HR 2765 IH

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish a program to provide assistance for HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and treatment activities in Africa.

August 5, 1999

Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. FOLEY, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. BONIOR, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. WYNN, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. CARSON, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Ms. WATERS, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. OWENS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLVER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. STARK, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. FROST, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish a program to provide assistance for HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and treatment activities in Africa.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `AIDS Marshall Plan Fund for Africa Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) In a June 1999 lecture entitled `The Global Challenges of AIDS', United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan stated that `[n]o company and no government can take on the challenge of AIDS alone [. . . and therefore] what is needed is a new approach to public health--combining all available resources, public and private, local and global'.

(2) The 1999 annual report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) states that 14,000,000 individuals worldwide have died as a result of HIV/AIDS and 11,000,000 of such individuals were from African countries.

(3) The World Health Organization announced that HIV/AIDS is now the `world's most deadly infectious disease', making it the fourth leading cause of death in the world, and the United Nations states that in sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS is the `worst infectious disease catastrophe since the bubonic plague'.

(4) The World Health Organization reports that 33,400,000 individuals throughout the world are currently infected with HIV and 22,500,000 of such individuals live in sub-Saharan Africa.

(5) The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has declared that every day more than 16,000 individuals worldwide become infected with HIV.

(6) 3,600,000 South Africans are HIV-positive, with 1,500 new infections daily, and the virus is expected to infect 20 percent of that country's workforce by 2000.

(7) In the Republic of Zimbabwe, 1 out of every 5 adults is infected with HIV/AIDS, and an estimated 1,400 people die every week from AIDS.

(8) A 1999 Bureau of the Census report states that the average life expectancy in the Republic of Botswana, the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the Republic of Malawi, and the Republic of Zambia has decreased from approximately age 65 to approximately age 40--the lowest life expectancy in the world--due to high mortality rates from HIV/AIDS.

(9) According to a 1997 UNAIDS study, between one-fifth to one-half of all pregnant women in the Republic of Zimbabwe are infected with HIV/AIDS and at least one-third of these pregnant women are likely to pass the infection on to their baby.

(10) 1,800 babies are born HIV-positive in Africa every day.

(11) In sub-Saharan Africa, 960,000 children are living with HIV/AIDS.

(12) In the coming decades, HIV/AIDS will double infant mortality in many sub-Saharan African countries and will triple child mortality rates.

(13) It is estimated that by 2010, more than 40,000,000 African children will become orphans as a result of HIV/AIDS and 95 percent of these children will be located in sub-Saharan Africa.

(14) The 1999 annual report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) states that `[t]he number or orphans, particularly in Africa, constitutes nothing less than an emergency, requiring an emergency response' and that `finding the resources needed to help stabilize the crisis and protect children is a priority that requires urgent action from the international community'.

(15) The South African Press Agency has reported that an estimated 7 out of every 10 teachers in the Kingdom of Swaziland are HIV-positive.

(16) A World Bank study found that in Kigali, Rwanda, 34 percent of individuals with a postsecondary education are infected with HIV.

(17) The Southern Africa AIDS Information Dissemination Service estimates that over the next 20 years AIDS will reduce by one-fourth the value of the economies of sub-Saharan African countries.

(18) Most sub-Saharan African countries have a high rate of HIV infection among members of their militaries, including an estimated 80 percent rate in the Republic of Zimbabwe.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR HIV/AIDS RESEARCH, PREVENTION, AND TREATMENT ACTIVITIES IN AFRICA.

Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 104 the following:

`SEC. 104A. ASSISTANCE FOR HIV/AIDS RESEARCH, PREVENTION, AND TREATMENT ACTIVITIES IN AFRICA.

`(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CORPORATION- There is hereby established the AIDS Marshall Plan Fund for Africa Corporation or the AMPFA Corporation (hereinafter in this section referred to as the `Corporation'), which shall be an independent agency of the United States.

`(b) ASSISTANCE PROGRAM- The Corporation shall, in consultation with the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the heads of other Federal agencies involved in HIV/AIDS activities in Africa, establish and carry out a program to provide assistance for HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and treatment activities in Africa.

