Political Quotes

“AIDS activists and interesting, caring legislators and others have been working on this AIDS issue for the past 20 years. President Bush did not get active on this issue over the past 2 years, but he has come to the table now to talk about emergency plan for AIDS relief in Africa. And according to the administration, this proposal will provide $15 billion for global HIV/AIDS programs over the next 5 years, including $10 billion in brand new money. Now, we have to take a very close look at this here proposal. A closer look at the President's budget for fiscal year 2004 indicates that it may not be a pure $15 billion that will be spent over the next 5 years. One would think that $15 billion over 5 years would amount to $3 billion per year. However, the administration's budget for global AIDS programs for fiscal year 2004 is only $2 billion. An increase of just half a billion over the fiscal year 2003 level. Administration officials have indicated that they plan to phase in the proposed funding over the next 5 years. Phasing in funds is particularly troublesome in the case of the AIDS epidemic. Every year, another 3 million people die of AIDS, another 5 million become infected with HIV. How many people will we have to have die before we have an emergency plan, a real emergency plan that is triggered immediately? The President promised that his proposed emergency plan for AIDS relief would provide $10 billion in new money for global AIDS programs.”