Rep. Jeff Flake Votes No (Naturally) as House Overwhelmingly Approves Renewal and Tripling of Successful U.S. Global AIDS Prevention Effort

Yesterday, thanks to a bipartisan compromise brokered by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman (CA-28), the House voted overwhelmingly to expand the landmark U.S. effort to combat HIV/AIDS worldwide that, during the past five years, has saved millions of lives.

The Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act (H.R. 5501) was approved 306 to 116. It renews the mandate of an initiative proposed by President Bush in January 2003 to combat these three lethal diseases; the legislation authorizing this initiative expires in September. The Foreign Affairs Committee passed a five-year reauthorization with a bipartisan voice vote on February 27.

Heartless cheapskate ideologue Rep. Jeff Flake, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, voted no both times, of course. He cares nothing about the poor and sick of the world, just as he cares nothing about struggling middle-class voters in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District or anywhere else in the U.S.

Rep. Berman noted,

As a direct result of the extraordinarily successful law we passed five years ago, the United States has provided life-saving drugs to nearly 1.5 million men, women and children; supported care for nearly 7 million people, including 2.7 million orphans and vulnerable children; and prevented an estimated 150,000 infant infections around the world.

The new measure contains provisions that move the global HIV/AIDS program beyond the “emergency” phase of implementation under the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and seeks to make the programs that it supports more sustainable over the long term. It dramatically boosts HIV/AIDS programming related to women and girls; strengthens health systems in countries hard-hit by the virus that causes AIDS; authorizes HIV/AIDS programs to include linkages to food and nutrition, education and health care programs; and increases U.S. contributions to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The legislation overturns the controversial and ineffective 1/3 abstinence-only requirement that applies to global HIV/AIDS prevention funding, which was included in the 2003 law over the objections of the then-Democratic minority. This restriction has subsequently proven to hamper the effectiveness of health care efforts in the field, as documented in recent, independent reports by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Instead, the Executive Branch will be directed to promote a “balanced” prevention program in all countries where the program operates, including every element of the Abstinence, “Be Faithful,” and Condoms (ABC) approach toward HIV transmission prevention.

As Rep. Berman said upon passage, "Each and every day, another 6000 people become infected with HIV. We have a moral imperative to act, and to act decisively.”

Kudos to President Bush for initiating PEPFAR and kudos to the Republicans and Democrats in the House who supported this legislation, which will save countless lives.

As for Rep. Jeff Flake, I wonder how he sleeps at night.

Unfortunately, knowing he will coast to re-election regardless of his votes in Congress, he probably sleeps a lot better than any of the people with malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS that he gave the back of his hand to yesterday.