to get lifesaving drugs for their people, inevitably it is going to create a level of government instability in those countries which is going to affect our normalized trading relationships. Those governments will not be stable going into the future economically if, in fact, there are various revolutions based on who gets access to medicine simply because they can afford it and those who cannot. We have some obligations, Mr. Cummings. Mr. CUMMINGS. One of the things that I could not help but think about as you were talking was when the Kosovo issue came up, this country responded quite rapidly and with quite a bit of money and dealt with that issue. When I look at what is happening here, when we have millions of people dying, it is interesting to look at those two situations and how we are dealing with them. Finally, let me say this. When we talk about putting a face on this problem, Mr. Chairman, when I visited Zambia, I was on my way, and I was about to leave the last day, and I had met a young girl named Sakia, and I think you will appreciate this, Mr. Jackson; a little 10-year-old who was an orphan. As I was about to leave, I had done several speeches about AIDS, this little girl, Sakia, who I had met earlier that week, came up and said-pulled me on the coat, and says, are you leaving? I said, yes, I am leaving. She said, are you going to come back? Are you going to help our people? Because, you know, my mommy and my daddy are dead, and all my relatives are dead. And I said, yes, I am going to come back. I am going to figure out a way to help you. We have to help you, and we have got to help your people. And she says, well, when are you going to come back? I said, I am going to come back soon. She said, when you come back, she said, will you look for me? And I said, sure. And I said, I will write you. She said, but if you can't find me, will you look for me in heaven? And I will never forget that, never ever forget that, because she saw her life sort of just disappearing, as she had seen so many other people's lives disappearing. Mr. MICA. Thank you. Mr. Lantos. Mr. LANTOS. No, thank you. Mr. MICA. You have both been most patient. We thank you. Your coming forward today has helped provide us with reasons that we should go forward, from your own personal experience. Hopefully it will help make a difference as Congress decides its policy here, so we particularly thank you for participating today, and also my colleague Mr. Jackson and my colleague Mr. Berry. We will excuse this panel and thank you both again. I would like to introduce and welcome our second panel. The first participant witness is Ms. Sandra Thurman, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy of the White House; then Mr. Joseph Papovich, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative under Services, Investment and Intellectual Property of the United States Trade Representative's Office. Then we have Dr. John Killen, the Director of the Division of AIDS in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the National Institutes of Health. Then we have Dr. Timothy Dondero, the Chief of International Activities Branch, the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I would like to welcome all of our panelists. Again, this is an investigations and oversight subcommittee of Congress. If you would not mind, I would like to swear you in, if you would please stand. [Witnesses sworn.] Mr. MICA. The witnesses answered in the affirmative. Again, welcome to our subcommittee. We appreciate your providing testimony. As I said previously, if you have lengthy statements, we are going to run the clock because we have another full panel after you. If you have lengthy statements, we will make them part of the record, or additional documentation, by unanimous consent. First, I would like to recognize Ms. Sandra Thurman, the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy for the White House. Welcome, and you are recognized. STATEMENTS OF SANDRA THURMAN, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NATIONAL AIDS POLICY, THE WHITE HOUSE; JOSEPH PAPOVICH, ASSISTANT U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE, SERVICES, INVESTMENT & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE; JOHN KILLEN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF AIDS, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH; AND TIMOTHY DONDERO, CHIEF OF THE INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES BRANCH, DIVISION OF HIV/AIDS PREVENTION, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION Ms. THURMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I knew I should not have released my report before I came to this committee, because most of you have already heard some of the statistics out of it. I just want you to know how pleased I am to be with you here today. Your interest in addressing this crisis is very much appreciated, and your help is very much needed. My colleagues from the NIH and the CDC will again lay out for you a very vivid picture of the depth of this tragedy and describe for you some of the work that their agencies are doing to address the many challenges before us. You have heard the statistics, but you have also heard that these are not just numbers, but very real people and real lives. I would like to take this time to talk with you a little bit about the human dimension of AIDS. AIDS truly is a plague of Biblical proportions. While many of us have witnessed firsthand the devastation, it is almost impossible to describe the grip that AIDS has on villages across Africa and on communities around the world. Twelve million men, women, and children in Africa have already died of AIDS, and yet the AIDS pandemic rages on. In a host of different ways and from a variety of