Bush Praises Senate on Passing AIDS Bill

By JIM ABRAMS

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush praised Congress on Friday for giving “the hope of life to millions” by voting to greatly increase U.S. spending against global AIDS. The challenge now, advocates said, is making sure those hopes aren’t dashed.

The Senate early Friday, responding to an appeal Bush made in his State of the Union address in January, approved the spending of $15 billion over five years to stop the spread of AIDS and to help the 42 million people suffering from the deadly virus. The House has passed a nearly identical bill and is expected to speed the measure to the president’s desk next week.

Supporters say the programs could prevent 7 million new infections, treat 2 million HIV-infected people with anti-retroviral drugs and care for 10 million sick people and AIDS orphans, mainly in Africa and the Caribbean.

The bill would also provide evidence of American commitment when Bush travels to Evian, France, on June 1-3 for a meeting of Western leaders – and prod those leaders to do more to fight AIDS worldwide.

“It’s great to have this signal be sent now,” said Dr. Catherine Hankins, chief science adviser at the Geneva-based UNAIDS, the U.N.’s AIDS agency. She said, “If everyone leaned in and did this now, we could actually turn this epidemic around in five or six years.”

But Bush, and Congress, must prove the U.S. commitment is real. The legislation authorizes $3 billion a year over five years, but not a penny would be spent until Congress approved the money in its annual budget appropriation.

This fiscal year the government is spending about $1.2 billion for international AIDS programs. Despite its support for the five-year, $15 billion plan, the administration is seeking only $1.7 billion in fiscal 2004, $2 billion if related programs for malaria and tuberculosis are included.

Congressional aides said Congress would probably agree to around $2.4 billion, but finding more would be tough in a year when the budget deficit is ballooning.

Mark Isaac, vice president of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, thanked Congress for clearing a crucial hurdle, but he added, “We hope the president will move with some sense of urgency to come up with the full amount. People shouldn’t think this is the end of the process.”

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said the Congressional Black Caucus, which has led efforts to increase AIDS funding, would press the president to accept the $3 billion level. “I don’t think we should be patting ourselves on the back until we see the money.”

The legislation also has uncertain consequences for the Swiss-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an international grant-making organization that in its first two years gave out grants of $1.5 billion to fight AIDS in more than 90 countries. The AIDS bill allows, but does not require, the administration to give the Fund up to $1 billion in fiscal 2004, while the White House is suggesting that $1 billion be spent over five years.

Some lawmakers said this was inadequate, and congressional investigators told a House hearing recently that the Fund currently has less than $300 million to support $1.6 billion in sound proposals expected in the next round of grants.

The legislation states that the United States should not provide more than one-third of the Fund’s money. The Fund’s executive director, Richard Feachem, said the United States has made more than 37 percent of all pledges through 2004, and the legislation is “exactly the incentive and the leadership that we need” to bring in more donors.

Then there’s the question of how the money would be spent. Twenty percent of direct aid will go to prevention programs, and, at the urging of conservative groups, one-third of that must be spent in promoting abstinence.

“We now know what works: abstinence and marital fidelity,” said Sandy Rios, president of Concerned Women for America. “The passage of this bill may prove to be one of the greatest events in the history of Africa.”

But Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said those fighting AIDS must have the flexibility to use all effective methods, including condom distribution. Guaranteeing a set amount for abstinence was “not in the interest of global health, but in the interest of an American political agenda,” he said.

Whatever the problems, American money will be welcomed. Hankins, of the U.N. AIDS agency. said the “bare bones” costs of AIDS programs will reach about $10.5 billion in 2005 and $15 billion in 2007. Last year, she said, overall spending from all sources amounted to $2.8 billion.

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