Congressman Jim McGoverns statement on the U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act

Statement

Mr. Speaker,

All Members of this House should be very proud of the bipartisan collaboration and careful compromises that have resulted in the underlying bill before us today, H.R. 5501, the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act. I wish to express my appreciation to the work of the gentleman from New Jersey, Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Chris Smith; House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman; and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

And like all of my House colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, I am grateful that the Committee named this bill after the great leaders of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairmen Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde, who guided the original 2003 act into law. May the collegial spirit of these two great champions for global health guide us all during today's debate.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5501 would authorize $50 billion over the next five years for U.S. global programs that address the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It strengthens, sustains and expands a program that is universally recognized as one of the shining accomplishments of the Bush Administration.

The challenge for this reauthorization is to move our HIV/AIDS programs beyond the "emergency" phase first called for under the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, and make them sustainable over the long-term.

Over the past five years, we have literally gone from watching people die from HIV/AIDS to watching people live and return to productive life in their communities.

The 2003 Act provided $15 billion over five years; H.R. 5501 provides $50 billion, a direct response to needs identified over the past five years for life-saving medicines and well-trained, effective national health care systems.

The 2003 law relied upon the health care workforce and infrastructure already in place in developing countries. In a far-sighted move, today's bill invests in strengthening HIV-related health care systems and building the capacity of the health care workforce in these nations. Under this legislation, funds will be used to train some 144,000 new health care workers over the next five years to care for people infected with HIV. This is just a start on easing the severe shortage of health care workers in the developing world, and it is our hope that other donor nations will follow our lead. If there is ever to be a hope that these programs can become self-sustaining, health care capacity must be significantly strengthened in countries hard-hit by HIV/AIDS.

The 2003 bill focused on creating new programs to tackle the HIV/AIDS crisis. This reauthorization builds stronger linkages between our global HIV/AIDS initiatives and existing programs designed to alleviate hunger, improve health care, bolster education, and increase income security and stable livelihoods - an approach endorsed by the President's Global AIDS Coordinator in February in his annual report to Congress. These changes ensure that our HIV/AIDS programs no longer operate in isolation from our other development priorities; and that the expertise and benefits from these other programs are provided in an effective manner to HIV/AIDS affected individuals, families and communities.

In addition, the bill increases U.S. contributions to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and provides benchmarks to improve the transparency and accountability of the Global Fund.

And while the majority of the funding authorized in H.R. 5501 is focused on the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS affected people and communities, I would like to emphasize that the bill specifically authorizes $4 billion over five years for a comprehensive strategy to combat tuberculosis, and $5 billion for the prevention, treatment, control and elimination of malaria. In addition, it better integrates our HIV/AIDS programs with the diagnosis, testing, counseling, treatment, prevention, care and health care training needed in the fight against TB and malaria.

H.R. 5501 also removes the requirement that one-third of all funds for HIV/AIDS prevention be dedicated to "abstinence only" programs. Over the past five years, this restriction has proven to hamper the effectiveness of our health care efforts in the field, as documented by two recent independent reports produced by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and President Bush's own Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

This reauthorization now requires the Executive to promote a balanced prevention program that includes every element of Abstinence, Being Faithful, and Condoms - the ABC approach toward HIV transmission prevention.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5501 also allows U.S.-supported family planning organizations to provide HIV/AIDS testing and counseling services. This will ensure that many more women of reproductive age receive vital information related to their HIV status, as well as HIV/AIDS education.

Mr. Speaker, we need to recall that 20 million men, women and children have perished from HIV/AIDS. Forty million around the world are HIV-positive. Each and every day, another 6,000 people are infected with HIV. It is a moral imperative that we act strongly, decisively and continue to address this crisis in a forward-looking manner.

Five years ago, President Bush acted to meet a perceived emergency as the AIDS epidemic spread out of control. During that period, the United States has provided drug treatment to nearly 1.5 million people. We have given supportive care to another 6.6 million, including 2.7 million orphans and vulnerable children. And our programs have prevented an estimated 150,000 infant infections. During this first five-year phase of programming, U.S. bilateral programs to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria were expanded to 114 countries. Today the U.S. now supports programs in 136 countries, including programs funded by the United States and administered through the Global Fund.

We can all be proud of this record of accomplishment, but there is so much more left to do. Now we must work on making these initial gains sustainable, our programs even more effective, and expanding them to reach an even greater number of HIV/AIDS affected communities.

Specifically, over the next five-year period, H.R. 5501 aims to:

-Prevent 12 million new infections;
-Provide anti-retroviral treatment for 3 million people, including 450,000 children;
-Provide medical and other care for 12 million people, including 5 million orphans; and
-Train over 140,000 health care workers in the developing world.

Mr. Speaker, addressing global HIV/AIDS is one of the moral imperatives of our time. And while history will no doubt judge our response, it's more important that each of us recognizes that we can truly make a difference in the lives of millions of people, right here, right now.

H.R. 5501 represents a genuine bipartisan compromise. I urge my colleagues to adopt this Rule and to support the underlying legislation, H.R. 5501.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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