Political Quotes

“I do not want to allow some of the statements that have been made to go without at least understanding that there is another point of view here, that the facts are at least a little bit different. The statement was made that this Congress has not been living up to the commitment that was made by the President in terms of funding for HIV/AIDS. If we are looking at the funding in this bill this year, we are more than meeting the President's request for funding for HIV/AIDS; and indeed in almost every single year since 1987, the Congress has exceeded the President's request for money to combat the international HIV/AIDS problem. We are again exceeding that amount this year that the President has requested. It is not the amount that is in the authorization bill; but let me say it one more time, a plane does not take off at 30,000 feet. It does not take off at 500 miles an hour. It takes off more slowly. It gains altitude and it gains speed. This program, this new initiative of the President needs some time to get up and running. We are doing everything that I believe should be done this year. Is it enough? No, it is not enough; but it is what we can do and what is reasonable to do, given the state of the problem.”