Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)

[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
[June 23, 2004]
[Pages 1111-1118]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

Remarks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 23, 2004

Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please be seated. Thanks for
coming. The person who introduces me in the White House better look out
for his job. [Laughter] Your mother said, ``Get out of the middle of the
road when a truck is coming.'' My mother said,
``Keep your speeches short.'' [Laughter]
Thanks for having me. It's great to be back in this compassionate
city. I think it's called the City of Brotherly Love, and that's what
we're here to talk about today, is brotherly love.
First I want to thank my friend Herb Lusk for inviting me back to the Greater Exodus Baptist Church.
I've been here before, the Fourth of July, and I don't remember this
building being here. At the time I said, ``Herb is a social entrepreneur
who can make things happen.'' We're in this beautiful building because
he made things happen. He believes, as I do, in the power of faith to
touch every heart and to change every life.
That's kind of the motto or the philosophy of the programs that
emanate from this church. He is a--he
takes his admonition to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved
yourself seriously, and so do the people who attend this church.
I want to remind you that not only is there great spirituality here,
but this is a church that trains people coming off welfare rolls to find
work. Isn't that a wonderful--[applause]. This is a church which helps
feed the hungry and finds shelter for the homeless, a church that helps
families to stay together. This is a church that is giving generously of
time and money. Herb Lusk is a general
in the army of compassion.
This is a--and the other thing this church is doing is sending
donations to fight AIDS around the world. I'm here to thank the church
for doing that. I want to thank all the churches in the greater
Philadelphia area for the Stand for Africa Campaign. This is a great
example of how people of faith can become involved in saving lives. It's
a fine example for every American, faith or no faith.
HIV/AIDS, you see, is a challenge. It's a direct challenge to the
compassion of our country and to the welfare of not only our Nation but
nations all across the globe. It's really one of the great challenges of
our time. This disease leaves suffering and orphans and fear wherever it
reaches.
Every man and woman and child who suffers from this addiction, from
the streets of Philly to the villages of Africa, is a child of God who
deserves our love and our help. And that's what I'm here to talk about
today. We're provided--we're determined to provide that help. We're
committed to help those at home and help those abroad. To whom much has
been given, much is demanded.
I want to thank Tommy Thompson for
being here. He's one of the ones I demand that he do his job to make
sure that we do the best we can in America to help those who hurt. And
Tommy is the--he's the head of the Department of Health and

[[Page 1112]]

Human Services. He's doing a fabulous job. I want to thank you for
coming. His job is to work with the issue at home as well as abroad.
But to help him make sure the AIDS initiative, our international
AIDS Initiative works well, I went into the private sector and found
somebody who had run a complex organization before. You see, we're
moving a lot of money--and I'm about to describe it to you here in a
minute--but I want to make sure the money is actually spent wisely. See,
we ought not to be measured on how much money we move; we ought to be
measured on how many lives we save.
So, therefore, I needed somebody who is a manager, somebody who
could organize, somebody who could find that which works and make sure
it continues to work well, and that which doesn't work, replace it with
something that does, somebody who is open-minded and focused on the
results. And that is Ambassador Randy Tobias. I'm proud you're here, Randy. Thanks for coming.
And working with Tobias is my friend
Dr. Joe O'Neill. He is the person--I like
to call him the architect of the Global AIDS Initiative. Dr. Joe has
been very much involved with HIV/AIDS for a long period of time. He's a
pioneer in many ways, a deeply compassionate person and a man I'm proud
to call friend. Thank you for coming, Joe. I'm glad you're here.
We've got a lot of other important people here. We've got Members of
Congress, and since the Congress is in session, it's probably in my
interest to introduce the Congressmen. [Laughter] Congressman Curt
Weldon and Congressman Jim Greenwood are with us today, two really fine Members. Senator
Specter flew on the airplane. He had to get
back for some votes, but he sent his better half, and I emphasize
``better half.'' [Laughter] I want to thank Mrs. Specter for coming today. City Councilman Jack Kelly as well--is here as well.
Members from the church are here. We've got bishops from different
religions, and I am honored you are here. We've got people who have
heard the call and who want to serve are here.
We've got a volunteer who is here, a person named Pat
McDonough. I met her at the airport. There she
is. Pat, thank you for coming. She is a volunteer at SILOAM. I'll be
talking about SILOAM pretty soon. It's a spiritually based program
designed to help save lives. You'll hear some stories about this locally
based grassroots organization, which depends upon people such as Pat to
show up and volunteer.
And so the reason I bring up Pat--first of all, what she does, she's a massage therapist for people affected by
HIV/AIDS. She uses her hands to help reflect her heart and make people
more comfortable in their pain. You know, when you've got somebody who
loves somebody helping them through their pain, the effect is not only
physical; it can be spiritual as well. And I want to thank Pat for
volunteering.
My call to people in Philadelphia who want to love their neighbor is
to find programs such as SILOAM or the programs in Herb's church and say, ``I want to help.'' To me, it's
patriotic to love a neighbor like you'd like to loved yourself.
I appreciate the example, Pat, that you
have set. And I'm honored you are here, and thank you for coming.
Every day in our world, 8,000 lives are lost to the AIDS pandemic--
8,000 people a day. We are fighting one of the great tragedies of human
history. And it's important for our fellow citizens to understand that
this is a great tragedy. See, when you see a great tragedy, people will
respond. This isn't a minor tragedy. It's just not a blip in history. It
is a great tragedy. That's how I view it. That's how others here view it
as well.
Tens of millions of people are living with HIV virus. More than 2
million of them are children under the age of 15. It's really

