[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 101 (Friday, July 22, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2006 AND 2007

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                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 20, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2601) to 
     authorize appropriations for the Department of State for 
     fiscal years 2006 and 2007, and for other purposes:

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me thank my distinguished colleague from 
California, the Ranking Member of the International Relations Committee 
for his leadership and commitment to addressing the global HIV/AIDS 
pandemic. And I also want to thank the Chairman, Henry Hyde for his 
dedication and willingness to work with me on this important issue over 
the last several years.
  Mr. Speaker, this amendment is completely unnecessary. While I 
appreciate the efforts of the Chairman to improve it, the real problem 
is that it reinforces the prostitution pledge--an underlying policy 
that I believe is fatally flawed, and I want to tell you why.
  In 2003 I traveled to Zambia as part of a Congressional Delegation 
examining food security and HIV/AIDS in Africa. We visited the Chirundu 
region, on the border with Zimbabwe, where delays in processing travel 
had forced many truckers to wait for months before they could cross the 
border.
  The Chirundu region is incredibly poor. But because the truckers were 
still receiving their per diem and had time to waste, many poor and 
destitute women were drawn there to sell their bodies in exchange for 
money to buy food and provide clothing and shelter for their families.
  Thankfully, the USAID Cross Border Initiative was reaching out to the 
truckers and these women, to ensure that they were educated about the 
dangers of sex work, about the risks of HIV/AIDS, and about the need to 
protect themselves.
  These women trusted the USAID program to help them, because even as 
it encouraged them to find other sources of income, and tried to 
educate and protect them from HIV, it did not cast judgment on them for 
trying to feed their families.
  By requiring organizations to formally oppose prostitution, we hinder 
their ability to reach out to sex-workers and teach them about the 
dangers of HIV.
  Such a policy runs counter to good public health practices, and 
effectively denies vital HIV prevention services and education to 
women.
  We need to fix this broken, misguided policy.

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