Speaker Nancy Pelosi
released the following statement this evening in support of the Tom Lantos
and Henry J. Hyde Global Leadership Against HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis, and
Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. The bill, which passed the Senate last
week, passed the House this evening by a vote of 303 to 115 and will now go
the President for his signature into law.
"Today the House took an historic vote to pass landmark legislation to
reauthorize our initiatives to fight infectious diseases in the developing
world.
"I thank the Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman and
Congresswoman Barbara Lee for their tremendous leadership on this
legislation.
"This bill is appropriately named the Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde U.S.
Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
Reauthorization Act.
"Under the leadership of Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde, we passed the first
President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) legislation that
authorized $15 billion over five years. Today, we honor their legacy with
this legislation.
"Working together with the Bush Administration and the Appropriations
Committee, we succeeded in providing life-saving anti-retroviral treatment
to nearly 1.5 million people, supporting care for nearly 6.7 million
people, including nearly 3 million orphans and vulnerable children, and
supporting prevention of more than 150,000 infant infections.
"Now we must take the next step in fighting infectious diseases in the
poorest countries of the world.
"The legislation Congress has passed will move us from the emergency
phase to the sustainability phase in fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis, and
Malaria. It will authorize $48 billion over five years to provide
life-saving HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention for men, women, and children
in the poorest countries of the world.
"The legislation will dramatically strengthen health care delivery
systems, encourage new and innovative ways to deliver the ABC prevention
message, improve relationships with governments and NGOs, eliminate the
requirement that one third of the funding be used for abstinence programs,
eliminate the travel ban for visitors who are HIV positive, improve
services for women and girls, and build stronger linkages to health care
and hunger initiatives.
"Few crises have called out more for sustained, constructive America
leadership.
"Across the developing world, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has destroyed the
very fabric of nations, devastated the most productive members of these
societies, discouraged economic development, and orphaned 13 million
children.
"The Leadership Against HIV/AIDS Act is our compact with developing
nations across the globe. It says that America stands with them in this
fight, that our commitment will not waver, and shows them America's true
face of compassion."
SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House
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