Political Quotes

“I join my colleagues, and I appreciate the work of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs. This is money well spent, because if we do not deal with tuberculosis nationwide, literally in Texas, we are seeing it cross our border. So I thank the subcommittee for their work. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this amendment, which I am pleased to have cosponsored along with Sherrod Brown and Representatives Heather Wilson and Connie Morella. Seven years ago, the World Health Organization declared Tuberculosis to be a global emergency. TB is an emergency in Africa--in Asia--in Latin America--in the Caribbean. TB could soon be an emergency in the United States. No area has been more harmed by the epidemic than Asia. In the past ten years there have been over 35 million cases in South and South-East Asia. In East Asia and the Pacific there have been over 21 million cases. In India, over 1.8 million new cases are diagnosed each year. In China, 1.4 million. In Bangladesh, half a million. While the majority of Tuberculosis cases are found overseas, this is disease that could be passed on to you . . . or to anyone in your family. TB is highly contagious and spreads just like the common cold-- through hand-shaking, coughing, or contact. With the increase in international travel we are seeing more and more cases of TB right here in North America--and those cases will continue to increase unless we act now.”