[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2488]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  THE PRESIDENT'S HIV/AIDS INITIATIVE

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I commend our President for the historic 
commitment to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic that he articulated in the 
State of the Union address.
  As a 10-year member of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs--
and over half of those years have been as either the ranking minority 
member or the chairman--I have seen the terrible unfolding of the 
pandemic. I have read and repeated the numbing statistics that grow 
more horrifying every year. I have met with orphans, the sick, the 
dying, the mourning. I have met with doctors and nurses overwhelmed by 
the task before them, public health officials impassioned in their 
pleas for more assistance, volunteers aching for the plight of the 
children they care for each day.
  I believe that I understand the magnitude of this crisis as well as 
anyone can comprehend something so big and so devastating.
  And I also understand that what the President promised to do is a 
vast leap forward, a truly visionary step toward doing what is right. 
It is in our interest, and in the interest of global stability. But it 
is also simply the right thing to do, to refuse to turn away from human 
suffering on a grand scale, to take action, to set meaningful goals and 
provide the resources and the will to achieve them. This is a noble 
undertaking. It is a constructive and humane act at a time when, too 
often, we feel surrounded by the forces of destruction. The President 
deserves our praise. I hope that his words will be transformed into 
action soon.
  Congress certainly will be interested in understanding how the 
Administration plans to phase in additional spending, because the need 
is urgent and we cannot keep pushing our responsibility off into the 
future. It is critically important that pressing humanitarian and 
development priorities will not be robbed to finance this important 
initiative. And I hope that we take greater advantage of the Global 
Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria than we have in the past so that we 
can leverage our dollars for maximum impact.
  But the bottom line is that this is a truly historic step, which is 
the only appropriate response to a historic crisis. We should celebrate 
this initiative. And then we should roll up our sleeves get to work on 
making it as effective as possible.

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