Tom Coburn: “this debate is characterized by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey] as a way to delay this bill. That is completely…”

“this debate is characterized by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey] as a way to delay this bill. That is completely false and not true. This amendment comes at the heart of everything that I have been trying to do on the HIV epidemic in this country, and to not allow an amendment to offer additional treatments, lifesaving treatments, is wrong. Yes, this committee did increase that funding, but there still are going to be 30,000 Americans who will not have triple drug therapy available to them. Unfortunately, most of them will not be associated with what we most often identify with, because many of the ones that have been in programs that have been there long-standing will have the treatment. The people that will not get this treatment are going to be African- American women, they are going to be IV drug users, they are going to be people who have no means whatsoever to fend off this disease. We have spent billions of dollars researching this disease, and now we bring forth an amendment. I stood at this stand trying to be polite, failing to interrupt. My mistake, there is no question, I would say to the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey], but I did not intend to go around the rules of this House. I did not intend to be an obstructionist. I intended to offer this amendment to save the lives of people who will not, will not, have these drugs available to them.”