*EPF518 05/16/2003
Upbeat Press Conference Follows Senate Passage of Bush AIDS Bill
(Senator Mike DeWine and Supporters Laud Senate Passage of HR 1298) (590)

By Bruce Greenberg
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Remarking that last night's Senate passage of HR 1298, the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act, 2003, was "an historic vote for mankind," Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH), together with representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), religious groups and AIDS activists held a May 16th press conference in the U.S. capitol.

"Last night we set out a broad game plan for what the U.S. will...do, not only for this year, but for the years ahead," the senator said, adding, "This generation will be judged by how we respond to this issue, this moral dilemma we face."

Robert Liberatore, Senior Vice President of Daimler-Chrysler, proudly pointed to his company's model work-based program in South Africa that helps with the education and medical treatment of its 5,000 employees and their families. Liberatore said that Chrysler's program is being shared and emulated by several other corporations world-wide.

Alan Holmer, President and CEO of PhRMA, and a representative of America's pharmaceutical companies, said his industry fully supports this legislation and the president's program. "During the last four years, U.S. pharmaceutical corporations have invested over 2 billion [2,000 million] dollars in HIV/AIDS programs for developing countries, along with low-cost and free medications. There are now 83 new AIDS drugs in development. One of these, we hope, will be the cure for this disease."

Cesar Portillo, chief of public affairs for AIDS Healthcare Foundation which dispenses anti-viral treatments at clinics in the U.S., South Africa, Uganda and Honduras, related the story of a young mother of three, recently near death, who began receiving anti-viral drugs. "Soon she began to recover her health, and her disabling infections disappeared. The month of her recovery, she threw a party to celebrate, and said a holy mass ����for the gift of life that God had given me.' Instead of finding an orphanage for her children, she now hopes to see them grow to adulthood."

Faith-based and pro-abstinence representatives were uniformly supportive and upbeat for what this legislation will do in the fight against the global AIDS pandemic.

Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, hoped that religious organizations will be encouraged to contribute to fighting the global AIDS pandemic, citing the African AIDS Initiative of Churches, which has thus far committed over 1 million dollars in international AIDS relief.

Scott Weinberg of the Population Research Institute, Sandy Rios of Concerned Women for America, and Connie Mackey of the Family Research Council all praised Senators Frist, Hyde and DeWine for endorsing the third of the bill's funding in support of pro-abstinence programs in Africa. Sharply critical of those advocating wide-spread condom use, Rios said "a strategy that depends on the social marketing of condoms as the primary defense against the spread of AIDS has never worked anywhere. This approach has led to higher infections and despair."

"Weinberg added "We know that abstinence works, because it works in the Uganda model."

All highly praised the president's AIDS initiative and his leadership in this area, Rios even likening this legislation to the post-war Marshall Plan for the recovery of Europe.
She remarked, "The passage of this bill may prove to be one of the greatest events in the history of civilization, in the history of Africa."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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