[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 194 (Wednesday, November 29, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7404-S7405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WORLD AIDS DAY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize World AIDS Day. 
There was a time when Congress could put bitter partisan rancor and 
finger-pointing blame games aside and unite-around a cause. We did so 
to fight HIV/AIDS globally. Since 2003, the President's Plan for 
Emergency AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, has meant the difference between life 
and death for millions of people. In fact, just last year, I met a 30-
year-old man named Simon in Namibia who said he would not be alive 
without the international community's HIV/AIDS assistance. With the 
generous support of the American people, the U.S. Government has 
committed more than $70 billion to bilateral HIV/AIDS programs; the 
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and bilateral 
tuberculosis programs since the program's inception.
  We cannot declare victory yet--far from it. Only one-half of the 37 
million people in the world living with HIV are receiving treatment. 
Globally, young women are twice as likely to acquire HIV as their male 
counterparts. One million people still died from AIDS-related illnesses 
worldwide in 2016. Let us not forget that people here in the United 
States are not immune. In Maryland, for instance, the most recent data 
indicate that, in 2016, almost 36,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS, 
and the State had the fifth highest rate of new HIV infections in the 
country.
  For the past 15 years, Congress has shown strong commitment and moral 
leadership by providing robust funding for PEPFAR and regularly 
reauthorizing the program. Signals from the Trump administration, 
however, indicate that this partnership may be fraying, putting lives 
and epidemic control at risk.
  President Trump's fiscal year 2018 budget request proposed cutting 
funding for PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
Malaria by more than $1 billion. These cuts, if enacted, could deny 
lifesaving treatment to men, women, and children. These cuts, if 
enacted, could halt our progress to achieving epidemic control. These 
cuts, if enacted, will harm millions of people.
  Congress must remain resolved not only to protect our investment, but 
to continue building on our progress thus far.
  I call on the Trump administration to join us in facing the challenge 
of HIV/AIDS head-on, without politics and without posturing, as we 
consider PEPFAR reauthorization. The administration's proposal to 
extend the Mexico City policy, often referred to as the global gag 
rule, may hamstring the very organizations providing lifesaving 
prevention, detection, and treatment services.
  The Trump administration's proposal to cut tuberculosis funding by 
more than 25 percent, if enacted, will further frustrate efforts to 
raise resources to combat this global killer; TB is the world's leading 
infectious disease killer and is the primary cause of death for people 
coinfected with HIV/AIDS. Instead of proposing cuts, the Trump 
administration should be demonstrating continued support for the Global 
Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Global Fund has saved 22 
million lives since it was established. Currency fluctuations are 
complicating U.S. contributions to the Global Fund and, according to 
some estimates, could lead to U.S. funding being cut dear by up to $450 
million in fiscal year 2019. We absolutely cannot allow such a thing to 
happen.
  World AIDS Day should be a day of sober commemoration; but it should 
also be a day of hope. Success in the fight against HIV/AIDS is within 
our grasp.
  Amid today's tweetstorms and controversies, it is easy to overlook 
the

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fact that, when this body is at its best, it has the power to change 
the course of history. Success is possible. Cutting funding now--
shrinking from our commitment now, instead of sustaining it--will 
negate the investments and progress we have made so far. We owe it to 
people like Simon, to their families, and to millions of others dealing 
with the scourge of HIV/AIDS to keep working toward a world free of the 
disease.

                          ____________________