Kendrick Meek: “I come here tonight to strongly support the Pelosi amendment. It is troubling to see that we are using the General…”

“I come here tonight to strongly support the Pelosi amendment. It is troubling to see that we are using the General Accounting Office report as a litmus test for what we should do here in this Congress. To me, we have run out of procedural things to do and things that have common sense. There are so many ironies that I have heard here tonight. We have given aid to people in civil wars. We have propped up dictators around the world. So tonight to come before this body and say because of someone buying an airplane that means that we are going to withhold the kind of relief which they need, it is disingenuous to do that. We know that is true. We have a moral obligation to work and help the continent of Africa. Debt relief is desperately needed by the world's poorest countries. We talk a good game here in terms of poverty. But are we going to do something about the countries who need it most? These countries have had to make drastic cuts in essential human services, such as health and education. Do we want the AIDS epidemic, which is now becoming a pandemic to reach this country? It will. Those of us who know history know about the black death. We are not immune to any of these health problems. If my colleagues do not think we are, read the history of the World Health Organization. We are dealing with a very serious virus here. We must do something to relieve this.”