During Tuesday’s House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) spoke of the benefits of continued funding for the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I will now turn to my Florida friend and colleague, my dear friend and colleague,
00:07the ranking member of the subcommittee, ranking member Frankel. You're recognized.
00:12Thanks so much, and thank you to both our witnesses for being here.
00:17I'm sorry you've been shot. You were shot. Just let me tell you.
00:21All right.
00:21I know that.
00:22He knows.
00:23Yes, I do.
00:23Listen, this is going to be—this may be one meeting we're going to almost agree.
00:30Almost.
00:30Almost.
00:31Almost.
00:32For us, that's pretty good.
00:35But listen, I'll just, again, thank you for joining us today to discuss the future of PETFOR,
00:41one of the most effective and most bipartisan global health achievements in American history.
00:48I'll repeat a little bit only because we all get—I guess we all have to hear ourselves talking.
00:55What can I say?
00:55Since its launch under President George Bush, I'm going to give him credit, in 2003, PEPFOR
01:03has saved more than 26 million lives, supported HIV testing for over 71 million people, prevented
01:105.5 million babies from being born with HIV, and provided care to 7 million orphans and vulnerable
01:16children.
01:17And it's trained over 330,000 health care workers and built a health system that serves
01:24more than 50 countries across Asia, developing countries—I'm sorry, I'm going to say across
01:28Africa, developing countries in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
01:32And I want to say something.
01:33I don't know if you remember this.
01:35We served in the state legislature together.
01:37But my first assignment—maybe you weren't there yet—my first assignment, I was made the
01:43chair of an HIV-AIDS task force.
01:47And that was in the late 80s, early 90s.
01:51And I just remember, because I spent so much time—it was a—and it still is, obviously, a horrible
01:59disease, where people wasted away, got—most got infections, lung infections, and it was
02:07a death sentence.
02:08Without any question, it was a death sentence, until, you know, many years later, finally,
02:13we do have a way with a cure—or not a cure, but to put it in remission—and people can
02:19actually live normal lives.
02:21But, you know, it's not just about the numbers.
02:25This is about communities that went from despair to survival, from—and then opportunity.
02:30It's a kind of soft power, soft power that makes the world safer and makes America stronger
02:38and more prosperous.
02:40Before PEPFOR, HIV-AIDS was wiping out entire generations across African countries and developing
02:46countries, and it decimated economies.
02:49It shattered families, created instability that threatened global security.
02:54The PEPFOR turned the tide.
02:56It showed the world what America can do when we lead with compassion, science, and smart
03:02investment.
03:03And to my chair, I agree with you on this.
03:08Every administration has a right and a duty to evaluate government programs.
03:14But what we've seen from the Trump administration—and this makes me very sad, especially with this
03:19program—is a reckless, dangerous, sledgehammer approach that puts lives at risk and throws
03:26global partnerships into chaos.
03:29That's our diversion today.
03:32And from what we have heard, many PEPFOR programs have halted the stream.
03:38Waivers may be well-intended, but they're not working.
03:40We've heard that.
03:42Staff has been left unpaid.
03:43We heard that.
03:44Health systems are not reaching those who need it.
03:47And health systems that rely on consistent support and now scrambling in confusion.
03:52And I'm going to just briefly touch on this criticism that we're hearing that PEPFOR in 2024,
04:00an audit—and I'm glad that it was an audit.
04:04It was an audit.
04:05It found that nurses in Mozambique had subcontracted through local partners had performed 21 abortions
04:13over three years.
04:15That's what the audit showed.
04:16And even though abortion is legal in Mozambique, the U.S. law, we know, prohibits the use of
04:20foreign aid for abortion services.
04:23What was found was that the issue occurred because the nurses had not been trained on
04:28the restrictions under the Helms Amendment.
04:30But once it was identified, CDC immediately halted the funding and conducted a full review.
04:36It was $4,000.
04:37They collected $4,000 in salaries from the Mozambique government.
04:42It was an isolated incident and promptly addressed through improved training and accountability.
04:48And I have to emphasize, this represents a tiny, tiny fraction of the PEPFOR's 6.5 billion
04:56annual budget.
04:57And listen, nobody is perfect.
04:59Nobody.
05:00All right?
05:01They admitted the mistake.
05:03They repaid.
05:04Let's move forward.
05:05But PEPFOR is not just a public health story.
05:08It builds resilient societies, keeps children in schools, it strengthens local economies.
05:13It reduces the risk of extremist recruitment because people are in a stable situation.
05:19It builds trust in America.
05:20Boy, do we need that.
05:22And I'll say it again.
05:23It makes our country stronger, safer, more prosperous.
05:27And what we do through PEPFOR has a direct impact on the health and safety of the American people.
05:34The stronger the health systems are in other countries, the better we are all prepared to
05:38detect, detain, and respond to outbreaks.
05:44We're in this together.
05:46So now we're at a crossroads.
05:47And I hope this is where I think we are going to work very, very hard to find consensus.
05:55Because if we allow PEPFOR to be splintered, the cost will not just be measured in dollars.
06:00It will be measured in lives lost.
06:03Health systems weakened.
06:04Trading partners diminished.
06:06Society is destabilized.
06:08And trust in the United States eroded in the world.
06:11So today, I'm going to join you.
06:14I'm going to join you today as we move forward with bipartisan cooperation, which what got this
06:23program started in the first place to ensure that this life-saving, globally respected program
06:30not only survives, but continues to thrive.
06:32And as we move forward, we look for ways to strengthen PEPFOR's operations, make it more
06:38efficient, more sustainable.
06:40So hopefully we're going to find a way to just stop this AIDS, well it's not a pandemic anymore,
06:49but the AIDS disease, but also leave in place some sustainable health systems.
06:56So let's work on this together.
06:58That's where we agree.
07:00And I yield back.