[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 198 (Friday, December 1, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H6068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WORLD AIDS DAY

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on World AIDS Day, as we 
remember tens of millions of beautiful souls we have lost around the 
world to HIV and AIDS and pray for their families.
  Over the last two decades, our fight against HIV/AIDS in the world 
has been transformed by PEPFAR, made possible by the leadership of 
President Bush and bipartisan support in Congress.
  It was my privilege to be a leader in this fight on the Foreign 
Operations Subcommittee where we secured more than $100 billion for 
PEPFAR to support its life-giving work.
  I salute President Bush and Mrs. Bush for their ongoing attention and 
commitment to this issue. I have traveled to visit the clinics in 
Africa and have been told by people there that PEPFAR gave them hope. 
They would never have been tested if they didn't think there was an 
opportunity for something to improve their lives. They lost the stigma 
of being tested positively by having hope given to them.
  I thank President Bush and Mrs. Bush for helping address the issue 
with their Pink Ribbon Campaign.
  As we go forward, let us hope that this body will soon reauthorize 
PEPFAR for what it means.
  During the COVID crisis, I spoke to the head of the World Health 
Organization and asked him if PEPFAR helped. He said, yes, the science, 
the distribution of drugs, the network that was created was all very 
helpful to us in the fight against COVID, especially in Africa.
  Again, thanks to President Bush for his leadership at the time. I 
told him at that time that I am with you as long as it is big. He made 
it big, and he has made it constant; and we salute him and are grateful 
to him for that.
  This year's World AIDS Day is fraught with meaning because our nation 
faces the imperative of reauthorizing PEPFAR HIV is very resourceful: 
it keeps adapting to survive, and so must we. I join so many of my 
colleagues and voices across the world in calling on Congressional 
leaders to make reauthorizing PEPFAR a top priority as we negotiate 
government funding legislation. Today, and every day, America must 
demonstrate to the world that we remain fully committed to building an 
AIDS-free generation, with health equity and justice for all.

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