San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, July 11, 2003
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau

At every stop on his current tour of sub-Saharan Africa, Bush has touted the five-year, $15 billion anti-AIDS program that he signed into law in late May as a tripling of federal spending on the global pandemic that infects about 30 million Africans, including an estimated 3.5 million new cases in 2002 alone.

Congressional legislation authorized up to $3 billion a year, but Bush's proposed budget sought only about $2 billion for the first year of the plan, starting Oct. 1.

Two actions on Thursday, a House appropriations subcommittee approval of $1. 43 billion and the full House's OK of $644 million as part of another bill, gave the president his planned figure but sparked partisan debate over Bush's level of commitment.

The president's "public remarks would have you believe that his HIV-AIDS . . . initiative will offer significant additional resources and solve the crisis.

These contentions are largely a fraud," said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.

'WE ARE RAMPING UP'

But the panel's chairman, Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., said prudence dictated a gradual increase in spending on AIDS in 12 African countries, Haiti and Guyana.

"Programs require a firm foundation and good management," said Kolbe. "A plane has to take off, climb and gain speed. . . . We are ramping up."

Another Republican said it would be a disaster for the fight against AIDS if too much money was thrown into programs not yet able to spend $3 billion a year effectively.

"The worst thing possible is spending money so quickly that one of our contractors embarrasses the program" and turns public sentiment against it, said Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.

Kirk said Bush's nominee for the new State Department post of global AIDS coordinator, former drug company executive Randall Tobias, had yet to be confirmed by the Senate, so the vastly expanded program's grant procedures and oversight still aren't established.

Kolbe acknowledged Bush "continues to compound the problem" by talking about a $15 billion program as if it were set in stone, rather than face yearly congressional action.

On tour in Africa with Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell may have added to the confusion by saying, "I would, of course, have preferred full funding of the president's request. We will make the best use of the money that Congress has provided to us."

Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer reiterated the president's commitment to the $15 billion figure.

"The authorization is a full $15 billion over five years," he said. "There is a ramp up in the first year. So (while) the funding will hit the $3 billion level, it may not hit it in the first year for the appropriations."

AIDS GROUPS DISSATISFIED

But AIDS groups were disappointed with the proposed appropriation.

"When you have a fire, you don't ramp up a response," said Tom Hart of DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), a group created by U2 star Bono. "With $3 billion a year, instead of $2 billion, we could prevent 1.5 million a year from getting AIDS."

"We hope for $3 billion to be funded," he added.

Lowey said she would ask the full Appropriations Committee for $3 billion when it votes on the bill next week. And dozens of House members have signed a letter to Bush, originated by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, asking him to push for $3 billion in the program's first year.

At a press conference, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said she doubted the full $15 billion would ever be appropriated.

"It is hard to see how the Congress will," she said. "There is the urgent need for the full funding that the president suggested. . . . What we're talking about here is missing an opportunity to save lives."

In the Senate, where the appropriation for the AIDS program has yet to be heard in committee, members voted 78-18 for a nonbinding resolution sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., calling for $3 billion in the coming fiscal year and the full $15 billion over the next five years.

"The president's own budget has undercut his commitment," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "You are keeping the promise," she told colleagues.

E-mail Edward Epstein at eepstein@sfchronicle.com.

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