Remarks on signing the United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 4, 2008

July 30, 2008

Thank you. Thank you for the kind introduction. [Laughter] And welcome to the White House for what has got to be an historic and joyous day.

I am about to sign the United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, and I'm looking forward to it. [Laughter] This act is--it's going to save millions of people, and it's--honors the memory of two great leaders, Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde. And we're proud members of their families are here. And I'm looking forward to you all joining us when we sign the bill.

This bill embodies the extraordinary compassion of the American people. We are a compassionate nation, and that's what this bill says loud and clear. I want to thank everybody who's helped make this bill possible.

I particularly want to thank the Members of the House and the Senate who have joined us. I know you're anxious to see the bill signed, so I'm not going to try to name every single name. But I do want to thank Joe Biden and Dick Lugar from the United States Senate. These men worked together in an incredibly constructive way to get the bill moving, and I want to thank you.

Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, worked very hard to get this bill going as well. And all the other Members, thank you for coming; I'm proud you all are here.

I want to thank Mike Leavitt; John Negroponte; Henrietta Fore; Mark Dybul, who happens to be the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. He's done such a fine job; he ended up on the stage for the bill signing ceremony.

And the bald-headed guy on the end--[laughter]--not you, Biden, but--[laughter]--Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, who is the U.S. Malaria Coordinator--thank you for coming.

Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director--appreciate you coming, Peter. Rajat Gupta is the chairman of the board of the Global Fund. Glad you're here, Rajat; thank you both for coming. Members of the diplomatic corps, we're proud to have you here. Congressional and agency staff who worked so hard on this bill, thank you for doing it.

African Children's Choir, which we'll hear soon--I think you'll find them to be as angelic as I did. I, too, want to thank all the supporters of PEPFAR. Thank you for your diligence and your care and your hard work.

Just a few years ago, HIV/AIDS raged out of control. An entire continent was caught in the pandemic's merciless grip. In countries like Botswana, AIDS had cut the average life expectancy by 15 years. One newspaper wrote: "The AIDS pandemic is destined to rival the Black Death of the Middle Ages as a global horror."

Well, today, the outlook is really different. HIV/AIDS is still one of the world's greatest humanitarian challenges--no question about it--but it is a challenge we're meeting. And a lot of it has to do with PEPFAR.

PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history. It is distinguished from past relief efforts by a few key principles. The emergency plan demands specific, measurable targets for progress. It puts local partners in the lead, because they know the needs of their people best. It enlists new partners from the faith community and the private sector.

And so far the results are striking. When we launched the initiative in 2003, only 50,000 people in sub-Sahara Africa were receiving antiretroviral treatments. Today, we support treatment for nearly 1.7 million people in the region, and tens of thousands more around the world, from Asia to Eastern Europe. PEPFAR has also supported care for nearly 7 million people, including millions of orphans and vulnerable children. To date, PEPFAR has allowed nearly 200,000 children in Africa to be born HIV-free.

We're also making great strides in the area of prevention, thanks to our embrace of the principles of ABC: abstinence; be faithful; and use condoms. Guided by this philosophy, people are changing their behavior, and as they do, they're helping to turn the tide against HIV in their countries.

These statistics are promising. Yet there is no way to quantify PEPFAR's greatest achievement: the spread of hope. Spreading hope is in our Nation's security interests, because the only way our enemies can recruit people to their dark ideology is to exploit despair. And spreading hope is in our moral interests, because we believe that to whom much is given, much is required.

Laura and I saw the hope on our trip to Africa. I wish every single America [American] * could have seen the tens of thousands of people who lined the streets during our visit, and they were cheering and waving American flags in gratitude to the generosity of the American people. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand that PEPFAR is saving lives, that PEPFAR is showing the good heart of our Nation, that PEPFAR earns us respect and thanks around the world.

We must remain vigilant in the fight against HIV/AIDS. As President Kikwete of Tanzania told me, he said--and told the people of his country: "If this program is discontinued or disrupted, there would be so many people who lose hope. My passionate appeal is for PEPFAR to continue."