Pelosi on Global HIV/AIDS Bill: 'There is a Moral Imperative to Combat This...( WASHINGTON April 2 2008 -- Speak...),Health

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this afternoon in support of the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act, which provides $50 billion over five years for programs to combat those diseases around the world. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

"I want to commend Chairman Howard Berman -- I think this is the first piece of legislation to come out of the Foreign Affairs Committee under your leadership as chairman -- and Ranking Member Ileana Ros Lehtinen for their leadership in bringing a bipartisan, strong initiative to the floor. This initiative is a continuation of the work President Bush established as a priority in the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

"For those of us who have been involved in these issues over the years, we know that for our country to be healthy, for the eradication of these diseases to take place, we must have a global approach to it. Disease knows no borders and boundaries.

"Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and I just had the opportunity to visit a PEPFAR site in India at the Salvation Army, where they were distributing drugs through an organized regiment related to hygiene, and help people with HIV and AIDS. And we can tell you from firsthand experience -- I have visited these sites in South Africa and in India -- that wherever we go, there is great appreciation for what our country is doing and President Bush's leadership on this subject.

"I'm so pleased that this bill is named for Chairman Tom Lantos, our friend who left us earlier this year, and Congressman Henry Hyde before that, because they were the original authors of the first historic President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief legislation in 2003. That landmark bill authorized $15 billion over five years.

"Working together with the Bush Administration and the Appropriations Committee, we succeeded in providing life-saving
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