Political Quotes

“as one of the original cosponsors of this bill, I am proud of what it represents, and I strongly urge my colleagues to support it. This five-year reauthorization tells the world that the United States is truly committed to a sustainable global response to HIV, TB, and malaria. The bill raises our financial commitment. It authorizes the strengthening of local health systems and the training of workers, including the doctors and nurses on whom the sustainability of this program will rely. The bill also eliminates the onerous abstinence-only spending requirement. It replaces it with a provision directing country teams to tell Congress if they spend less than half of their funds for sexual transmission on behavior change programs. This is merely a reporting requirement, and should not be understood as a restriction on country spending. I do want to acknowledge some concerns about the bill. Many would have liked to see stronger and more inclusive language encouraging linkages to reproductive health services. I would have liked to see such language too. There is also concern about the current requirement that recipients sign an 'anti-prostitution pledge.' People involved in sex work are very vulnerable to HIV infection, along with many other health and social risks. But what we hear from the field is that the pledge has had the unintended consequence of making groups shy away from effective outreach programs for sex workers.”