legislation provides an 
additional $5 million to the Peace Corps to pay for health volunteers 
working with HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention efforts, particularly 
the training of HIV/AIDS trainers. Currently, there are 7,300 Peace 
Corps volunteers who work in 76 countries worldwide including 25 
countries in Africa; 1,431 of these Peace Corps members are health 
volunteers who serve in Africa.
  The volunteers work in rural and urban settings in a variety of 
health activities, including teaching HIV/AIDS education and prevention 
methodologies to local people. The Peace Corps would like to increase 
its capacity in HIV/AIDS education and prevention activities, 
especially in the area of training HIV/AIDS trainers; but it cannot do 
so without this additional appropriation.
  I believe that Peace Corps volunteers work and perform God's work. 
They are the vanguards of humanitarian efforts in the struggle to 
eradicate HIV/AIDS. The volunteers' efforts target training literate 
peer educators and community health workers who will be training others 
in the community. Their work is commendable and critical. Much of their 
work is targeted in Sub-Saharan Africa where 25 percent of the 
population may be infected. They have to garner the trust of the people 
in the community and then work to establish the building blocks 
necessary to transform the attitudes and behavior of at-risk 
populations, especially children and women.
  Their messages are directed at people living with HIV as well as 
those who are not currently infected. Children are the focus because 
they are impressionable and vulnerable. Young African American girls 
must be educated because they are more likely to contract HIV and AIDS 
than young boys of the same age, and that goes for African kids too.
  Peace Corps volunteers are the front line because reality is that new 
drugs are expensive and not usually available throughout Africa. 
Additionally, the infrastructure does not exist for monitoring the 
immune system of victims overcome by the disease who are undertreated. 
That is why we must use the human factor, Peace Corps volunteers, to 
stem the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.
  The Peace Corps HIV/AIDS Training Enhancement Act of 2001 can be a 
useful tool in transforming the plight of many throughout the world. We 
are all members of a global village that is interdependent. 
Consequently, global threats in different forms such as terrorism, 
bioterrorism and the global pandemic of HIV/AIDS must be fought on many 
fronts simultaneously. We must be vigilant on all fronts.

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