[[Page 1113]]

difficult to think about that kind of injustice, isn't it, about despair
coming so early to boys and girls who are so young. That's the problem
we face. That's a problem we'll deal with. AIDS is an individual tragedy
for all who suffer and a public health catastrophe that threatens the
future of many nations.
In some African countries, the percentage of adults infected with
HIV is as high as one-third. In our own country, nearly a million of our
fellow Americans have the virus, and 40,000 more contract it each year.
Yet, there are reasons to be encouraged and hopeful and optimistic
in the fight against AIDS. HIV is no longer a hopeless death sentence,
and that's a positive development. New drugs and new treatments are
dramatically extending and improving lives. The scientists and
researchers who develop these drugs are some of the great humanitarian
heroes of our time, and we thank them for their work, and we will fund
their work.
Their work has made broader treatment, even in the poorest of
countries, a realistic hope. And proven methods of prevention are
showing the spread of this disease--are slowing the spread of this
disease in some parts of the world. In other words, prevention--we're
beginning to understand how to prevent the disease from spreading. HIV/
AIDS can be beaten. We're committed to ending the plague. America is
committed to continue to leading the world in ending the plague.
We're fully engaged in this global fight against AIDS. I mean fully
engaged. Our Nation took the lead in founding the Global Fund. We remain
the world's largest contributor to the fund. We're setting the example
for others to follow. That's what a leader does. America leads so that
others will follow.
To expand these efforts, a year and a half ago I announced the
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. That's the plan that Dr.
O'Neill is the architect of. I called for
$15 billion over 5 years to combat the spread of HIV in other countries
and to provide treatment and care to 10 million people affected by HIV.
Earlier this year, Congress provided 2.4 billion for my emergency plan.
In other words, they're beginning to fund the plan, and I thank them for
that. I want to thank the Members of Congress who are here.
I call upon Congress to make sure they fully fund the plan. The
first portion, $350 million, began reaching people in need 6 weeks ago--
only 6 weeks ago, I might add. That is the fast--that is faster than any
major international anti-AIDS effort has ever been implemented. Because
our help cannot get there fast enough, there is a pandemic on the
continent. We need to move quickly.
We've identified 14 nations in Africa and the Caribbean in need of
urgent help. The Global Fund and bilateral funding really means we're
reaching all around the world. We're focused on 14 nations where the
pandemic is most acute. ``Let's go where the problems are the
toughest,'' I said. ``Let's bring America to where people suffer the
most. We want to tackle the toughest problems in this country, not the
easiest ones. We'll leave the easier ones for other people.''
In these countries, the money is funding clinics, buying drugs,
paying for treatments, supporting faith-based groups, training health
care workers. The funds are making a difference already. In just a few
months, the Reach Out clinic in Uganda, one of these little centers of
heroism in the midst of disease in Uganda, more than doubled the number
of patients it is treating with life-extending antiretroviral drugs. In
other words, we're beginning to get it out. We're beginning to see
results. Suddenly, there's new hope among those who seek help and those
who give it.
See, when they get the antiretroviral drug, there's a Lazarus
effect, and people all of a sudden say, ``I have hope.'' And when others
have hope--when someone

