George Whitesides: “I rise today to call for the immediate reestablishment of funding for PEPFAR and our public health support for poor…”

“I rise today to call for the immediate reestablishment of funding for PEPFAR and our public health support for poor countries. I do so with a heavy heart, holding in my hand three documents that every Member of this body should read. One is a legal brief filed just days ago by Physicians for Human Rights. Another is a devastating new investigation released by ProPublica. The third is a status report on PEPFAR from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Taken together, these documents paint a picture of moral abdication that should keep every single one of us awake at night. I want to talk about the data in these reports, Mr. Speaker, but first I need to speak from a place that goes beyond policy. I need to speak with you as a Christian. Scripture teaches us that our responsibilities to one another are not limited by borders. In the Gospel of Luke, we are told: 'From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.' The United States has been entrusted with much. We are the wealthiest, most powerful Nation on Earth. With that blessing comes a profound responsibility to the least of these. Today, we are failing that responsibility in a profoundly immoral way. The legal brief I hold warns that the dismantling of our public health support for poor countries is causing irreversible losses.”