[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[May 27, 2003]
[Pages 541-544]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks on Signing the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003
May 27, 2003
Thank you all very much. I'm so pleased that so many could be here
to witness this historic moment, as our Nation sets forth a great
mission of rescue. The United States of America has a long tradition of
sacrifice in the cause of freedom, and we've got a long tradition of
being generous in the service of humanity. We are the Nation of the
Marshall plan, the Berlin airlift, and the Peace Corps. And now we're
the Nation of the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest medical challenges of our time. The
disease has killed more than 20 million people. Today, 42 million more
are living with HIV. Across Africa, this disease is filling graveyards
and creating orphans and leaving millions in a desperate fight for their
own lives. They will not fight alone, because they will have the help
and the friendship of the United States of America.
The legislation I sign today launches an emergency effort that will
provide $15 billion over the next 5 years to fight AIDS abroad. This is
the largest single upfront commitment in history for an international
public health initiative involving a specific disease.
America makes this commitment for a clear reason, directly rooted in
our founding. We believe in the value and dignity of every human life.
In the face of preventable death and suffering, we have a moral duty to
act, and we are acting.
I want to thank Tommy Thompson and
Colin Powell for their leadership on this
crucial issue. There are no better people than to trust in seeing that
the great heart and compassion of America is recognized in our world
through accomplishment.
I appreciate Tony Fauci who's here.
Tony has been on the frontline of the war against HIV/AIDS for a long
time. And I appreciate you representing the National Institute of
Allergies and Infectious Diseases. I appreciate Rich Carmona, who's the U.S. Surgeon General, for joining us.
Thank you for being here, Rich. I want to thank a member of my staff,
the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, Dr. Joseph
O'Neill, for his leadership.
It is my honor to recognize Dr. Kenneth Kaunda the former President of Zambia is with us today as well.
I'm grateful that the Ambassadors and the senior officials from
African and Caribbean nations are with us. I appreciate their
leadership. Send a message back home that we are earnest and determined
to help you wipe out AIDS in your country.
I want to thank all the faith-based and community activists and
leaders who are here who share our passion and desire to help those who
suffer. Your efforts took
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place long before we arrived here in Washington or, at least, I arrived
here in Washington, and all we want to do is stand by your side as we
march down the road of a hopeful tomorrow for people who suffer.
I want to thank the Members of the House and the Senate who are
here. Bill Frist has been a leader on this issue,
and he, along with Senator Richard Lugar
and Senator Joe Biden, Jr. the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, delivered. Mr. Leader, thank you.
I appreciate my friend Congressman Tom Lantos
for being here. He represents the House Foreign Relations Committee.
Chairman Hyde is not here, but nevertheless,
the two worked really well together.
I am pleased to see Senators Santorum and
DeWine are here. Thank you all for coming, and
thank you for your leadership on this issue. I also want to thank the
Members of the House, Congressmen Pitts,
Smith, King,
and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, for joining us as
well. Thank you all for your interest, and thanks for coming.
When I stood in front of the Congress 4 months ago, I was confident
that the U.S. Congress would respond. I was confident that they would
hear the call for a bold initiative, and they responded. And they have
my gratitude, and they have the gratitude of millions around the world
for their leadership on this issue. And I want to thank you all very
much.
This Act of Congress addresses one of the most urgent needs of the
modern world. Because of the AIDS pandemic, a child born today in sub-
Sahara Africa has a life expectancy of 47 years. This disease falls most
heavily on women and children. Nearly 60 percent of those infected by
HIV in sub-Sahara Africa are women. Three million African children under
15 have the AIDS virus--3 million. And the disease has left 11 million
orphans, more children than live in the entire State of California.
Behind these numbers are names. There is Mbongeni, a 15-year-old boy
who lost both his mother and father to AIDS and now struggles to feed
his two siblings and two nephews. There is Leonora, the mother of five
in Kenya, who cares for five other children she has taken into her home,
all of them AIDS orphans, all of whom would be on the streets without
her love. There is Ruth, a young mother dying of AIDS at 24, ostracized
by her late husband's family, asking, ``Who will take care of my
children?''
This is the daily reality of a continent in crisis, and America will
not look away. This great Nation is stepping forward to help. The fight
against AIDS is difficult but not hopeless. We know how to prevent AIDS,
and we know how to treat it. The cost of effective medicines has fallen
dramatically. And we made progress here in our own country where we have
increased spending for domestic HIV prevention and care and treatment by
7 percent in next year's budget. We will also help the people across
Africa who are struggling against this disease and those who have proven
on a day-by-day basis the battle can be won.
