WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms issued the following statement today:

"Thanks to the remarkable work by Senator Bill Frist, the Senate today has passed the Global Aids and Tuberculosis Relief Act. This bill helps orphans--the most innocent victims of the AIDS epidemic in poor countries--and insures that the the faith based organizations who have the best solutions to this essentially moral problem, have access to funds to fight the suffering caused by this disease. For these reasons, this is one of the most important pieces of international humanitarian legislation passed by the Congress in many years.

"Children are the hardest hit and they are the innocent victims of this sexually transmitted disease. In fact, the official estimate of 28 million children orphaned in Africa alone could easily prove to be a low estimate. This is among the reasons why Senator Bill Frist wrote the legislation to help children orphaned by AIDS, with solid advice from and by Franklin Graham (president of Samaritan's Purse and son of Billy and Ruth).

"Several items in the bill should be carefully noted. First, authorization for appropriations for the World Bank Trust Fund is scaled back from the House proposal of five years to two years. (There is no obligation for the U.S. Government to support the Trust Fund beyond two years.)

"If the Trust Fund preforms as expected, Congress may decide at that time to make additional funds available. However, if the Trust Fund is not transparent, if there is not strict accountability -- and if money is squandered on second rate or politicized projects -- I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that Congress does not provide another farthing.

"The bill requires that twenty percent of funding for HIV/AIDS programs be spent to support orphans in Africa. That could be as much as $220 million over two years. This is one of the provisions on which I insisted, and I wish it could have been an even higher percentage.

"I suggest that A.I.D. get together with Nyumbani Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya, Samaritan's Purse, and the other groups working in the field to develop a plan to address the crisis.

"Finally, I insisted that the lions share of funding (specifically, 65 percent -- or as much as $390 million over two years) be available to faith-based groups and I am gratified that my colleagues have consented to this. At last, it has dawned on Senators that HIV/AIDS legislation and programs designed to address the spread of AIDS are worthless unless they recognize and address seriously the moral and behavioral factors associated with the transmission of the disease.

"There is only one 100 percent effective way to stop the spread of AIDS, and that, of course, is abstinence and faithfulness to one's spouse. And it is through churches that this message will be effectively promoted and accepted, not through government bureaucracies. It is no exaggeration to say that policymakers refusing to face up to this obvious fact will be culpable in the deaths of millions.

"The approval of this bill is an important accomplishment, and if its provisions are properly implemented it will save lives. The Foreign Relations Committee will work diligently over the next two years to ensure that the intent of Congress is understood and carried out."