Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick: “I support H.R. 3519 and commend my colleagues, Mr. Leach of Iowa and Ms. Lee of California, for their initiative in…”

“I support H.R. 3519 and commend my colleagues, Mr. Leach of Iowa and Ms. Lee of California, for their initiative in crafting this piece of legislation. Some 50 million people in developing nations are infected with the HIV virus. Sub-Sahara Africa, a region which I have had the privilege to visit more than once, has been far more affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. According to one report, 23 million adults and children are infected with HIV in that part of the world. They have about 10 percent of the world's population, and 70 percent of the world's HIV-infected people. In the African continent, 13.7 million people have already lost their lives to AIDS, and we shall surely see those numbers increase dramatically unless we step up our efforts to combat this worldwide epidemic. An epidemic of such Biblical proportions is too overwhelming for just a handful of countries to attack. The AIDS epidemic requires the active involvement of our multilateral institutions, and that is precisely the objective of H.R. 3519. This bill establishes a World Bank Trust Fund to provide international grants to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.”