A committee in the House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to more than triple spending for a U.S. global AIDS program that has proven to be one of the Bush administration's most successful and popular foreign policy initiatives, according to The Associated Press. The Foreign Affairs Committee's voice vote on the plan to approve spending of an average $10 billion (¤6.6 billion) annually over the next five years came hours after lawmakers and the White House reached a compromise on some of the policy issues, including spending on abstinence programs, that had held up action on the legislation. The bill extends the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which authorized spending of $15 billion (¤9.9 billion) total for five years for prevention and care programs in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions hit by the epidemic. That act, passed in 2003, expires in September. The new bill adds 14 Caribbean countries to the 15 mostly African nations that have been the focus of the program. Every day another 6,000 people are infected by HIV, said committee chairman Howard Berman, a Democrat. «We have a moral imperative to act decisively.» While the program has wide bipartisan support, the White House and many Republicans objected to the original Democratic-written draft because it removed a provision requiring that a certain amount be spent on abstinence programs and bolstered links between AIDS treatment and family planning. Some Republicans said that would open the way for family planning groups to spend money on abortions. The compromise worked out in late-night negotiations Tuesday does eliminate the clause requiring that one-third of all HIV prevention funds be spent on abstinence, instead directing the administration to promote «balanced funding for prevention activities» in target countries. The administration must issue a report if programs focusing on abstinence and fidelity do not receive half of funds devoted to the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV, a smaller pot. The agreement also allows the use of AIDS funds for HIV/AIDS testing and counseling services in those family planning programs supported by the U.S. government. Earlier drafts permitted use of funds for family planning programs including contraceptive services and commodities such as birth control pills. The final bill gives no authority beyond current law to fund family planning programs with AIDS money, although Democrats pointed out that it also does not prohibit such activities.
