Tom Coburn: “all this amendment does is say that money spent for HIV vaccine research ought to be spent on HIV vaccine research.…”

“all this amendment does is say that money spent for HIV vaccine research ought to be spent on HIV vaccine research. There has been $5.2 million spent in the last 4 years to create an HIV Vaccine Awareness Day. It is not used for recruitment of candidates. It is not used for recruitment for anything other than to celebrate the fact that we are working on an HIV vaccine. I believe it is very important that dollars for research on HIV go to research on HIV and a vaccine, in particular. The hope is that sometime in the next 5 to 10 years, we will have a vaccine. We do not have a cure for HIV, no matter how hard we work, how many hundreds of millions of dollars we are putting into that. And for us to have spent $5.2 million over the last 4 years and another million dollars over the next year in promotional activity to make Americans aware that we are working on an HIV vaccine is an improper placement of the dollars being spent. I believe the dollars will be better spent toward HIV vaccine efforts rather than an effort to make people aware of that fact. I hope the Senator from Iowa and the Senator from Pennsylvania will accept this amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate? The Senator from Pennsylvania.”