Patrick Leahy: “I rise to speak on a far more serious matter. I listened to the speech the President gave at the Coast Guard Academy a…”

“I rise to speak on a far more serious matter. I listened to the speech the President gave at the Coast Guard Academy a few days ago. I must say that this Democrat agrees with so many of the things the President said. I was especially pleased to hear him speak about the importance of foreign aid to America's security. But I became concerned after I looked behind the rhetoric of the President's speech. I wanted to see if the President's own budget request reflected his words. It does not. At the Coast Guard Academy, the President spent a good deal of time talking about the global AIDS crisis, the worst public health threat in human history. I commend President Bush for that. He has shown great leadership on AIDS, although a bipartisan group in Congress has been pushing for action on AIDS for years. The bill we passed last week, an authorization bill, authorized $15 billion over 5 years to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It is an important step forward. It showed that we are beginning to take the AIDS pandemic seriously. But before we all applaud ourselves and pat ourselves on the back, let's have a dose of reality. This was an authorization bill. It does not appropriate any money. For all intents and purposes, it is like writing a check without enough money in the bank.”