{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-sends-letter-to-president-bush-demanding-1-billion-supplemental-appropriation-for-aids-bill", "Congresswoman Barbara Lee Sends Letter to President Bush Demanding $1 Billion Supplemental Appropriation for AIDS Bill", "2003-07-11", "2003", "2003-07", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Barbara Lee", "L000551", "lee.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "07.11.03\n\t\t\t Congresswoman Barbara Lee Sends Letter to President Bush Demanding $1 Billion Supplemental Appropriation for AIDS Bill \n\t\t\t Congresswoman\r\nBarbara Lee Sends Letter to President Bush  \r\n Demanding\r\n$1 Billion Supplemental Appropriation for AIDS Bill \r\n\r\n\r\nLee\r\nAsks Bush to Live Up to Earlier Promise of Full Funding of $3 Billion to Fight\r\nGlobal Pandemic\r\n\r\n\r\nWashington,\r\nDC  Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), with the bi-partisan\r\nsupport of 115 co-sponsors, sent a letter to President George W. Bush demanding\r\nthat the President provide an emergency supplemental appropriation of $1 billion\r\nto meet the funding authorized in the historic HIV/AIDS bill he signed in May. \r\nLee was a co-sponsor of the United States\r\nLeadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003,\r\nwhich called for $3 billion per year over five years.  President Bush's\r\nFY 04 budget, however, provides only $2 billion in funding for the initiative. \r\nThroughout his five-day, five-nation tour and even earlier, Bush has repeatedly\r\ntouted his record.\r\n\r\nWhile\r\nthe President has been traveling around Africa touting his recent\r\nrecord in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the reality is that he is\r\nfailing to put his full weight in Washington behind securing funding for the\r\nbill at the levels he promised, said Lee.  I sincerely hope the\r\nPresident will use the same political capital he used in passing the tax cuts in\r\norder to secure the funding that millions of people so desperately need. Lives\r\nare depending on it.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe\r\nletter to President Bush follows:\r\n\r\n\r\nDear\r\nMr. President:\r\n\r\nWe\r\nare writing to thank you for your leadership regarding the global AIDS pandemic\r\nand we also strongly urge you to submit an emergency supplemental appropriations\r\nrequest of $1 billion for global HIV/AIDS programs, so that Congress can fully\r\nfund H.R. 1298, The United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and\r\nMalaria Act of 2003, which you signed into law on May 27, 2003.  Without\r\nan emergency supplemental appropriation of $1 billion, Congress will be unable\r\nto provide the full amount of funding authorized for Global HIV/AIDS programs\r\nthrough this bill without making cuts in other important programs.\r\n\r\nAs\r\nMembers of Congress who care very deeply about the global swath of destruction\r\nthat the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria pandemics have caused over the last\r\nseveral decades, we applauded your announcement of an Emergency Plan for AIDS\r\nRelief during your State of the Union Address in January.  By committing\r\n$15 billion to fight global AIDS over the next five years, the United States\r\nsends a strong message of hope to the millions who are already living with\r\nHIV/AIDS, and the millions more who are at risk of infection.\r\n\r\nAs\r\na body, we acted quickly to turn this AIDS initiative into a bipartisan piece of\r\nauthorizing legislation.  And again Congress complied when you called for\r\nswift passage of H.R. 1298 before the Memorial Day recess and in time for the\r\nGroup of Eight meetings in Evian, France. \r\n\r\nAt\r\nthe G-8 meetings, you rightly challenged France, Germany, Japan,\r\nthe United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Russia, and the European Union to match the\r\n$15 billion that we authorized through this legislation.\r\n\r\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n \n\t    \t\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-sends-letter-to-president-bush-demanding-1-billion-supplemental-appropriation-for-aids-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7530439179390669, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}