`(c) ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT-

`(1) STRUCTURE OF CORPORATION- The Corporation shall have a Board of Directors, an Advisory Board of Directors, a President, an Executive Vice President, and such other officers and staff as the Board of Directors may determine.

`(2) BOARD OF DIRECTORS-

`(A) APPOINTMENT- The President of the United States shall appoint to the Board of Directors, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, individuals with extensive training and experience in issues relating to development, healthcare (including HIV/AIDS), Africa, and the administration of grant programs generally.

`(B) DUTIES- The Board of Directors shall establish and carry out the program under subsection (b).

`(3) ADVISORY BOARD-

`(A) APPOINTMENT- The Board of Directors shall appoint to the Advisory Board of Directors renowned and distinguished international leaders who have demonstrated integrity and knowledge of issues relating to development, healthcare (including HIV/AIDS), and Africa.

`(B) DUTIES- The Advisory Board of Directors shall, in consultation with other international experts in related fields (including scientists and doctors), advise and provide guidance for the Board of Directors on the development and implementation of the program under subsection (b).

`(4) PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT- The President and Executive Vice President of the Corporation shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall serve at the pleasure of the President.

`(d) ACTIVITIES UNDER THE PROGRAM- In carrying out the program under subsection (b), the Corporation--

`(1) shall, in consultation with representatives from community-based African health, education, and other related organizations, provide grants to African governments and nongovernmental organizations for projects that provide research, prevention, and treatment for individuals in Africa with HIV/AIDS; and

`(2) shall solicit and accept contributions to the fund established under subsection (h)(1) from private sources and from foreign governments, including the governments of other G-8 countries, and may disburse such contributions for purposes of carrying out the program.

`(e) OTHER REQUIREMENTS- In providing grants under subsection (d)(1), the Corporation shall establish appropriate regulations, including--

`(1) self-sufficiency requirements for a government or organization receiving a grant;

`(2) requirements for a government receiving a grant in order to ensure that the government is committed to providing for HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and treatment activities under the program, including requirements such as the establishment by the government of a comprehensive plan for such activities in the country and for a system of accountability relating to such activities, and which may include the establishment of appropriate HIV/AIDS agencies, councils, or related entities for such activities; and

`(3) matching fund requirements, based on ability to pay, for a government receiving a grant, to be determined according to the amount of the grant plus the total amount of the grants received by all nongovernmental organizations carrying out projects for the country involved.

`(f) GENERAL PROVISIONS AND POWERS- In order to carry out its duties under this section, the Corporation--

`(1) shall have the same powers as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (as described in section 239(d) of this Act); and

`(2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, is authorized to enter into 1 or more contracts with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation or any other appropriate Federal agency for such administrative services as the Corporation may require.

`(g) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

`(1) G-8 COUNTRIES- The term `G-8 countries' means the group consisting of France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Italy, and Russia established to facilitate economic cooperation among the 8 major economic powers.

`(2) HIV/AIDS- The term `HIV/AIDS' means infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. Such term includes the acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

`(h) FUNDING-

`(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND- There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States a fund that shall be known as the `AIDS Marshall Plan Fund for Africa' (hereinafter in this section referred to as the `fund'), consisting of such amounts as may be contributed to the fund in accordance with subsection (d)(2) and such amounts as may be appropriated to the fund in accordance with paragraph (3).

`(2) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND- Amounts in the fund shall be available only for purposes of carrying out the program under subsection (b).

`(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS-

`(A) IN GENERAL- There are authorized to be appropriated to the fund $200,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2001 through 2005.

`(B) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- In addition to the authorization of appropriations under subparagraph (A), for each of the fiscal years 2002 through 2005, there are authorized to be appropriated to the fund an additional amount equal to 25 percent of the total amount of funds contributed to the fund in accordance with subsection (d)(2) for the immediately preceding fiscal year.

`(C) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES- Not more than 8 percent of the total amount appropriated under this paragraph for a fiscal year may used for administrative expenses for carrying out the program under subsection (b) for that fiscal year.'.

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