OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Congratulating the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

Date: July 26, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Foreign Affairs Health and Health Care


CONGRATULATING THE INTERNATIONAL AIDS VACCINE INITIATIVE -- (House of Representatives - July 26, 2006)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support for H.R. 844.

AIDS is the greatest worldwide health crisis of our time. Presently, there are more than 40 million people that are either infected with the HIV virus or are living with AIDS. At least 14,000 people are infected each day. Putting an end to AIDS is one of the most pressing humanitarian challenges we must face. For this reason, the development of a preventive vaccine has been a stepping-stone toward achieving this end.

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative has been working for the past ten years to create a safe and effective HIV/AIDS vaccine. They have worked hard with the public and private sector to garner financial and political support in order to make the vaccine accessible to all those in need, especially in the developing world, where ninety-five percent of those infected with the virus live.

Today, I am honored to congratulate the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative for its advances in scientific progress, which have been instrumental in bringing about a worldwide effort and support for this important cause. It is their research and devotion to finding an HIV/AIDS vaccine that brings hope of ending an epidemic that has already killed more than 25 million people worldwide. However, there is more to be done. We must take this opportunity to commit ourselves to fighting for the dignity and lives of our brothers and sisters around the world by promoting innovative research in finding a cure.

AIDS is presently a formidable adversary--one that cannot be ignored, one that does not only exist in faraway places, but one that is here, in our neighborhoods and homes, infecting 40,000 of our people each year. The efforts of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative have brought us closer to the day when we will live in a world that is free from AIDS.

http://thomas.loc.gov

arrow_upward