Chris Smith: “I thank the chairman for his leadership on this bill, and Eliot Engel and Barbara Lee. We were there when George W. Bush…”

“I thank the chairman for his leadership on this bill, and Eliot Engel and Barbara Lee. We were there when George W. Bush signed this legislation. We were sitting next to each other. This has made an enormous difference in the lives of so many people. I call on our colleagues to support the PEPFAR Extension Act of 2018, which authorizes funding for each of the next 5 years for comprehensive programs designed to prevent or provide treatment for people suffering from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and/or TB throughout the world. Because of the vision of George W. Bush--and here in the House, it was Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos as chairman and ranking member--since 2003, PEPFAR has saved an estimated 16 million lives. Today, 13 countries are on track to control their HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2020. When the President signed it, he said, and I quote in part: ``HIV/ AIDS is one of the greatest medical challenges of our time. . . . Across Africa, this disease is filling graveyards and creating orphans and leaving millions in a desperate fight for their own lives.'' He went on to say: ``In the face of preventable death and suffering, we have a moral duty to act, and we are acting.'' Today, according to the U.S. Department of State, PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in all of history. Before PEPFAR, only some 50,000 people in Africa had access to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment.…”