Russ Feingold: “I am delighted to be here, along with the Senator from California, who I believe is one of the most determined and…”

“I am delighted to be here, along with the Senator from California, who I believe is one of the most determined and effective Members of the Senate, to talk about a very important matter. Last year, when this Senate was debating the African Growth and Opportunity Act, Senator Feinstein and I offered an amendment to that legislation, which was accepted by the bill's managers Senators Roth and Moynihan, to address to critically important issue--an issue relating to Africa's devastating AIDS crisis; an issue that has cast a dark shadow on US-African relations in the past. Our amendment was simple--and I want to clarify this point, because there has been some misleading characterizations of it in print recently. It prohibited any agent of the United States Government from pressuring African countries to revoke or change laws aimed at increasing access to HIV/AIDS drugs, so long as the laws in question adhered to existing international regulations governing trade. Quite simply, our amendment told the executive branch to stop twisting the arms of African countries that are using legal means to improve access to HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals for their people. The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS, allows for compulsory licensing in cases of national emergency. HIV/AIDS kills 5,500 Africans every day. Approximately 13 million African lives have been lost since the onset of the crisis.”