[[Page 1114]]

has hope, that spreads to other people. There's nothing better than a
hopeful society in dealing with the pandemic. A hopeful society means
you think you can win. A nonhopeful society says, ``I surrender.''
America is not going to surrender to the pandemic.
One of the workers in the clinic describes it this way: ``We are
experiencing something very beautiful. Our clients will have a chance to
continue to live.'' I want to thank you all for your work.
Jennifer Birungi is a widow who lives
in Uganda's capital, Kampala. She has two children. She has HIV, and
earlier this year she was diagnosed with meningitis. It's a terrible
disease under any circumstance, but that one is especially devastating
for people with HIV. The doctors will tell you the combination of HIV
and meningitis is deadly. Without treatment, her life expectancy would
have been 6 days. Because America acted, because the American people
acted, she's getting treatment, and the extra years she now hopes for
will mean everything to her children.
For too long, anti-AIDS programs offered too little treatment for
those who had already contracted the disease. And so today, we're
helping other nations to buy drugs--this is one of the focuses of
Randy and Joe--so that we can extend lives. Because, you see, every life
matters to the Author of Life, and so they matter to us.
Today I announced a second round of funding in the Emergency Plan
for AIDS Relief. More than $500 million will be soon on its way.
Congress needs to release the money. These grants will provide more
antiretroviral treatments and promote prevention efforts, care for
children who lost their parents to AIDS. There's a lot of orphans around
the continent of Africa. You've got 14- and 15-year-old kids raising
their brothers and sisters. So part of the effort is to provide love and
hope for these brave young kids who have been handed an incredibly tough
burden, an awesome burden.
We want to help build and equip hospitals and clinics. In other
words, we want the infrastructure to be there. Part of the money goes to
make sure there's an infrastructure. I mean, we really don't care here
in America if it takes a bicycle or a moped to get antiretrovirals out
of these big cities, but that's what we're going to do. And part of the
challenge we face is to help poor countries have the capacity to absorb
the drugs and compassion of America. That's one of our challenges.
I want to thank the Congress, again, and the taxpayer for their
generosity. This is a vital initiative. Let's make sure the resources
keep coming on a timely basis.
Today I'm also announcing that we're adding Vietnam to the Emergency
Plan. In other words, we have 14 countries; we're adding a 15th country.
Now, after a long analysis by our staff, we believe that Vietnam
deserves this special help. We're putting a history of bitterness behind
us with Vietnam. The reason why the decision was made is because the
nation has experienced a rapid rise in HIV infections--a rapid rise--
especially among the young.
And Vietnam is cooperative and wants help. In other words, they
recognize they have a problem, which, by the way, is an important part
of battling the pandemic. People have got to say, ``I've got a problem.
Come and help us.'' It's hard in certain countries that people say, ``We
don't have a problem,'' you know, in denial. In the meantime, people are
dying. Part of diplomacy, by the way, good diplomacy, says to leaders,
``I think you need to listen to the truth, and the truth will set you
free and help people survive.''
And so therefore, we're sending up to the Congress the notification
that Vietnam is now going to receive--be a part of the 15--now 15-nation
focus, and want the Vietnamese to hear, ``Together we'll fight the
disease. You've got a friend in America.''
We will continue to confront the disease abroad, and we will
confront it here at home as well. I want our fellow citizens

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to understand that we can work in Africa, and we can work in America at
the same time. We've got plenty of capacity. These efforts are not
mutually exclusive. They're complementary--they're complementary.
The number of women diagnosed with AIDS has risen in America. That
is a fact. For African Americans between the ages of 25 and 44, the
prime of life, AIDS is the second leading cause of death. We've got to
deal with it here at home as well.
AIDS is finding more victims beyond our cities. AIDS victims now are
in our suburbs and in the rural heartland. Neither individuals nor
society nor government can afford to be complacent, and we will not
relent against the battle of AIDS here in America. My latest budget
commits more than $17 billion to prevent and treat AIDS in America and
to find a cure. This is a 27-percent increase from the budgets of 2001.
It's one thing to spend money. It's another thing to spend it
wisely. And so today I want to talk about a three-part strategy to make
sure that we're effective here at home. First, we will provide better
care and treatment to those suffering from HIV and AIDS--better
treatment and care. We will act as quickly as possible to get lifesaving
drugs to people with the greatest need.
In 10 States, hundreds of AIDS patients are waiting for access to
life-extending treatments. In other words, there's long lines. Some of
these people have been waiting for months. That seems like a problem
that we can deal with, Tommy, and we're
prepared to help deal with it. So we're going to provide $20 million,
effective today, to extend lifesaving drugs, the purpose of which is to
deliver lifesaving drugs to the men and women who are waiting. In other
words, there shouldn't be lines here, and we're going to deal with the
lines.
We will also get help to those who need it by making sure that the
Federal programs are focused on saving lives. Our Nation's most
important AIDS legislation, the Ryan White CARE Act, has done a lot of
good, a lot of good over the years, by funding groups that provide care
and services to AIDS patients. Yet the law was written more than a
decade ago, when those with AIDS had little hope. So the law is
concerned largely with caring for the sick and dying instead of helping
AIDS patients to lead longer and healthier lives. In other words,
there's a different focus now because things have changed, technology
has changed, medicines are changing how people can live with AIDS.
When the Ryan White CARE Act is reauthorized next year, I propose to
make it stronger and more effective by focusing resources on life-
extending care, such as antiretroviral drugs and doctor visits and lab
tests. This kind of care was just a dream 20 years ago. It is a reality
today, and we will work with Congress to make sure that as many patients
as possible are receiving the modern care they deserve.
We need to change the way that money under the Ryan White CARE Act
is provided to caregivers and States and communities. Today, funding
decisions are made according to a rigid geographical formula that takes
too little account of the most urgent needs. In other words, you can't
set priorities; that's what that means.
In some areas of the country--countries, there are more severe
cases. There are particular problems among minority women. There are
fewer resources to handle its caseload. In those cases, Tommy
Thompson, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services, should have the flexibility to cut through the redtape
and get the money quickly to where it is needed. That's what we're going
to propose to the Congress. Let us set priorities and make sure the
resources fund those priorities. That makes sense, with taxpayers'
money, as it seems like to me. We must hold accountable organizations
that receive Federal help to fight AIDS by keeping track of their
progress. People shouldn't fear that. They ought to say, ``Are you doing
the job? Are lives being saved? Are your lines too long? If they

