Political Quotes

“And I rise in strong support of this measure. Let me, first of all, as I have so many times before, thank Chairman Royce for his leadership in advancing this lifesaving legislation, as well as Representative Smith, the bill's author. I also want to acknowledge my friend from California, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, one of the lead sponsors not just of this bill, but of the 2003 legislation that originally authorized PEPFAR. She is the chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus and a tireless champion in the fight to end HIV/AIDS, and I salute her tremendous leadership. She was talking about this when very few people were, and look at what we have accomplished. Fifteen years ago, the idea that we would one day talk about an ``AIDS-free generation'' would have seemed like fantasy. At the time, this disease had killed more than 20 million people, another 42 million were infected, and a mere 50,000 people in Africa had access to lifesaving treatments that were still relatively new. {time} 1700 Enter PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the largest commitment by any country in the world to combat a single disease. Today, thanks to PEPFAR, 14 million men, women, and children are receiving treatment. More than 85 million people were tested for HIV last year. New diagnoses among young women and girls, a particularly vulnerable population, have dropped dramatically.…”