wfn.org | Episcopalians: Episcopal Church applauds new global initiatives in Congress

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

May 23, 2003

2003-112

Episcopalians: Episcopal Church applauds new global initiatives 
in Congress

by James Solheim

(ENS) The Episcopal Church's advocates on global issues 
celebrated a double legislative victory this week as the U.S. 
Congress passed legislation to authorize a $15 billion program 
to combat global AIDS and to direct the Bush Administration to 
negotiate deeper debt relief for the world's poorest countries.

On May 16, the United States Senate unanimously passed the 
global AIDS bill, H.R. 1298, "The United States Leadership 
Against HIV/AIDS Act of 2003." The legislation tracks closely a 
plan outlined by President Bush in his State of the Union speech 
to address the AIDS crisis in Africa and the Caribbean. 

The new AIDS initiative authorizes U.S. spending up to $3 
billion in 2004 for AIDS prevention efforts, medical treatment, 
palliative care and support for child-orphans of AIDS victims 
abroad. The proposal would increase U.S. spending on global AIDS 
by up to $10 billion over 5 years. The bill's authors, 
International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL) and 
the committee's ranking member, Tom Lantos (D-CA), call for $3 
billion for the first year of the five-year plan, an amount that 
exceeds the President's budget request of $1.7 billion.  
Supporters intend to fight for the full $3 billion when Congress 
takes up the 2004 spending bills later this year.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said of the crisis, "The 
pandemic continues to be one of the most serious health concerns 
in the world, with many countries facing economic decline 
because of the devastation of the disease among working age 
people. Congressional passage of a comprehensive U.S. Global 
AIDS Initiative demonstrates our capacity to respond to the 
desperate needs of the millions of people worldwide affected by 
HIV/AIDS. I urge Congress to continue to make the global AIDS 
issue a high priority. It will require a sustained global 
response to this disease if we are to tackle the pandemic."

Episcopal Church leadership on these issues helped fashion 
bipartisan support for both ambitious initiatives, and played a 
key role in their passage. The church's advocacy, through the 
Office of Government Relations in Washington, focused on 
educating policy makers about the plight of the 70-million 
member Anglican Communion, with nearly half of its members 
residing in Africa, where 70% of AIDS-infected persons live. 
Partners in Haiti are also confronting a high rate of HIV/AIDS 
infection in that country. 

More than a health crisis

In September 2002, U.S. Episcopal bishops reaffirmed their 
concern for those who suffer from HIV/AIDS, pledging "to do all 
in their power to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to offer 
prayer and the compassionate ministry of Christ to all affected 
by HIV/AIDS." Anglican partners in Africa and the Caribbean have 
been gravely impacted by the AIDS pandemic, which is more than a 
health crisis: it has decimated the workforce, led to a collapse 
in educational systems, deepened poverty, undermined agriculture 
production and created millions of orphans and vulnerable 
children. 

The Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) has responded 
by launching its own AIDS awareness and prevention program based 
on a six-point call to responsibility: leadership, care, 
prevention, counseling, pastoral care, and death and dying. 
CAPA's board has formally committed to a program designed to 
teach children and their parents life-preserving skills to 
inhibit the virus that causes AIDS, including the provision of 
information on abstinence before marriage, fidelity and 
faithfulness within marriage, delaying sexual activity, and the 
correct use of condoms.

AIDS advocates scored an important modification to the 
House-passed version of the bill concerning U.S. contributions 
to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria. The change 
will authorize the U.S. to contribute up to 33 percent of total 
contributions from all sources, up to $1 billion. This could 
permit a significant increase in the U.S. contribution to the 
Fund. The 2003 contribution was $350 million. 

The Episcopal Church is urging Congress to fully support the 
Global Fund, and calls on the President to aggressively petition 
other G-8 donors to match the U.S. contribution. The president 
will travel to Evian, France, in June for the next gathering of 
the G-8 creditor nations.

Debt relief for poor countries

A prior procedural agreement between the White House and Senate 
caused every amendment to the AIDS bill to be voted down, except 
for one: an amendment crafted by the church's Office of 
Government Relations to provide deeper debt relief for qualified 
poor countries, especially those burdened by high levels of 
HIV/AIDS. That amendment directs the president to negotiate with 
other creditor nations to cap poor countries' debt payments at 
10% of revenues or at 5 percent in the case of countries 
suffering health crises. 

Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Joseph Biden (D-DE), the 
primary sponsors, championed the debt relief amendment despite 
the difficult procedural and political hurdles in play. "We 
applaud Senators Santorum and Biden, and their colleague, 
Senator [Lincoln] Chafee [R-RI], for their unwavering commitment 
to eradicating the debts of the heavily indebted poor 
countries," said the church's international policy analyst, Jere 
Skipper. "Debt cancellation is an essential component of poverty 
reduction and the fight against global AIDS.  Debt cancellation 
is a proven mechanism for freeing resources for education and 
health care needs."  Skipper noted that almost every country 
that qualified to have some of its debt payments cancelled has 
directed the savings for HIV/AIDS prevention and care and for 
education.

The Episcopal Church made debt relief a priority following the 
1998 Lambeth Conference, a gathering of the bishops of the 
Anglican Communion.  In 1999, the Office of Government Relations 
co-drafted legislation that resulted in the creation of the 
original Enhanced Heavily-Indebted Poor Country Initiative 
(HIPC).  The HIPC initiative resulted in the cancellation of $1 
billion in poor country debt service payments since 2000.

This second round of debt cancellation, if adopted by the G-8 
creditor nations, will facilitate the cancellation of another $1 
billion in HIPC debt service payments. To date, the total amount 
of poor country debt written off under the heavily-indebted poor 
country initiative equals $36 billion. The President has 
indicated that he will sign the bill into law next week.

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For more on the Episcopal Church and HIV/AIDS:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/peace-justice/hivaids.asp

--James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service. This 
article is based on information from the Office of Government 
Relations.