[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17997-17998]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING FAST FOR FAMILIES AND 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, understanding the rules of the House, 
nonetheless I would like to say how honored we all are that our special 
guests, led by Eliseo Medina, are here as part of the Fast for 
Families. I want to join the distinguished former chair of the Foreign 
Affairs Committee, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, and say that I, too, 
visited the Fast for Families. I fast for immigration and wear the 
button.
  I am so proud that our House of Representatives showed its respect to 
the strength of the message of our guests here today because 
immigration is about America. It is who we are by and large, a Nation 
of immigrants. It is the constant reinvigoration of our country. Every 
person who comes here with his

[[Page 17998]]

or her hopes, dreams, and aspirations for a better future; optimism for 
the future, the courage to come, to work hard, to play by the rules--
that invigorates America. The tradition of family and community and the 
rest, every immigrant who comes with those values and those goals makes 
America more American.
  I also rise, Mr. Speaker, to talk about a place where immigration and 
health come together, and I thank President Obama for lifting the 
travel ban on those infected with HIV. It had been my original intent 
to seek recognition to talk about World AIDS Day, which we observed 
yesterday, but I wanted to pay my respect to those who are fasting for 
immigration.
  Our work on HIV-AIDS has been a product of bipartisan cooperation in 
this Congress over a long period of time. In the White House, though, 
first with President Clinton, we increased the bilateral programs to 
fight AIDS and we helped create, authorize, and fund the Global Fund. 
Then under the leadership of President Bush, we established PEPFAR and 
provided the necessary funding to ramp up the emergency response to the 
crisis. President Obama has strengthened those efforts and boosted our 
investment by launching the National HIV-AIDS Strategy.
  In addition to that, President Obama announced that PEPFAR would not 
only reach its goal of providing treatment for 6 million people by 2013 
but will exceed that target by providing 6.7 million people with 
lifesaving treatment. This is attributed to the leadership of President 
George W. Bush and to President Obama.
  True today, President Obama went further and signed the PEPFAR and 
Global Fund reauthorization bill into law, and I am proud that 
President Obama has announced a U.S. commitment of $1 for every $2 
provided by other donors up to $5 billion through 2016. This marks a 
likely $1 billion increase over previous years. That means more lives 
saved and quality of life increased.
  Our work is far from finished. HIV and AIDS is a really resourceful 
disease, that virus, ever mutating. Just when you think we have it in 
our sights, it changes, and so we have to be resourceful to our 
approach to the HIV-AIDS virus because we will not allow HIV and AIDS 
to claim so many lives when we have within our means the science, the 
prevention, the care, the search for a cure to make a difference. One 
of the most exciting parts of it is that we will now be able to have an 
AIDS-free generation of transmittal from mother-to-child, which is 
quite remarkable, among other remarkable aspects of it.
  This is an important issue about our values as a country, our concern 
for people in our community and globally across the world, which takes 
us back to the beautiful reception that our fasters for immigration 
received when they were here earlier.
  As a mom and as a grandmother, I would encourage them not to fast 
very much longer, but I want them to know that we all recognize their 
sacrifice, understand the need to pass comprehensive immigration 
reform, and hope that will happen soon.

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