World Aids Day

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on World AIDS Day, as we remember tens of millions of beautiful souls we have lost around the world to HIV and AIDS and pray for their families.

Over the last two decades, our fight against HIV/AIDS in the world has been transformed by PEPFAR, made possible by the leadership of President Bush and bipartisan support in Congress.

It was my privilege to be a leader in this fight on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee where we secured more than $100 billion for PEPFAR to support its life-giving work.

I salute President Bush and Mrs. Bush for their ongoing attention and commitment to this issue. I have traveled to visit the clinics in Africa and have been told by people there that PEPFAR gave them hope. They would never have been tested if they didn't think there was an opportunity for something to improve their lives. They lost the stigma of being tested positively by having hope given to them.

I thank President Bush and Mrs. Bush for helping address the issue with their Pink Ribbon Campaign.

As we go forward, let us hope that this body will soon reauthorize PEPFAR for what it means.

During the COVID crisis, I spoke to the head of the World Health Organization and asked him if PEPFAR helped. He said, yes, the science, the distribution of drugs, the network that was created was all very helpful to us in the fight against COVID, especially in Africa.

Again, thanks to President Bush for his leadership at the time. I told him at that time that I am with you as long as it is big. He made it big, and he has made it constant; and we salute him and are grateful to him for that.

This year's World AIDS Day is fraught with meaning because our nation faces the imperative of reauthorizing PEPFAR HIV is very resourceful: it keeps adapting to survive, and so must we. I join so many of my colleagues and voices across the world in calling on Congressional leaders to make reauthorizing PEPFAR a top priority as we negotiate government funding legislation. Today, and every day, America must demonstrate to the world that we remain fully committed to building an AIDS-free generation, with health equity and justice for all.

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