President bush has signed into law a 15 billion-dollar initiative to fight aids in Africa and in the Caribbean. The White House says this will prevent 7 million new HIV infections, care for 10 million HIV infected people, and provide support for AIDS orphans. Carol Pearson reports.
NATURAL SOUND – APPLAUSE
At a ceremony at the State Department, President Bush said it was the "moral duty" of the United States to act against HIV/AIDS, a disease that has killed more than 20 million people worldwide.
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT
“We will provide unprecedented resources and we will keep our commitment until we have turned the tide against AIDS.”
Mr. Bush plans to press other wealthy nations to join a global effort to combat AIDS at next week’s meeting of the eight industrialized countries in Evian, France.
The U.S. Congress must still approve actual spending levels for the measure in its annual budget appropriations process.