[[Page 1116]]

are, why? Are you getting out the word? Are you doing what we asked?''
You see, we're interested in the people's lives, not the bureaucratic
process.
We must be sure that any organization that is effective in AIDS is
eligible for Federal help, by the way--effective in fighting AIDS is
eligible for help. And that includes faith-based groups. See, there
are--the faith-based groups are making a huge difference on the
continent of Africa. They need to be making a huge difference here at
home as well.
For many AIDS patients, especially those who live in low-income
areas or rural areas, a local church program or community health center
is their only source for treatment and support. And to be frank about
it, the church is the only place many people feel comfortable going to
share their burdens. Sometimes, they don't feel so comfortable sharing
their burdens in a church. And when that's the case, the church needs to
make sure people do feel comfortable in sharing the burden. But
nevertheless, the way I like to put it is, faith-based programs deserve
the support of our Government when they're effective, not to be
discriminated against. People shouldn't fear the fact that there's a
cross on the wall and an AIDS program in that building. We ought to
welcome that. We ought not to fear the Star of David on a wall and an
AIDS program ensconced in the building. We ought to welcome it, because
the motivation by the people of faith is a motivation to help heal the
hurt.
The second part of a domestic strategy to fight AIDS is prevention.
I think it's really important for us to focus on prevention. We can
learn from the experiences of other countries when it comes to a good
program to prevent the spread of AIDS, like the nation of Uganda.
They've started what they call the A-B-C approach to prevention of this
deadly disease. That stands for: Abstain; be faithful in marriage; and
when appropriate, use condoms. That's what A-B-C stands for, and it's
working. I like to call it a practical, balanced, and moral message. I
say it's working because Uganda has cut its AIDS infection rate to 5
percent over 10 years. Prevention works.
I think our country needs a practical, effective, moral message. In
addition to other kinds of prevention, we need to tell our children that
abstinence is the only certain way to avoid contracting HIV. It works
every time. Children have a way of living up or down to our
expectations. If we want them to lead healthy and responsible lives, we
must ask them to lead healthy and responsible lives.
This message, I know, is the primary duty of moms and dads. It's not
the primary duty of the Government. I fully recognize that. However,
Government can help. That's why I have proposed to double Federal
funding for programs that help local groups spread the most effective
way to prevent the spread of AIDS, which is to teach children to make
the right choices in life.
Our national prevention efforts also depend on HIV testing as a
routine part of health care. That makes sense to me; it should to you. I
mean, how can you solve a problem until you diagnose the problem.
Roughly a quarter of the people with HIV do not know they have it. That
makes it hard to treat people, who don't know they have it. They aren't
getting the treatment, of course, and they're unknowingly spreading the
majority of new infections.
Testing now is easier than ever. My administration is encouraging
health care providers to test for HIV routinely--to save lives, that's
why we're doing that. Across America, June 27th is National HIV Testing
Day. For the sake of their health and for the sake of the health of
others, I urge all Americans at risk to get the test. You'll be--by
getting the test, you'll be making a significant contribution to making
sure that we arrest the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Another way to prevent the spread of AIDS is to fight drug
addiction. This is one more aspect--in other words, the

