"House Passes Broader Plan to Fight HIV/AIDS" -- by the Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Thursday to triple financing to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world, giving new life and new punch to a program credited with saving or prolonging millions of lives in Africa alone.

The 303-to-115 vote sends the bill to President Bush for his signature. Mr. Bush, who first floated the idea of a campaign against AIDS in his 2003 State of the Union address, supports the five-year, $48 billion plan.

The passage of the bill was a rare instance of cooperation between the White House and the Democrat-controlled Congress. It was “born out of a willingness to work together and put the United States on the right side of history when it comes to this global pandemic,” said Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California, a leader on the issue.

The current $15 billion act, which expires at the end of September, has helped bring lifesaving antiretroviral drugs to about 1.7 million people and supported care for nearly 7 million. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as Pepfar, has won plaudits from some of Mr. Bush’s harshest critics.

Representative Howard L. Berman, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the United States “has given hope to millions infected with H.I.V., which just a few years ago was tantamount to a death sentence.” H.I.V. is the virus that causes AIDS.

According to a study by Unaids and the Kaiser Family Foundation, the United States provided one-fifth of AIDS financing from all sources — governments, international aid groups and the private sector — in 2007. Of the $4.9 billion disbursed in 2007 from the Group of 8 countries, Europe and other donor governments, about 40 percent came from the United States.

Read the whole story here.

PEPFAR Passes the Senate 80-16!

Here's the latest good news from the ONE Campaign blog (www.one.org/blog).
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After weeks of ONE Campaign members relentlessly writing and calling their senators, and great work by so many partner organizations, we’ve successfully unstuck billions of dollars in AIDS, TB and malaria!

We dodged several potentially devastating amendments over the last 2 days - pieces of legislation that would have put millions of lives at risk. We did lose one amendment-fight, however, so the total funding for PEPFAR for the next five years will now be $48 billion, instead of the original $50 billion.

After last night's Senate vote, the bill will go back to the House and then onto the president to sign. We are hopeful those processes will be swift.

Given how much we had to fight to reauthorize this bill this year- this is a great victory for us. Thank you to everyone who contacted their members of Congress to pass PEPFAR. Literally, millions of lives will be saved with this funding.

Below, a quote from ONE Campaign Legislative Director Tom Hart (who, BTW, is the former head of the Episcopal Office of Government Relations):

“Even as Americans face serious concerns at home, the Senate has proved America’s commitment to providing lifesaving medicines to the world’s most vulnerable people. PEPFAR is an investment in people around the world; but it is also an example of America’s generosity and a critical piece of American diplomacy. By treating and preventing disease and saving lives, we can help to create more stable communities and a more secure future for Americans.

"Senators Biden, Lugar and Reid are true heroes for their persistence and patience in passing this bill. This legislation received strong support from co-sponsoring Senators on both sides of the aisle, including both Presidential candidates.”

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For something really interesting go here -- and see all the different proposed amendments and their results.

Great work, everyone!!! But there's still more. Our senators need to know when they've done a good job ... and they need to know when we're unhappy with their performance.

Click here to see how your senators voted, then click here to get contact information for your senators, make the call and tell them what you thought of their vote!