President Bush pledged on Saturday to help Africa in its "courageous fight" against AIDS and called on the U.S. Congress to fully fund his $15 billion plan to combat the disease. Posted on 07/12/2003 10:56:40 AM PDT by Uncle Bill
Bush Calls for Full $15 Billion for AIDS in Africa
Reuters
By Patricia Wilson
July 12, 2003 10:08 AM ET
President Bush pledged on Saturday to help Africa in its "courageous fight" against AIDS and called on the U.S. Congress to fully fund his $15 billion plan to combat the disease.
At the last stop on his five-day, five-nation African tour, Bush also said Washington would stand with its friends and allies to end regional wars. He and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo were expected to discuss the possibility of the United States contributing troops to a mainly African peacekeeping force for Liberia at their meeting on Saturday.
Bush says he will join efforts to enforce a fragile cease-fire to end Liberia's civil war, but is waiting on reports from U.S. military experts in the West African state before deciding whether to send troops.
"Progress in Africa depends on peace and stability, so America is standing with friends and allies to help end regional wars," he said in his weekly radio address.
But Bush focused mainly on AIDS, a disease he said posed "one of the gravest dangers" Africa has ever faced.
He said the need for help was urgent, with almost 30 million people in Africa living with HIV/AIDS including three million children under the age of 15.
"People in Africa are waging a courageous fight against this disease," Bush said. He cited progress in Uganda, which he visited on Friday, saying the country had significantly reduced the rate of infection through a program of abstinence, faithfulness and education.
"Yet current efforts to oppose the disease are simply not equal to the need. ... Africa has the will to fight AIDS but it needs the resources as well."
CONGRESS UNDER PRESSURE
Bush's pledge came after Republicans in the House of Representatives moved bills backing his request for $2 billion next year to fight the global pandemic -- $1 billion less than the amount provided for in a plan he signed in May.
The $2 billion is in line with the White House request for the first year, but White House officials have said Bush would seek greater amounts in subsequent years.
"I urge the entire Congress to fully fund my request for the emergency plan for AIDS relief, so that America can help turn the tide against AIDS in Africa," he said.
In May, Bush signed into law a $15 billion plan to help combat the disease in Africa and the Caribbean, tripling U.S. spending over five years.
The new law, a surprise priority in the president's State of the Union address, means anti-viral treatment will be available to about 2 million HIV-infected people in Africa and the Caribbean who cannot afford the costly cocktail of drugs that can prolong and improve their lives.
It also provides hospice care for the dying, helps some of the 13 million children who have lost one or both parents and intensifies prevention programs through strategies like sexual abstinence, education and promotion of condom use.
The White House said the plan had the potential to prevent 7 million new HIV infections within a decade.
The AIDS initiative focuses principally on Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, as well as Guyana and Haiti in the Caribbean.
President George W. Bush - Biography
SOURCE: http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html
"George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. Formerly the 46th Governor of the State of Texas, President Bush has earned a reputation as a compassionate conservative who shapes policy based on the principles of limited government,..."
Exactly. There are over a billion children in the world under the age of 15, and I believe the US taxpayer is responsible for the health of every last one of them.
I think spending only $1000 dollars per year for each child is a trivial amount -- we're talking about a human child here, after all.
That works out to 1 trillion dollars, which is roughly a 50% increase in all taxes across the board. Income tax -- up 50%. Social security tax -- up 50%. Corporate tax -- up 50 %.
But remember, it's for the children.
Good point, Wild Thing!
Clinton cut our vets programs, and GW has not reinstalled them.
Some families on active duty are still forced to live like poverty families.
Our VA Hospitals are still without the necessary items to make a vet's stay livable, much less comfortable.
Let's take care of our own like they took care of us!
ABSTINENCE??!
That's a joke!
No, in this instance Dubya is a liberal.
Giving money to Africa is pouring it down a gopher hole, and it will achieve the same result - none.
I've lived there and worked there for many years, which is something that GW and his advisors have not done.
It is NOT his money! It is easy to be compassionate with money confiscated from someone else, if you haven't noticed it is always "FOR THE CHILDREN!" Somehow the money never gets to "The Children," it always seems to end up in the pockets of corrupt thugs.
There's no concern for lives, DDT, or Aids. Just elephants.
Bush as President:
Bush Asks for $15 Billion to Fight AIDS in Africa
I agree with you! Believe that Senator Bill Frist, M.D., who has gone to Africa and has seen how devastating this disease is to so many people that have gotten AIDs in Africa through no fault of their own. This epidemic could go around the world and strike more than the gay community.
20 posted on 01/29/2003 8:10 AM PST by PhiKapMom(Bush/Cheney 2004)
SOURCE
Clinton as President:
Clinton Wants $175 Million for AIDS Programs
"Can someone tell me how putting more money into prevention is going to help? It is actually quite simple -- safe sex and don't share needles. Probably the most basic answer is "Just Say NO! If someone doesn't know that by now after all the warnings during the last ten years then they are a moron! Is this State of the Union going to be the big give-away? Every day I read about another give-away. Only when it comes to the Defense Department is it a take-away."
2 Posted on 01/17/2000 19:44:57 PST by PhiKapMom
SOURCE
Vote Bush. There must be a reason why, somewhere.
Maybe prescription drugs too! No, I know, how about a down payment on a hut:
Who stated the following:
"Government ought to have a policy that helps people with a downpayment."
A. 
- OR - B. 
You are not hallucinating, he really wants to have the government provide downpayments.
When I first read this statement from Bush, I knew right then and there, we were NOT dealing with a conservative President!
I trust you don't mean this kind -
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