GLOBAL AIDS ACT: California Democrats Praise Legislation
Two California Democrats have "hailed" President Clinton's signing of the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000, ANG Newspapers reports. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D) both worked to obtain the more than $300 million the bill allocates to fight HIV and tuberculosis worldwide. "Had I had my druthers, it would have been $3 billion a year. We have a huge surplus in this country," Lee said. This amount is what the World Bank estimates is needed to combat the pandemic. Lee introduced the legislation more than a year ago, and then aligned with Iowa Rep. Jim Leach (R), who wanted to "create an AIDS trust fund through the World Bank." Leach said the signing of the bill "represents the most compassionate set of initiatives in the history of the U.S. Congress for the developing world." Boxer contributed to the bill by adding $60 million to fight tuberculosis (Friedman, 8/22).
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