PEPFAR Extension Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief, commonly referred to as PEPFAR, for an additional 5 years until 2023.

When this law was established in 2003, I was very proud to be a member of the International Relations Committee. Thanks in large part to the bipartisan leadership of Chairman Henry Hyde and Ranking Member Tom Lantos, the original bill included dedicated funding that required that at least 10 percent of the funds be used for orphans and vulnerable children.

I thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel, and I thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Bass for maintaining support for the dedicated OVC funding and ensuring this provision was restored when the Foreign Affairs Committee marked up this bill in September.

Today, at least more than 12 million children worldwide have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS, and at least 80 percent of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Of the 1.8 million children living with HIV/AIDS, only half have the necessary antiretroviral treatment; and without this treatment, it is expected that 80 percent will not make it to their fifth birthday.

The dedicated OVC funding in this bill ensures that these children will continue to be a priority in our fight against HIV/AIDS in responding directly to physical, emotional, and economic impacts HIV/ AIDS has on vulnerable children.

The OVC programs protect children from contracting HIV/AIDS, expand access to high-quality healthcare services, work directly with families and communities to strengthen capacity and resilience building, and give these children a future.

We still have work to do, and these programs, we know they are effective, and we know that they are working. As of September 2017, PEPFAR had provided care and support to more than 6.4 million orphans and vulnerable children and their caregivers worldwide.

I thank the Foreign Affairs Committee's leadership for ensuring this critical funding provision was included in the final version of the bill.

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