[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 160 (Thursday, November 6, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 2800, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT 
        FINANCING AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

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                               speech of

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 5, 2003

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support this motion to instruct 
the conferees for the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill to accept 
the Senate's higher levels of funding for global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis 
and malaria programs. The Senate bill provides $1.7 billion for these 
programs in fiscal year 2004. When combined with $700 million in the 
Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations bill, this would provide 
$2.4 billion for these programs.
  Last January, in his State of the Union address, the President made a 
commitment to the community of nations to provide $15 billion over five 
years to wipe out the scourge of HIV/AIDS, which is ravaging the 
continent of Africa and spreading rapidly throughout the world. Within 
four months, Congress passed and the President signed H.R. 1298, the 
U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act, which 
authorizes $3 billion per year in funding over the next five years for 
global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria treatment and prevention 
efforts.
  Unfortunately, it was not long before the President's State of the 
Union commitment began looking like another empty promise. In his FY 
2004 budget, the President proposed only $2 billion for global HIV/
AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs, and the Republican 
congressional leadership refused to fully fund H.R. 1298. The House 
provided only $1.4 billion in the Foreign Operations Appropriations 
bill and $700 million in the Labor-Health and Human Services 
Appropriations bill for a total of $2.1 billion for efforts to fight 
these devastating diseases.
  I have been working for many years to bring attention to the AIDS 
epidemic, which is destabilizing economies and societies throughout the 
world. In the last year, over three million people died of AIDS, and 
five million people were newly infected with this dreadful disease.
  The House's proposed appropriation of $2.1 billion for these 
widespread epidemics is grossly inadequate and a shameful, broken 
promise. The Senate's higher figure of $2.4 billion, while it comes 
closer to the $3 billion that the President promised, is still not 
enough. It is time for the Congress to take this issue seriously. It is 
time for the United States to keep its promise to the world community 
of nations and to the victims of these dreadful diseases and their 
families and friends.
  I urge my colleagues to support this motion to instruct, and I urge 
the conferees to go even further and provide $3 billion to fully fund 
global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria efforts for fiscal year 2004.




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