July 7, 2008
Editorial
Republican Delay on AIDS
A tiny group of Republican senators continues to block a vote on an important bill to increase American spending on AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world. Their obstructionism has deprived President Bush of a legislative achievement that could help him spur other industrialized nations to contribute substantially more money as they meet to discuss global issues in Japan this week.
But better late than never. It remains important to blast through the legislative roadblock and bring this broadly supported bill to a vote on the Senate floor, where it is sure to prevail on the merits.
The bill, similar to one already approved by the House and endorsed by the president, would authorize spending $50 billion over the next five years to combat the three diseases. That would be a significant jump above current spending levels — and a wise investment in improving global health and repairing America’s tattered image around the world.
For barely a nanosecond in recent days, it looked as if the impasse had been broken when the reputed ringleader of the obstructionists, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, negotiated a compromise with the bill’s sponsors that enabled him to lift his opposition to a vote. Mr. Coburn had insisted that at least 55 percent of the AIDS money be spent on treatment, a requirement that many experts feared would tie the hands of countries that might prefer, for example, to put heavier emphasis on prevention.
The compromise was to require that more than half of America’s bilateral AIDS money go for medical care broadly defined to include not only antiretroviral drugs to fight AIDS but also clinical monitoring, care for associated opportunistic infections, nutrition and food support and other essential care for AIDS victims. That would leave developing countries with leeway to fight the epidemic with the tools most relevant to them.
What satisfied Mr. Coburn, it turns out, was not enough to satisfy a few other senators who continue to hold up a vote. They are said to be concerned about the cost and about a provision that would eliminate an outdated statutory ban on admitting people infected with the AIDS virus into the country. Neither issue, to our mind, should block this worthy bill. If necessary, Senate Democratic leaders should undertake the potentially time-consuming task of forcing the bill to a vote.
