Political Quotes

“I wish to clarify a point the Senator from Vermont made about the White House. I think if the Senator from Vermont will go back and look at the White House's proposal, and how much money they said they would spend when they put the proposal forward--which I think the Senator from Vermont rightly said was praised by the international community--the Senator from Vermont will discover that the President's proposal had less than $3 billion in the first year, actually roughly $2 billion in the first year, and then over the course of the following 4 years it was ramped up to in excess of around $4 billion. So I think to suggest that the administration announced a plan with one hand and then somehow pulled back with the other is not accurately reflected by the record in this case. The White House has been clear from the beginning as to what they have believed was the capacity for spending appropriately within the 14 countries they have outlined in the plan. They have stuck to that plan. They have insisted the numbers they put forth in the first place are accurate. I share the Senator's concern that number may be low, and that is why I worked with Senator DeWine and Senator Frist to come up with some additional funds, some $400 million, to see if we could do more bilateral aid as well as provide more money for the global fund. We have accomplished that. But I just want to set the record straight.”