[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Pages 32069-32070]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             WORLD AIDS DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise this evening in recognition of World 
AIDS Day, which took place last Saturday, December 1.
  Now, all through last week and into the weekend, events were held all 
around our country and throughout the world recognizing World AIDS Day. 
This solemn day provided us with the occasion to commemorate the lives 
of those who have died of this disease, more than 25 million people 
worldwide, and express our solidarity with those who are currently 
living with the disease, over 33 million people.
  I had the good fortune last week to travel with the Congressional 
Black Caucus Foundation to South Africa, where we celebrated and 
commemorated World AIDS Day with Congresswoman Dr. Donna Christensen. 
Our delegation met with the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, 
tuberculosis, and malaria in Johannesburg. We spoke to the group about 
our support for increased funding for the President's Emergency Plan 
for AIDS Relief, or better known as PEPFAR, and the importance of the 
private sector in fighting the pandemic. Later, we visited an HIV/AIDS 
testing site located in the Zola area of Soweto, sponsored by Levi 
Strauss Red for Life Initiative, Centers for Disease Control,

[[Page 32070]]

USAID, and State Department and other organizations, and I had the 
chance to talk to young people about the importance of getting tested 
and knowing their status.
  Together, Congresswoman Christensen and I helped lead by example by 
getting tested publicly, and we noted the very thorough pre- and post-
testing counseling as well as the emphasis on maintaining 
confidentiality. We were very inspired to see young people sign up for 
testing, and some actually came up and told us that our speeches had 
convinced them to get tested. This really was remarkable and gave us a 
glimpse as to what we need to do more and more and more with our young 
people here in America also.
  We ended our trip at the United States Embassy where we helped to 
hang a giant AIDS ribbon and spoke to the assembled diplomatic corps 
about HIV and AIDS and the importance of our collective struggle 
against the disease. We had an opportunity to meet with the great moral 
and religious leader Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Bishop Tutu had spoken 
earlier at the Swedish and Norweigian Embassy, and he talked about 
helping to fight this global HIV/AIDS pandemic just as we helped fight 
to end apartheid in South Africa.
  It was especially important to be in Africa last week, because the 
discussions with regard to the reauthorization of PEPFAR will be coming 
up very shortly.
  And tonight I must take a moment and ask that my remarks include my 
sympathy for Henry Hyde, Chairman Hyde's family. I thought about 
Chairman Hyde during our visit, because we worked together on the 
initial PEPFAR legislation. He was committed to address this HIV 
pandemic. He ensured that this bill became a bipartisan bill. And even 
though we didn't agree on every issue, tonight I commemorate him and I 
give my sympathy to his family because, as we reauthorize this, his 
spirit and his hard work and his legacy certainly will prevail as we 
move forward.
  Many of the key issues which remain were addressed in South Africa as 
it relates to the PEPFAR reauthorization. Some of them included 
addressing the abstinence until marriage earmark and the onerous 
prostitution pledge; reducing the vulnerability of women and girls to 
HIV and AIDS by empowering them through my legislation, such as the 
PATHWAY Act; sharpening our focus on orphans and vulnerable children, 
which of course Chairman Hyde was committed to; better integrating 
nutrition and wrap-around programs. We also have to expand support for 
health systems and strengthen delivery of basic health care services. 
And, of course, I believe that we must provide $50 billion, not $30 
billion as the President has asked for, but $50 billion over the next 5 
years for this initiative.
  And AIDS is also disproportionately affecting those who live in the 
Caribbean and also in black America. All across demographic ranges, 
African Americans are the most likely to get infected with HIV and to 
die from AIDS. The unfortunate reality is that to be black in America 
is to be at greater risk of HIV and AIDS. And the numbers are 
staggering, but I want to mention a few specifically.
  According to the CDC, in 2005, African American women accounted for 
66 percent of all new HIV and AIDS cases among women. Compared to white 
women, African-American women were 25 more times likely to be infected. 
Today, AIDS is the number one cause of death among African-American 
women between the ages of 25 and 34. We can no longer wait for this 
administration to take action. We have to take action immediately to 
address this pandemic.

                          ____________________