| The Administration strongly supports the passage of H.R. 3519, which
would increase international efforts to combat the global spread of
HIV/AIDS, and agrees with its sponsors that there is a critical need for
new sources of funding in order to combat this growing pandemic
effectively. The President's FY 2001 Budget requests a $100 million
increase for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and related activities,
bringing the total HIV/AIDS funding (exclusive of research) in FY 2001
to $342 million. The current U.S. efforts to combat global HIV/AIDS are
by far the largest among bilateral and multilateral donors. In addition,
the Administration has proposed a $50 million contribution to the Global
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and new tax credits to
help spur the development and distribution of vaccines for HIV/AIDS and
other diseases that result in millions of deaths every year in the
developing world.
The Administration believes that H.R. 3519 takes an important step
towards our common objective of increasing the international effort to
combat this pandemic. We believe that additional flexibility in
negotiating the exact structure of the multilateral funding mechanism
will ensure that this mechanism will best meet the objectives of other
donors and the requirements of recipient countries and organizations,
and therefore will maximize our ability to increase other donor
participation. The Administration looks forward to working with the
Congress to address this goal. We also note that H.R. 3519 raises
constitutional concerns regarding the President's exclusive authority in
foreign affairs to represent, and negotiate on behalf of, the United
States.
The Administration remains fully committed to other high priority
international initiatives and to the funding levels proposed in the
President's Budget for HIV/AIDS programs and other critical components
of our existing international affairs budget request. A new multilateral
funding mechanism will take time to become operational and effective,
and therefore the passage of the President's FY 2001 Budget for HIV/AIDS
programs is imperative and will result in immediate assistance in the
fight against global HIV/AIDS.
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