[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12559-12560]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       SENATE RESOLUTION 119--COMBATING THE GLOBAL AIDS PANDEMIC

  Mr. BAYH (for himself, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Leahy, 
Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Lugar, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Kerry, Mr. 
Kennedy, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. DeWine, Mr. 
Biden, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Levin, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Specter, Mr. 
Torricelli, Mr. Graham, and Ms. Snowe) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 119

       Whereas the international AIDS pandemic is of grave 
     proportions and is growing;
       Whereas the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic is sub-Saharan 
     Africa, and incidences of contraction of HIV, AIDS, and 
     related diseases are growing in the Caribbean basin, Russia, 
     China, Southeast Asia, and India at alarming rates;
       Whereas AIDS pandemic-related statistics are especially 
     staggering in sub-Saharan Africa--
       (1) the infection rate is 8 times higher than the rest of 
     the world;
       (2) in the region, over 17,000,000 people have already lost 
     their lives to AIDS or AIDS-related illnesses, with another 
     24,000,000 living with AIDS, according to the World Health 
     Organization and Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS;
       (3) in many countries in the region, life expectancy will 
     drop by 50 percent over the next decade;

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       (4) more than 12,000,000 African children have lost 1 or 
     both parents to AIDS or AIDS-related illnesses, and that 
     number will grow to more than 35,000,000 by 2010;
       (5) if current trends continue, 50 percent or more of all 
     15-year olds in the worst affected countries, such as Zambia, 
     South Africa, and Botswana, will die of AIDS or AIDS-related 
     illnesses; and
       (6) one-quarter of the sub-Saharan African population could 
     die of AIDS or AIDS-related illnesses by 2020, according to 
     the Central Intelligence Agency;
       Whereas confronting the AIDS pandemic is a moral imperative 
     of the United States and other leading nations of the world;
       Whereas confronting the AIDS pandemic is in the national 
     interest of the United States, given that 42 percent of 
     United States exports go to the developing world, where the 
     incidence of AIDS is growing most rapidly;
       Whereas in today's globalized environment, goods, services, 
     people--and disease--are moving at the fastest pace in world 
     history;
       Whereas we cannot insulate our citizenry from the global 
     AIDS pandemic and related opportunistic disease, and we must 
     provide leadership if we are to reverse global infection 
     rates;
       Whereas the AIDS pandemic is perhaps the most serious and 
     challenging transnational issue facing the world in the post-
     Cold War era;
       Whereas the AIDS pandemic is decimating local skilled 
     workforces, straining fragile governments, diverting national 
     resources, and undermining states' ability to provide for 
     their national defense or international peacekeeping forces;
       Whereas United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, 
     asserts that between $7,000,000,000 and $10,000,000,000 is 
     needed annually to address the AIDS pandemic, yet current 
     international assistance efforts total roughly a little more 
     than $1,000,000,000 per annum;
       Whereas the United States has joined the call from the 
     United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and others in 
     support of a global fund to assist national governments, 
     international organizations, and nongovernmental 
     organizations in the prevention, care, and treatment of AIDS 
     and AIDS-related illnesses; and
       Whereas the United Nations Special Session on AIDS, taking 
     place in June 2001, and the Group of Eight Industrialized 
     Nations meeting in July 2001, are key opportunities for more 
     states, governments, international organizations, the private 
     sector, and civil society to donate assistance to the global 
     fund: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the tragedy of the AIDS pandemic in human 
     terms, as well as its devastating impact on national 
     economies, infrastructures, political systems, and all 
     sectors of society;
       (2) strongly supports the formation of a Global AIDS and 
     Health Fund;
       (3) calls for the United States to remain open to providing 
     greater sums of money to the global fund as other donors join 
     in supporting this endeavor;
       (4) calls on other nations, international organizations, 
     foundations, the private sector, and civil society to join in 
     providing assistance to the global fund;
       (5) urges all national leaders in every part of the world 
     to speak candidly to their people about how to avoid 
     contracting or transmitting the HIV virus;
       (6) calls for the United States to continue to invest 
     heavily in AIDS treatment, prevention, and research;
       (7) urges international assistance programs to continue to 
     emphasize science-based best practices and prevention in the 
     context of a comprehensive program of care and treatment;
       (8) encourages international health care infrastructures to 
     better prepare themselves for the successful provision of 
     AIDS care and treatment, including the administration of AIDS 
     drugs;
       (9) urges the Administration of President George W. Bush to 
     encourage participants at the United Nations General Assembly 
     Special Session on AIDS in June, and the Group of Eight 
     Industrialized Nations meeting in July, to contribute to the 
     global fund; and
       (10) calls for United States representatives at the United 
     Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS and Group of 
     Eight Industrialized Nations meeting to emphasize the need to 
     maintain focus on science-based best practices and prevention 
     in the context of a comprehensive program of care and 
     treatment, combating mother-to-child transmission of the HIV 
     virus, defeating opportunistic infections, and improving 
     infrastructure and basic care services where treatment 
     medicines are available, and seek additional resources to 
     support the millions of AIDS orphans worldwide.

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