CONGRESSIONAL ACTION: Early today, the Senate approved H.R. 1298, the "United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003," a bill that dramatically increases funding to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed this bill earlier this month.

Because the Senate added one amendment by Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) to the bill, which urges increased debt relief for those countries hit hardest by the AIDS pandemic, the House will now have to again vote to approve the change. The House is expected to do so and the President is likely to sign the bill by the end of this month.

WHAT THIS BILL WILL ACCOMPLISH: H.R. 1298 includes the following important provisions:

1. Provides a total of $15 billion over the next five years to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa and the Caribbean. This figure includes $3 billion for each fiscal year beginning in 2004 through 2008. Of that, $2 billion is earmarked for bilateral aid and in FY04, up to $1 billion can be allotted to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an international public-private consortium that manages and distributes donated funds to fight these diseases.

2. The "Conscience Clause," which will help to ensure that faith-based organizations like Catholic Relief Services are given full access to U.S. funds to serve people infected with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS, without the threat of being discriminated against on the basis of religious or moral convictions.

3. Recommends that more than half of this new money fund treatment programs, and recommends the rest of the money be allocated to prevention efforts, palliative care and support for children orphaned by AIDS. One-third of all the funding allotted for prevention programs must fund such programs that promote abstinence.

4. Urges deeper debt relief for highly indebted poor countries by establishing that they pay no more than 10 percent of their total revenues to service their debt. Countries facing severe public health crises due to HIV/AIDS and other diseases would be required to pay no more than 5 percent of their total revenue to service their debt.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? H.R. 1298 only authorizes the spending of new government funds but does not actually distribute the funds necessary to carry out the programs as approved in this bill. The Appropriations Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives must still approve the actual spending of the money.

While the bill reflects President Bush's original AIDS proposal, he has only proposed 1.7 billion to fund these efforts in his fiscal year 2004 budget request. It will be challenging to find the additional $1.3 billion needed to accomplish the full $3 billion in spending as prescribed by this bill.

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED: Catholic Relief Services will continue to advocate before Congress and the Administration to ensure that the entire amount, $15 billion, as authorized by H.R. 1298 will be made available to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases that so directly affect the lives of the poor we serve overseas.

We will need your help to persuade your elected officials to ensure that this historic legislation is fully funded and will alert you to ways you can get involved as the appropriations process unfolds. Please join our legislative network today to receive information and action alerts about this and other important policy issues we are working on.

Thank you for your ongoing willingness to raise your voice in support of U.S. policies that benefit our brothers and sisters worldwide.

For more information contact:
Tina Rodousakis, Specialist, Legislative Network, (410) 951-7462, trodousa@catholicrelief.org
Kathy Brown, Advocacy Manager, (410) 951-7232, kbrown@catholicrelief.org