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spread of AIDS through sharing needles is one more aspect of the
terrible grief and destruction that drug abuse causes across America. I
proposed to Congress increased funding for substance abuse treatment by
150 million next year. The reason I did so is because we've got an issue
in America that we've got to deal with straight up. And I want to make
sure that all treatment providers can utilize this money.
Listen, sometimes programs work, you know, kind of the clinical
approach works to help people kick drugs and alcohol, but a lot of times
it requires a change of heart. If you change your heart, you can change
your habits. If you change your heart, you change your life. And that's
why it's important to make sure the faith community can access Federal
money to heal the hurt that drug addiction causes.
All these measures are important and would allow more people with
AIDS to live longer and better lives. Yet, we must and will beat this
disease once and for all. So the third element of our strategy to fight
AIDS in America and around the world is to intensify the search for a
vaccine and for a cure.
Just 2 weeks ago, at the G-8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia, America
joined with Japan and Germany and Great Britain and France and other
allies to establish the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. What that means
is we're going to make a major commitment by the world's best scientists
to defeat HIV/AIDS.
By the way, we've got some great scientists here in our own country.
At the NIH, we've got some great scientists who have dedicated a
lifetime to finding the vaccine and a cure. It makes sense to have a
collaborative effort with great scientists from all over the globe. This
is a global problem, so we need to work together and share information.
As part of the effort, the United States will establish a new HIV
Vaccine Research and Development Center. I asked the question,
Tommy, whether Dr. Fauci approved of this. He's one of the leaders in the world of
developing the cure. He said he's strongly in favor. I said, ``If Fauci
is for it, I'm for it. The guy knows what he's doing.'' He's dedicated a
lifetime, as has other scientists here in America, to finding the cure.
Congress--as we find the cure, it's very important for Congress to
allow for the acceleration of new vaccines by not allowing frivolous and
junk lawsuits to stand in the way of progress. It's very important that
those who are developing vaccines in the private sector not be harassed
and/or stopped by these junk lawsuits. I mean, we've got an emergency
that we must deal with, and therefore, the faster a vaccine can be
developed and get to market, the more lives will be saved.
I think the road ahead is clear. I don't think there's any doubt of
where we have to go. We're going to provide better care and treatment to
ease the suffering of the sick. We will strengthen our prevention
efforts. And through focused research, we will create a vaccine and find
a cure. There's no doubt in my mind.
Around the world, AIDS remains a source of great suffering. It's
important for our fellow countrymen to remember. And we have an
obligation to work to relieve the suffering, and we will.
But there's great hope and courage, and that's what really should
sustain our fellow citizens, to hear the stories of hope and courage.
This morning, I met a very brave, smart, capable woman from
Philadelphia. She learned 13 years ago that she was HIV-positive.
Doctors gave her 2 years to live. She described to us what it was like
to be a mom of two and have a doctor say, ``You've got 2 years to
live.''
She felt lost and then was found at SILOAM Ministries, the director
of which is here, Jim Sheehan. I'm proud
you're here. Thanks for coming. He runs this program, which is what he
would describe as a spiritually based program, a program to help elevate
the spirit, to make sure people who are despondent and hopeless
recognize

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there is a strong spirit inside them and then nurture that spirit.
It is what sustained this brave soul who was told, ``You've only got
2 years to live.'' In other words, she described what it was like to be
in a spiritually based program and how uplifting it was. Today, she's
working for her bachelor's degree.
What she shared with us is that she found there to be a dearth of
counselors, those people--there weren't enough loving souls willing to
help somebody else realize that they've got a hopeful future. So that's
why she's going back to school. It's an amazing story, you see, somebody
who was--say, ``You'll die in 2 years,'' now is saving lives. And that's
what--but let me put it in her words: ``The doctor gave me 2 years to
live, and now it's been 13. So I'm supposed to be here. I am supposed to
be doing something with this.''
And what she's doing with this, she's using her intellect and her
love to help somebody else realize that they are supposed to be here.
She's doing something beautiful, and she has shown that with hope, life
can triumph. And that sustains us. That sustains us in doing our duty
here in America and across the world, because we want hope to triumph
for all.
I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come by and visit with
you today. Thank you for your love and compassion. May God bless you
all, and may God continue to bless our country. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:42 a.m. at People for People. In his
remarks, he referred to Rev. Herbert Lusk II, pastor, Greater Exodus
Baptist Church, and founder/president, People for People, Inc.; Randall
L. Tobias, Coordinator of U.S. Government Activities To Combat HIV/AIDS
Globally, Department of State; Joseph F. O'Neill, Deputy Coordinator and
Chief Medical Officer, Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, Department
of State; Joan Specter, wife of Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania;
Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, National Institutes of Health; and James J. Sheehan, executive
director, SILOAM Ministries.