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Senator John Sidney McCain, III
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Current Office: U.S. Senate
Seniority: Senior Seat
First Elected: 11/04/1986
Last Elected: 11/02/2004
Next Election: 2010
Party: Republican
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BiographicalVoting RecordIssue Positions
(Political Courage Test)Interest Group RatingsPosition PapersSpeeches and Public StatementsAdditional Biographical InformationCampaign Finances
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Title: United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003
Date: 05/16/2003
Location: Washington, DC
Speech
UNITED STATES LEADERSHIP AGAINST HIV/AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS, AND MALARIA ACT OF 2003
Statement By U. S. Senator John Mc Cain
Mr. President, Senate passage of this bill authorizing the expenditure of $15 billion over five years to combat HIV/AIDS sends an important message: that the United States is committed not only to making this a safer world, by ending threats posed by terrorists and rogue states, but also a better, more humane world, by helping people in need in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere cope with the ravages of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The spread of HIV/AIDS, and the efforts of the international community to combat it, will be remembered by history as one of the defining issues of our time. Until recently, we have been losing the battle: the disease has infected 68 million people to date. It has already brought disaster to Africa, where AIDS has taken over 20 million lives and has surpassed malaria as the leading cause of death. UNAIDS estimates that by 2020, an additional 55 million Africans will lose their lives to the disease. There are currently 11 million AIDS orphans in Africa. Average life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa is currently estimated at 47 years, but it would be 62 years in the absence of AIDS.
These numbers are staggering. The ethical implications of not doing everything in our power to slow the spread of this disease are severe. The most basic morality requires that we commit ourselves to combating HIV/AIDS everywhere. The social and political implications of allowing this disease to claim its grim toll are grave: countries cannot survive the death of a quarter or more of their populations without severe unrest, impoverishment, even radicalization and revolution. In Africa, more women are infected with HIV/AIDS than men; their central role in family life means their deaths have disproportionate effect. Millions of children cannot lose their parents without lasting damage to themselves and their societies. In many countries, the army has higher infection rates than the general population. Mass death among uniformed personnel will have profound implications for political stability and national security in these countries, as armies literally become unable to fulfill their basic duties.
As the CIA assessed in 2000 for the 20-year period through 2020,
At least some of the hardest-hit countries, initially in sub-Saharan Africa and later in other regions, will face a demographic catastrophe as HIV/AIDS and associated diseases reduce human life expectancy dramatically and kill up to a quarter of their populations over the period of this estimate. This will further impoverish the poor, and often the middle class, and produce a huge and impoverished orphan cohort unable to cope and vulnerable to exploitation and radicalization.
As the World Bank and others have reported, AIDS affects the most economically vibrant group within society, the working-age men and women who account for most national output. With one quarter of a country's population facing impending death, labor markets would be ravaged, the benefits of education lost, and health-care spending rationed on what should be a society's most fit citizens. Resources that would have been used for productive investments would instead be apportioned for health care, orphan care, and funerals. Decades of gains in social welfare could be rolled back. National productivity and economic growth would be set back for generations.
HIV/AIDS is decimating Africa, but its next frontier lies in Eurasia. More than 7 million people in China, Russia, and India carry the disease, but as we have seen in Africa, an infection rate of that magnitude can jump into the tens of millions within a decade. As Nicholas Eberstadt has written, "The coming Eurasian pandemic threatens to derail the economic prospects of billions and alter the global military balance." Africa's plight alone is reason enough to pass this bill. Given the economic size and military stature of India, China, and Russia, the world will simply not be able to ignore the consequences of the coming AIDS crisis in Eurasia.
Given the scale of human disaster and socio-political turmoil we confront from HIV/AIDS, enactment of the bill before us represents a critical step in the direction of leading the world in a common response to a crisis that affects us all. This bill nearly triples the U.S. commitment for international AIDS assistance. It targets most assistance at the 14 most afflicted countries in Africa and the Caribbean, but can incorporate other afflicted countries if necessary. It demonstrates the United States' commitment to leading a global campaign against a disease that has already killed 25 million people.
As Uganda in particular has shown, AIDS can be managed and contained. Often the biggest challenges are political will, which has been sorely lacking in much of Africa, and government competence to effectively diagnose and treat victims, backed by a decent health care infrastructure. Afflicted nations with whom we partner to fight this disease must know that we expect a level of governance, transparency, and effectiveness from them in order to make the fullest use of AIDS assistance.
The scale of the AIDS crisis, and the consequences of inaction in the face of a pandemic that threatens the global order, call for the type of bold leadership reflected in this bill. Our commitment must be sustained, and we must enjoy the partnership of other wealthy nations in this effort. We cannot afford to fail.
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