[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S2472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Durbin):
  S. 2465. A bill to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to 
provide increased assistance for the prevention, treatment, and control 
of tuberculosis, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today, I am pleased to introduce the 
Boxer-Smith-Durbin STOP-TB Now Act of 2006. This bill would authorize 
additional resources to fight tuberculosis, a deadly infectious disease 
that knows no borders.
  In January, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a 
long-term strategy was developed to cut in half the number of TB cases 
and deaths. This Global Plan to Stop TB estimates that the 10-year cost 
to control tuberculosis is $56 billion, including $47 billion to detect 
and treat TB and $9 billion for additional research and development. If 
this plan is implemented over the next 10 years, it is estimated that 
it will save the lives of 14 million people throughout the world.
  Tuberculosis is a deadly disease, especially in the developing world. 
Tuberculosis kills nearly 2 million people per year--one person every 
15 seconds. One-third of the world is infected with the germ that 
causes TB and an estimated 8.8 million individuals will develop active 
TB each year. Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death among women of 
reproductive age and of people who are HIV-positive.
  While developing nations are most heavily impacted by TB, there is 
also a concern here at home. It is estimated that 10-15 million people 
in the United States are infected with the germ that causes TB. And, 
California has more TB cases than any other State in the country. Ten 
of the top twenty U.S. metro areas for TB case rates are in California; 
San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Fresno, Los Angeles, Stockton, 
Sacramento, Ventura, Vallejo, and Oakland.
  This funding is a wise investment for our Nation. A recent article 
published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a $35 
million investment in the health system of Mexico to fight TB would 
yield a savings to the U.S. taxpayer of $108 million in terms of 
reduced TB healthcare costs domestically.
  I have been working with Senator Smith to fight the spread of 
international tuberculosis since 1999. I am proud that he has been such 
a strong partner on this issue. And, I am grateful for the support of 
Senator Durbin, a champion on the issue of global AIDS and other 
infectious diseases.
  The Boxer-Smith-Durbin bill is consistent with the Global Plan to 
Stop TB, including the goal to reduce by half the international 
tuberculosis death and disease burden by 2015. It also sets a goal to 
detect at least 70 percent of cases of infection tuberculosis, and the 
cure of at least 85 percent of the cases detected.
  The bill authorizes not less than $225 million for fiscal year 2007 
and not less than $260 million for fiscal year 2008 for foreign 
assistance programs that combat international TB. It also creates a 
separate authorization of $30 million for the Centers for Disease 
Control to combat international TB.
  This bill will not only save lives, it will help reverse a troubling 
trend--the emergence of multi drug-resistant tuberculosis caused by 
inconsistent and incomplete treatment. In the U.S., a standard case of 
TB takes 6 months to cure at the cost of $2,000 per patient. A case of 
multi drug-resistant TB can take up to 2 years to treat costing as much 
as $1 million per patient.
  TB kills more people than any other curable disease in the world. I 
hope my colleagues will join us in supporting this important 
legislation.
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