Posted on 07/10/2004 5:00:17 PM PDT by nwrep
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) promised to lift a ban on immigration to the United Stated by people with AIDS (news - web sites) and vowed to double US assistance to a worldwide campaign to combat the deadly and contagious disease.
The new pledges, timed to coincide with the opening in Thailand of the six-day 15th International AIDS Conference, came as a new opinion poll showed the Massachusetts senator widening his lead over President George W. Bush (news - web sites).
Kerry welcomed the upcoming conference and promised to work with US international partners, faith-based and non-governmental organizations to strengthen the world's capacity for a sustained response to the AIDS epidemic.
But in his statement, he also made a commitment that is likely to draw more fire from conservative groups insisting on tighter immigration requirements.
"I will work with Congress to lift the immigration ban on HIV (news - web sites)-positive people that has prohibited the United States from hosting this lifesaving meeting," promised the senator.
Approximately 40 million people are currently infected with HIV around the world, and six million need antiretroviral therapy now, according to UN experts, who point out that more than 20 million have already been killed by the epidemic.
The United States is testing all new immigrants for HIV, and a positive test is usually grounds for denying admission.
With only about 400,000 people in developing nations having access to treatment, Kerry said, his strategy "starts with doubling US funding."
President George W. Bush promised last year commit 15 billion dollars to the international campaign to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over the next five years, and Congress has already begun making allocations under the program.
But the Democratic candidate said the White House was falling short of delivering on its promise.
Of course!
Not exactly the cream of the crop, eh?
No doubt he'll welcome these AIDS patients into HIS house.
It's called Bankruptcy....if, God forbid, he should get to be President and this happens. All Africans with Aids will be shipped to US, and with Kerry's healthcare plans, we will be paying for millions of Aids victims healthcare.
AND with all we have paid in preventing Terror, it will be the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak!
We have to fight terror or be killed, but we do NOT have to take on the world's Aids victims, we have enough of our own.
Those whose single most important issue is immigration, and spend thread after thread bashing Bush on that issue, listen up.
Well, do you still prefer Kerry to Bush?
PING
Ahhhhh hmmmmmm very interesting ;-)
That'll get him the AIDS vote, won't it? If they're not dead by November. Oh wait, if they're dead too!
fyi
Happy now?
Show me where somebody on immigration thread said they preferred Kerry to Bush.
No kidding. And you would prefer Kerry, who is so uninterested in the security of the nation, he can't even bother to listen to a security briefing about hightened terror dangers, -- JUST TO PUNISH BUSH for not doing the impossible.
And talk about sovereignty -- you apparently think that Kerry is a better man for that job too, since you think Bush isn't.
All the freepers who would not vote for Dubya Bush based on his immigration trial balloons. IOW, a vote for a third party is a vote for Kerry.
Several people, after I pressed them about the choices did actually come out and say that they preferred Kerry.
Just what we need, more imported disease....as if we don't have enough. I hate these RATs. They care nothing for this country. They have no right to run it!
One one side we going to allow in those with Aids, on the other side were going to give Social Security to illegal aliens.....
I think US has enough of its own AIDS and now treatment resistant syphillis to deal with.
Yep, not to mention God knows what exotic diseases being imported from Mexico. But we can't offend the illegals now, can we?
Tubercolosis... and no you can't offend Fox apparenly.
Well, that wouldn't be good. If you can link it I'd like to see it.
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