[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 177 (Wednesday, December 19, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2327]]
    GLOBAL ACCESS TO HIV/AIDS PREVENTION, AWARENESS, EDUCTION, AND 
                         TREATMENT ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 11, 2001

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2069 the 
Global Access to HIV/AIDS Prevention, Awareness, Education, and 
Treatment Act of 2001. The HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens the stability of 
the modern world, as we know it in both developed and developing 
countries.
  I would first like to thank Chairman Hyde for introducing this 
important legislation. I also would like to thank Congresswoman Barbara 
Lee for her tireless work in the area of AIDS and her efforts to raise 
the consciousness of her colleagues to combat this horrendous disease.
  The devastation of the HIV/AIDS disease does not discriminate, and 
impacts the lives of us all. Recent reports from the United Nations 
state that more than 58 million people globally have been infected with 
HIV/AIDS. This horrendous disease has negatively impacted the economies 
of Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, and Eastern Europe.
  This legislation takes a comprehensive approach to combating HIV/AIDS 
by providing funding for the prevention, education, testing, treatment, 
and care of individuals with HIV/AIDS. I support and applaud the 
substantial increase in funding that H.R. 2069 provides to fight HIV/
AIDS around the world. I am happy to see that this bill authorizes $485 
million in bilateral funding, $50 million for treatment, and $750 
million for multilateral funding for fiscal year 2002. 1 hope that this 
contribution by the United States is the first of many, and that it 
will serve as a down payment on the improvement of our global future.
  The HIV/AIDS pandemic has erased decades of progress in improving the 
lives of families in the developing world and has claimed 22,000,000 
lives since its inception.
  More than 17,000,000 individuals have died from HIV/AIDS in sub-
Saharan Africa alone.
  Two-thirds of those diagnosed with the AIDS virus in the Caribbean 
are dead within two years. AIDS is the leading cause of death in the 
Caribbean for those fifteen to forty-five years of age and these 
numbers continue to increase.
  We as a nation must once again exhibit the strong leadership that is 
our heritage and do the right thing by addressing this humanitarian and 
economic crisis head on. H.R. 2069 does just that by exhibiting our 
commitment in the U.S. Congress to combating this dreaded disease 
through the authorization of this much needed and necessary funding.--

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