Tom Lantos

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to my good colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), a distinguished Member of this body and a leader on this issue.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to my good friend and distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), a member of the Committee on International Relations.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to my good friend and distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to my good friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel), a distinguished member of the Committee on International Relations and a strong leader on this and on so many other issues.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, before yielding to our next speaker, I want to express my deep appreciation to several members of our staff. Pearl Alice Marsh, David Abramowitz, Peter Yeo, Bob King, and on the staff of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), Christos Tsentas. They have done an outstanding job in bringing this legislation to the floor. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to my good friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley), a distinguished member of the Committee on International Relations and a leader on this issue.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 5 minutes to my good friend, the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who has brought boundless energy and bold passion to this legislation. She has been the leader on our side on this entire matter.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Before yielding to our distinguished whip, let me also underscore the important contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS of Bono who has worked with us on all aspects of this problem and whose leadership worldwide is deeply appreciated by all of us concerned with this issue. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished Democratic whip, a leader on this and all issues in this body.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my good friend, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the distinguished ranking member of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, we are in complete agreement with the gentlewoman on the value of the Global Fund and on the importance of private contributions to the fund. Contributions from the Gates Foundation and others significantly enhance the functioning of the fund, and we agree that the President should do even more to encourage private donations here. I am not aware of any objections to the gentlewoman's amendment on this side of the aisle. We would be pleased to accept it. I commend the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) for her important initiative.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I strongly support the amendment introduced by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Ballance), and I want to commend him for his initiative. We think this is a significant improvement to the underlying bill. We have no objections, and we strongly support it.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment as the designee of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald).

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Frances F. Lee, a remarkable woman who has devoted her life to community service and social progress. Her contributions-- as an educator, nonprofit leader, and principled activist--merit our admiration. Ms. Lee recently announced her retirement as Vice Chancellor of Instruction at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF), a distinguished institution that is one of the largest community colleges in the world. As a former educator, I can only imagine the challenges she faced in enhancing CCSF's academic stature and helping thousands of Bay Area men and women to realize their educational dreams. Ms. Lee's reputation for achievement reflects her success in these endeavors. As a resolution of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently noted: ``Frances F. Lee served with dignity, distinction and grace and won universal respect and admiration of faculty, staff, students, administrators and community leaders.'' Mr. Speaker, I share this view wholeheartedly. Frances Lee's contributions to the CCSF community make up only one part of her extraordinary forty-year legacy to the City of San Francisco. A dedicated social worker, she acted as Executive Director of the Chinese Newcomers Service Center for more than a decade, where she used her talents to educate America's newest residents about our language and society. Ms. Lee has also been a civil rights champion in the Bay Area, serving on the Board of Directors of Chinese for Affirmative Action for the past 19 years and fighting to open the doors of America's schools and businesses to all Americans, regardless of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. The causes and organizations to which Frances Lee has devoted herself mirror the breadth of her passion. From the Center for Southeast Asian Refugees to the San Francisco Bilingual Vocational Training Program, her commitment to the Bay Area community has enriched our lives. Mr. Speaker, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has declared May 9th as ``Frances Lee Day'' in the City and County of San Francisco. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the achievements of this outstanding woman, and in congratulating her on her retirement.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I had the honor on Tuesday to join Senators Lugar and Biden and the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) at the White House as the President called for Congress to quickly approve comprehensive HIV/AIDS legislation. The President has since announced his strong support for our bill. When the President spoke to us, he asked that Congress make the ABC strategy used in Uganda and elsewhere as the model for our prevention efforts. I could not agree more with the President. To quote him, ``The ABC strategy is effective by emphasizing abstinence, marital fidelity as well as condoms to prevent HIV transmission.'' Mr. Chairman, I quote President Bush on the ABC strategy because there is some confusion in Washington as to what it means. Some Members of Congress attribute the dramatic success of Uganda's HIV/AIDS prevention program solely to abstinence and marital fidelity programs. While these components of the ABC strategy have been effective, Ugandans also use an average of 80 million condoms per year, and that figure is increasing. While I certainly respect the fact that some religions may have moral objections to the use of condoms, many other faiths actively promote their use as a medically proven way to stop the transmission of HIV. The legislation before us explicitly authorizes the use of funds to promote programs which promote abstinence and faithfulness. However, the Pitts amendment would require that one-third of the HIV/AIDS prevention funds be set aside for the exclusive use of abstinence before marriage programs. Mr. Chairman, I agree with the President of the United States. The ABC approach does work, but the Pitts amendment undermines the ABC approach by earmarking funds solely for the abstinence program. The Pitts amendment also raises a whole series of very disturbing questions to which we have been given no answers. Does the Pitts amendment seek to replicate certain abstinence-only programs under which educators are explicitly prohibited from giving full and complete information about condoms to high-risk populations? Under these abstinence set-aside programs, will people who are already sexually active be given any information about condoms? Will any information provided about condoms be medically accurate and complete? Will faith-based groups such as the Anglican Church of Uganda be eligible to receive these abstinence funds if their priests discuss condom use in the context of abstinence education? Do abstinence programs that are part of a multisectoral approach count towards this set-aside? And questions along these lines too numerous to mention. Mr. Chairman, all of these questions remain unanswered. I therefore urge all of my colleagues to support the ABC approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and to oppose the Pitts amendment. I also want to call my colleagues' attention to the fact that today in an editorial, the Washington Times, no liberal publication, says, ``The revision expected to be offered by Representative Joe Pitts, Pennsylvania Republican, which would set aside up to one third of the money specifically for abstinence and monogamy programs, seems less wise since such decisions should be made by the experts in the field.'' I fully agree on this issue with the Washington Times, the President of the United States, and the experts working in the field; and I urge all of my colleagues to reject the Pitts amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my colleagues on all sides. Particularly I want to thank my friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde), I want to thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) on the other side, and I want to pay tribute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who has done an outstanding job. We are on the verge of passing one of the most significant pieces of legislation in this session. I am deeply grateful for the contribution of all of my friends on the Republican and the Democratic side.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who has led this fight on our side.

Mr. LANTOS. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my good friend from New Jersey for his very clear answer. Mr. Chairman, the sponsor's unwillingness to make this clarification makes me even more concerned about the amendment as it is drafted. I believe that this amendment could be used by some organizations to undermine and denigrate the effective use of condoms and other HIV prevention strategies overseas. Mr. Chairman, use of condoms is an effective way to prevent HIV/AIDS. If we allow this clause, conceivably scientific misinformation could be disseminated and it would undermine a proven prevention strategy, which means people would die. I must, therefore, reluctantly oppose the passage of the Smith amendment and ask all of my colleagues to join me in voting ``no.'' Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend my friend, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) for her excellent amendment. We are delighted to accept it on this side.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, our distinguished chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), expressed my views. In order to save time, I merely concur with his comments. I also oppose the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).