Speech by Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona), July 24, 2001

Speech by Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona), July 24, 2001
Mr. Chairman, I would just like to make some observations on the amendment and the speakers that we have had.

I want to remind my colleagues what the issue really is here. We are not talking about whether or not we should be putting more money into HIV/AIDS and child survival fund. We recognize the importance of doing that. We have money that is going into those funds. We are increasing the amount for tuberculosis rapidly. We believe, in fact, that we are increasing it as rapidly as we can be. Some might argue that it is faster than the absorption. We are not even sure exactly how those program dollars are going to get spent, but the need is tremendous.

We are facing a pandemic in this world in HIV/AIDS unlike anything that any of us in our lifetimes have experienced, unlike any kind of plague that has beset this world in the last several hundred years. We need to be focused on that. We need to understand that it is a global issue. It is not just one here in the United States. It is not just one in Africa. We are now seeing it in Haiti and the Caribbean. We are seeing it in South Asia. We are seeing it in the Central Asian republics. We are seeing it in the Caucasuses and we are beginning to see it in Southern China.
This epidemic is spreading around the world, and we need to apply the proper resources to it. Mr. Chairman, our bill does do that. We make every attempt to get money into the international trust fund as well as money into our bilateral programs.

Mr. Chairman, let me repeat again where we are with this trust fund, a trust fund which, I might add, has not yet been established, a trust fund that under the umbrella of the United Nations would provide funding for programs around the world, but we still do not know how the governance of that trust fund will be done.

Nonetheless, we have $100 million in our bill for that. Last Friday, this House approved a supplemental appropriation which is now on the desk of the President for $100 million; the Labor-HHS bill will have another $100 million. That is $300 million in 1 year from this country alone towards the trust fund.

I realize that one can always argue that more is needed, but we have to balance our bill with the requirements of our other national security requirements, including those in South America, the need to make sure that the needs of the battle against drugs in Latin America continues, as well as the economic assistance in those countries.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues when they consider this amendment that they realize that we have a balance in this bill, and I would hope that my colleagues would consider it carefully and that they would reject this amendment.

As of October 3, 2001, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r107:@FIELD(FLD003+h)+@FIELD(DDATE+20010724)