[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 26 (Monday, June 28, 2004)]
[Pages 1135-1141]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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.

[[Page 1136]]

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 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 difficult 
to think about that kind of injustice, isn't it, about despair coming so 
early to boys

[[Page 1137]]

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 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.

[[Page 1138]]

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 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

[[Page 1139]]

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 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

[[Page 1140]]

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 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.

[[Page 1141]]

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 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; Dr. 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.