[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 12 (Thursday, January 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S1464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S1464]]
                              GLOBAL AIDS

  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, yesterday, I was pleased to join Senators 
Durbin, DeWine and others in sponsoring an amendment to increase 
funding to fight AIDS around the world. It is imperative that we do all 
we can to stem the spread of this deadly and devastating disease.
  The latest statistics tell a grim story: The AIDS epidemic claimed 
more than 3 million lives in 2002, and an estimated 5 million people 
acquired the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, in 2002, bringing to 42 
million the number of people globally living with the virus. While we 
are most familiar with the presence of AIDS in Africa, especially sub-
Saharan Africa, AIDS is rapidly expanding throughout Eastern Europe, 
Asia and the Caribbean. By 2010, it is estimated that approximately 40 
million children worldwide will have lost one or both of their parents 
to HIV/AIDS.
  The amendment adopted by the Senate would increase our commitment to 
the United States Agency for International Development's Child Survival 
and Health Programs Fund by $180 million. Of that amount, $100 million 
is for a U.S. contribution to the United Nations Global Fund to Fight 
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and $25 million is available for 
transfer to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to help in the 
prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. This amount will bring the total 
U.S. contribution for Fiscal Year 2003 in the fight against global AIDS 
to $1.525 billion. While this is a far cry from the $2.5 billion sought 
by the international health community to meet the needs of 
international organizations working to eradicate AIDS and individual 
countries grappling with soaring HIV infection rates, it is the least 
we can do.
  The current Administration has asserted on a number of occasions that 
the U.S. government is prepared to play a leadership role in the fight 
against the spread of HIV/AIDS. Yet earlier this year, the President 
chose not to spend $200 million which was included in the Fiscal Year 
2002 emergency supplemental for the U.N. Global Fund to Fight AIDS. it 
is no surprise that the international community questions our 
commitment to this fight. Leadership requires more than rhetoric. It 
requires that we commit our fair share of resources so we can fully 
participate in a larger, more comprehensive international effort to 
regain control of this crisis.
  I am pleased my colleagues supported this amendment.

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