Patrick Leahy: “we want to get this bill off to the President so he will have it when he goes abroad. I agree with that, although I…”

“we want to get this bill off to the President so he will have it when he goes abroad. I agree with that, although I don't think that was a reason for opposing the amendments that were offered tonight. We could have passed those amendments, gone to conference with the House, and sent this bill to the President in plenty of time. But that was not what the majority wanted. They wanted to rubber stamp the House bill, despite its defects which were obvious to everyone. Let's be realistic about what is going on here. This is an authorization bill. It does not actually appropriate one dime. The President will be taking a promise when he goes abroad, nothing more. In fact, his budget request for 2004 does not include the amount authorized in this bill that people have been talking about. Not only that, while this bill authorizes $1 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the President's 2004 budget includes only $200 million for the Global Fund, a $150 million cut from last year. And not only does this bill not appropriate any money, his 2004 budget would cut many other global health programs. It would cut funding for child survival and maternal health by 12 percent. It would cut funding for programs to protect vulnerable children by 63 percent. It would cut programs to combat other infectious diseases--diseases which kill millions of children each year, by 32 percent. I wonder how many Senators know this.…”