Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: “I support Mr. Blumenauer's amendment, which would add safe drinking water to nutrition and income security on the list…”

“I support Mr. Blumenauer's amendment, which would add safe drinking water to nutrition and income security on the list of programs for which direct linkages are encouraged. For patients whose immune systems have been compromised by AIDS, the availability of safe, clean drinking water is vitally important. This is especially true for HIV positive women with young infants who use infant formula to avoid transmitting the virus to their babies during feeding. If the water used in the formula is not clean, their babies are at high risk for waterborne diseases. Therefore, this amendment would allow PEPFAR to link with existing safe drinking water programs in order to provide clean water to these treatment patients.”