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Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I know we are nearing the end of the day, and there are no further votes today or tomorrow. I will be reasonably brief.
I wanted to come to the floor when my colleague, Senator DURBIN, and others were speaking about the crisis dealing with AIDS in Africa. I wasn't able to come. I would like to mention that issue for a couple of moments; then I would like to talk about the issue of trade.
Today in the Democratic Policy Committee luncheon, we heard from the President's chief adviser on the subject of AIDS policy, and we also heard from Rory Kennedy, who has done a 12-minute documentary film, an award-winning film on the issue of AIDS in Africa. I know my colleagues came out to the floor and spoke on that subject following the Democratic Policy Committee luncheon.
It is almost unthinkable what has happened, especially in Africa, with respect to the subject of AIDS. AIDS is a scourge, a plague that is affecting the entire world. It is the first plague since the bubonic plague for which there is no cure, no vaccination, no significant remedy. It is devastating to a number of parts of this world, especially the continent of Africa. Twenty million people have died in Africa from AIDS; 14 million people are currently infected with HIV or AIDS in the continent of Africa.
We can't pretend it doesn't matter to us. AIDS is affecting all of the world, including our country. It has a devastating effect on Africa, a devastating impact on the millions and millions of children in Africa who now have no parents, who are left homeless by this scourge called AIDS. We must, as a country, gather with others in the world and combat this deadly plague.
We are spending substantial resources to try to find a cure for AIDS. We are also joining with others to try to find ways to educate people about how to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. Some countries in Africa have begun to take emergency steps and have been successful and are beginning to stem the tide of the spread of AIDS, but it is not nearly rapid enough. These steps need to be taken with much greater urgency, and our country needs to be a part of that with other countries in the international community.
I would first like to compliment Rory Kennedy, who appeared today and played for us a 12-minute documentary film that almost takes your breath away when you see on film what has happened to the children and the families in Africa with the decimation of so many families as a result of death from AIDS.
We must do more. I compliment my colleagues, Senator DURBIN, Senator BRYAN, Senator FEINSTEIN, Senator FEINGOLD, and others, many of whom have traveled to Africa in recent months, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle as well who are involved in this. We must work together to address this issue.
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