We see hope in the work of individuals like the former President of
Zambia who lost his son to AIDS, a son who
left several children to the care of their grandfather. The good
President turned his grief to good works and created the Kenneth Kaunda
Children of Africa Foundation. His foundation pays for food and medical
care and schooling for AIDS orphans. Mr. President, we honor you for
your service and for the example you have shown to others who live on
your ravished continent. Thank you for coming today, sir.
We see hope in the many religious and educational institutions that
are doing effective work on the frontline of the AIDS crisis. The
Catholic Medical Mission Board, for example, runs 15 clinics in southern
Africa and Haiti, where more than 20,000 pregnant women each year
receive HIV testing and counseling and drug therapy to prevent the
transmission of the virus to their children.
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I want to thank Jack Galbraith for the
fine work of Catholic Medical Mission. And I want to thank all of you
all who have heard that call to love a neighbor just like you'd like to
be loved yourself. Thank you for your service to those who suffer. May
God continue to bless your work.
We see hope in the actions of African governments that are acting
responsibly and aggressively to fight AIDS. The nation of Uganda is
pursuing a successful strategy of prevention, emphasizing abstinence and
marital fidelity as well as the responsible use of condoms to prevent
HIV transmission. The results in Uganda have been remarkable. The AIDS
infection rate has fallen sharply since 1990, and in some places the
percentage of pregnant women with HIV has been cut in half. The Uganda
plan is proving that major progress is possible.
And now we must spread that progress to suffering nations throughout
the world. By the legislation I will sign today, the United States of
America will take the side of individuals and groups and governments
fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa and other parts of the world. We'll provide
unprecedented resources to the effort, and we will keep our commitment
until we have turned the tide against AIDS.
Under this legislation, America will provide additional money for
the Global Fund for AIDS Relief and additional funding for our efforts
in many countries to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the
disease. And we will focus our efforts on 12 African and 2 Caribbean
countries where HIV/AIDS is heavily concentrated.
We will purchase low-cost antiretroviral medications and other drugs
that are needed to save lives. We will set up a broad and efficient
network to deliver drugs to the farthest reaches of Africa, even by
motorcycle or bicycle. We will train doctors and nurses and other health
care professionals so they can treat HIV/AIDS patients. We will renovate
and, where necessary, build and equip clinics and laboratories. We will
support the care of AIDS orphans by training and hiring childcare
workers. We'll provide home-based care to ease the suffering of people
living with AIDS.
We'll provide HIV testing throughout all regions of the targeted
countries. We'll support abstinence-based prevention education for young
people in schools and churches and community centers. We will assist
faith-based and community organizations to provide treatment,
prevention, and support services in communities affected by HIV/AIDS. We
are developing a system to monitor and evaluate this entire program, so
we can truly say to people, ``We care more about results than words.
We're interested in lives saved.'' And lives will be saved.
This comprehensive program has the potential in this decade to
prevent 7 million new HIV infections, provide life-extending drugs to at
least 2 million infected people, give humane care to 10 million HIV
sufferers and AIDS orphans. This is a massive undertaking, and the
dedicated men and women of the United States Government are eager to get
started.
To coordinate this effort, I will soon nominate a global AIDS
coordinator who will have the rank of ambassador. This coordinator will
work closely with the Departments of State and Health and Human
Services, as well as with USAID and the Centers for Disease Control, to
direct the efforts in the worldwide fight against AIDS.
I'm going to Europe here at the end of this week, and I will
challenge our partners and our friends to follow our lead and to make a
similar commitment made by the United States of America so we can save
even more lives.
I will remind them that time is not on our side. Every day of delay
means 8,000 more AIDS deaths in Africa and 14,000 more infections--every
day, 14,000 more people will be infected. I'll urge our European
partners and Japan and Canada to join this great mission of rescue, to
match their good intentions with real resources.
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The suffering in Africa is great. The suffering in the Caribbean is
great. The United States of America has the power and we have the moral
duty to help. And I'm proud that our blessed and generous Nation is
fulfilling that duty.
Now it is my honor and high privilege to sign this lifesaving piece
of legislation. God bless you all.
Note: The President spoke at 2:20 p.m. in the Dean Acheson Auditorium at
the U.S. Department of State. In his remarks, he referred to
Representatives Christopher H. Smith of New Jersey and Peter T. King of
New York; and John Galbraith, president and chief executive officer,
Catholic Medical Mission Board. H.R. 1298, approved May 27, was assigned
Public Law No. 108-25.