Help America to Vote Act

HELP AMERICA TO VOTE ACT

AMENDMENT NO. 1837

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk on Reserve pay which I will be asking to be put in the queue for a vote tomorrow. This amendment I offered 2 days ago.

I am not going to belabor the issue other than to say to my colleagues, and for the record, that what it provides is that Federal employees who are members of the Guard and Reserves who are activated would have the difference in their pay—their military pay and their Federal pay—made up by the Federal agency for which they work. This is done by State governments and private companies and local units of government. It is not done by the Federal Government.

Frankly, this amendment was offered in good faith to have the Federal Government establish the standard so that activated Guard and Reserves who are Federal employees will receive this difference.

There are 1.2 million Guard and Reserves in America. Ten percent of them are Federal employees, 14,000 are now activated, and almost half of them have seen a cut in pay. Since activation has gone for an extended period of time, I will ask that that amendment be put in the queue tomorrow.

AMENDMENT NO. 1879

Mr. President, I have another amendment, but before I send the amendment to the desk, let me describe it to my colleagues.

I offered an amendment, earlier today, on the global AIDS epidemic, an amendment which said we have made a commitment as a nation to spend $15 billion over the next 5 years to deal with this epidemic. This is an epidemic which President Bush acknowledged in his State of the Union Message and one that he has spoken of extensively here in the United States and while traveling abroad.

Unfortunately, the administration did not come up, in the first year, with $3 billion to deal with the global AIDS epidemic.

We know there is a serious need across the world to spend the funds necessary. I would say to my colleagues who might ask, "Why would you raise the global AIDS epidemic on this emergency appropriations bill," consider the statement made by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations just a few weeks ago. I quote:

AIDS is more devastating than any terrorist attack, any conflict, or any weapon of mass destruction.

The extended quote will be made a part of the RECORD. But what I would like to say to my colleagues is this: I hope—as we consider what it takes to make this a safe world for future generations, as we consider what is necessary in the Middle East and Iraq—we also consider that we are living in a world devastated by AIDS, that AIDS is an epidemic destabilizing countries, making them vulnerable to terrorist takeovers, and creating the kind of instability that guarantees the United States must pay heed.

There is a way to deal with this, and the way to do it is to keep our word.

My earlier version of this amendment was objected to by Senator Stevens. He argued it included legislative language. We have stricken all legislative language in this amendment.

Secondly, this would not be subject to a budget point of order because the foreign operations appropriations bill has not passed, and the set-off in the amendment comes in emergency appropriations, so there is no problem with either the budget or the spend-out rate.

Mr. President, I send the amendment to the desk.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendments are set aside.

The clerk will report.

The legislative clerk read as follows:

The Senator from Illinois [Mr. DURBIN] proposes an amendment numbered 1879.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To provide funds for the prevention, treatment, and control of, and research on HIV/AIDS)

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. (a) GLOBAL HIV/AIDS FUNDING.—For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 for the prevention, treatment, and control of, and research on HIV/AIDS, in addition to funds appropriated under the heading "Global AIDS Initiative" in the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Act, 2004, $879,700,000.

(b) OFFSET.—The total amount appropriated under title II under the heading "OTHER BILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE—FUNDS APPROPRIATED TO THE PRESIDENT—IRAQ RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION FUND" (other than the amount appropriated for Iraqi border enforcement and enhanced security communications and the amount appropriated for the establishment of an Iraqi national security force and Iraqi Defense Corps) shall be reduced by $879,700,000.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, as we consider this $87 billion supplemental—and what is truly in the interest of our national security, for this generation and generations to come—these words from the Secretary of State about the impact of AIDS have special resonance: "more devastating than any terrorist attack, any conflict, or any weapon of mass destruction."

AIDS is fast becoming the worst plague the world has ever encountered. Already, 25 million people have been killed by the disease.

Today, another 42 million people around the world face a death sentence from AIDS because they have no access to life-saving treatment that can cost as little as a dollar a day.

As parents are dying, 14 million AIDS orphans have been left without the care and support that they need. Unless we act soon, there will be 25 million AIDS orphans by the end of the decade.

Each year the world loses a population greater than the city of Chicago because of AIDS. Yet, we know how to stop these deaths.

Keeping our promises in the fight against AIDS is in America's interest. AIDS represents not only a humanitarian crisis on a scale the world has never seen. AIDS also presents a growing security threat around the world.