different vantage points, it is children who are caught in the cross-fire of this relentless epidemic. In Africa, an entire generation is in jeopardy. In many sub-Saharan countries, between one-fifth and one-third of all children have already been orphaned by AIDS, and the worst is yet to come. Within the next decade, more than 40 million children will have lost their parents to AIDS, 40 million. That is the equivalent of every child in the United States living east of the Mississippi. AIDS is wiping out decades of hard work and steady progress in improving the lives and health of families throughout the developing world. For millions and millions of those families, and in some cases entire nations, AIDS is the engine of destruction that is pushing us toward the brink of disaster. Not only do precious lives hang in the balance, but so, too, do the economic viability and the political stability of their homelands. As the chairman has said, AIDS is a trade and investment issue, not just a health issue. Both in terms of exports and natural resources, Africa is a critical partner to the United States. A successful fight against AIDS is fundamentally important to our ability to sustain and improve our economic ties to Africa. Skilled workers are taken in the prime of their lives, and in many instances companies are having to hire two people for every single skilled job they have, assuming one will die of AIDS. AIDS is also a security and stability issue. The prevalence of HIV in the armed forces of many African countries is staggeringly high. The Economist has estimated that the HIV prevalence in the seven armies engaged in the Congo is somewhere between 50 and 80 percent of all military personnel. Other recent reports have projected that the South African military and police are also heavily impacted by HIV. More over, as these troops participate in an increasing number of regional interventions and peacekeeping operations, the epidemic is very likely to spread. Yet my message here today to you is not one of hopelessness and desolation. On the contrary, I hope to share with you a sense of optimism. For amidst all of this tragedy, there is great hope. Amidst this terrible crisis, there is great opportunity. The opportunity is for us, working together, to empower women to protect children, and to support families and communities throughout Africa and throughout the world in our shared struggle against AIDS. The United States has been a leader in the struggle. The administration has taken an active role in sounding the alarm on the AIDS crisis in Africa, and in marshalling support for African efforts to combat this deadly disease. Since 1986, this Nation has contributed over $1 billion to the global fight against AIDS. More than 50 percent of those funds have been used to address the epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Overall, nearly half of all the development assistance devoted to HIV care and prevention in the developing world has come from the United States. The United States has also been the leading supporter of the United Nations Joint Program on AIDS, or UNAIDS, contributing more than 25 percent of their budget. It is a strong record of engagement of which we can be proud, but unfortunately, it has not kept pace with this terrible epidemic. We have done much, but much more remains to be done by the United States and by the world's other developed nations. In that spirit, on World AIDS Day in 1998, the President directed me to lead a fact-finding mission to sub-Saharan Africa and to make recommendations for an enhanced United States battle in our global fight against AIDS. I was pleased to lead that mission during the Easter recess, accompanied by Members and staff from 65-308 D-00--4 both parties and both Chambers to witness firsthand the tragedies and triumphs of AIDS in Africa. In response to that trip, as we all have heard, the President and the Vice President agreed we need to do more. This week the administration announced a broad initiative to invest $100 million in the fiscal year 2000 budget toward this effort. This initiative provides a series of steps to increase U.S. leadership through support for effective community-based solutions and technical assistance to developing nations. This effort more than doubles our funding for programs of prevention and care in Africa, and challenges our G-8 partners and other partners to increase their efforts as well. This initiative is the largest increase in the U.S. Government's investment in the global battle against AIDS, and it begins to reflect the magnitude of this rapidly escalating epidemic. Our commitment to seek an additional $100 million in fiscal year 2000 will help to support four key efforts: $48 million will be used for prevention, $23 million will be used to support community and home-based care, $10 million will go to take care of children who have been orphaned as a result of AIDS, and $19 million will be used to strengthen the infrastructure and to build the capacity that we need to provide care to people who are infected throughout the African world. We hope this initiative will receive the broad-based bipartisan support that it deserves. I greatly appreciate the favorable comments of the members of this committee about this initiative. AIDS is not a Democratic or Republican issue, it is a devastating human tragedy that cries out for all of us to help. I look forward to working with all of you. On Monday, Bishop Tutu mentioned an African proverb which says, "When one steps on a thorn and it goes into the toe, the whole body bends down to pull it out." We ask for your help in doing that, in addressing this crisis of AIDS. Thank you very much. Mr. MICA. Thank you. [The prepared statement of Ms. Thurman follows:] |