House GOP Opposes AIDS Program Changes

[davidinalameda]

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/02/020808gopa.htm

House Republican leader John Boehner and other Republicans warn that a successful program to combat AIDS in Africa would be in jeopardy if Democrats move ahead with plans to make changes.

Boehner, R-Ohio, said the Democratic proposal to renew the five-year, $15 billion anti-AIDS effort "will undermine this valuable program as we know it, placing at risk the work it does on behalf of millions."

In what is shaping up to be a political and ideological showdown, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., replied that his Democratic proposal reaffirmed the compromise he worked out with the late Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., in 2003. It is a shame, he said, that the GOP minority is "failing to honor this spirit of compromise and is willing to endanger a valuable U.S. foreign policy program addressing one of the most serious health care challenges that humanity faces today."

The program expires this year and President Bush, who travels to Africa this month, has urged Congress to double funding to $30 billion over the next five years. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is now treating 1.4 million people, with the focus on 15 mostly sub-Saharan African nations.