Living up to the President's promises on AIDS makes good sense for our national security. It is also important for showing the world that we make good on our commitments.

As the CIA Director recently said about AIDS:

Is this a security issue? You bet it is. With more than 40 million people infected right now, a figure that—by 2010—may reach 100 million, AIDS is building dangerous momentum in regions beyond Africa.

As the disease spreads, it unravels social structures, decimates populations and destabilizes entire nations.

The National Intelligence Council found that in five of the world's most populous nations, the number of HIV-infected people will grow to an estimated 50 to 75 million by 2010.

AIDS is particularly devastating national armies around the world that ensure stability. In South Africa, according to the Rand Institute, some military units have infection rates as high as 90 percent.

Keeping our promises on AIDS is not only the compassionate thing to do, it is the smart thing to do in terms of our national security as well.

Today, we have a change to change the course of the AIDS pandemic and strengthen our national security by providing $3 billion in the coming year.

In this State of the Union address, the President made a 5-year pledge of $15 billion to help the millions of AIDS sufferers in Africa and around the world. We must keep that pledge today.

The President has said:

We can turn our eyes away in resignation and despair, or we can take decisive, historic action to turn the tide against this disease and give the hope of life to millions who need our help.

Unfortunately the President's budget failed to live up to the President's rhetoric. His budget fell nearly $1 billion short of the $3 billion for the coming year.

The President's shortchanging on AIDS will cost lives. The additional funding which we seek to restore today can put 1 million people on treatment and prevent 2.5 million new infections.

In July, 78 members of this body voted for sense of the Senate language calling for fully funding the $3 billion to fight AIDS this year, even if it meant exceeding the levels authorized in the budget.

The President himself said that "we care more about results than words. We're interested in lives saved." Now is our opportunity to go beyond words and fulfill the pledge that the President made in the State of the Union and that we made in July.

The amendment I am putting forward will close the gap between the rhetoric and the real needs of AIDS sufferers by fully funding the $3 billion.

This amendment will provide the $879.7 million necessary to close the gap and fully fund the $3 billion pledge made in the authorizing legislation.

It will do so by reducing the $20.3 Billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund in the supplemental by a pro-rata $879.7 million. This allows the administration to choose where to take the reduction—and the options are many.

For example, the supplemental contains $2.1 billion for "oil infrastructures"—$900 million for importation of petroleum products into Iraq. Perhaps instead of spending nearly a billion dollars to import oil into Iraq, a billion dollars might be better spent treating 1 million additional people with AIDS and preventing an additional 2.5 million new infections.

The stakes could not be higher. As Majority Leader FRIST said recently:

History will judge whether a world led by America stood by and let transpire one of the greatest destructions of human life in recorded history—or performed one of its most heroic rescues.

Instead of fulfilling this pledge, the White House is claiming that the full amount cannot be spent in the coming year. All the leading development organizations and medical authorities reject this White House claim as baseless and have said so publicly.

Last month in Roll Call, all of the leading relief and development organizations in the United States placed an ad that endorsed the fact that the full $3 billion could be well spent.

The White House is also ignoring the capacity of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria—the most effective tool we have to beat AIDS. The Global Fund, Chaired by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, is scaling up successful programs on the ground in Africa and is working to stop the next wave of the pandemic in places such as India and it needs hundreds of millions of dollars more by this fall to fund a new round of grants.

The White House is also forgetting the extraordinary needs of AIDS orphans. According to a soon to be released report by the Earth Institute at Columbia, orphans and vulnerable children need $15 billion each year for basic health, education and community services.

The Global HIV Prevention Working Group found that AIDS prevention spending falls $3.8 billion short of what is needed by 2005. Although we can spare babies a life with AIDS for the price of a Sunday newspaper, only 5 percent of women at risk have access to medication to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

I hope today that the 78 of my colleagues who committed to fully fund the $3 billion to fight AIDS will join me in supporting this amendment. We have a unique chance to change the future and save many lives. Today, a 15-year-old boy in Botswana faces an 80 percent chance of dying of AIDS. If we act now, we can change the future for these children before it is too late.

Mr. President, at this point it is my understanding this amendment will be put in the queue with the others for consideration tomorrow. With that understanding, I yield the floor.