Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) gave a speech on the House floor this week calling to end U.S. funding to fight HIV and AIDS in Africa, widely considered one of the most successful humanitarian missions in U.S. history.
“In Tanzania, USAID helped access 7.8 million in private sector financing for private clinics. This investment resulted in 35% increase in HIV testing and over 10,000 patients tested, and 100% of positive patients linked to care in Nigeria,” Greene began, listing these statistics in a negative tone.
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We should be caring about Americans, and we should be funding the treatment for Americans here at home from a weapon of mass destruction that is murdering Americans every single day. The American tax people are funding this, and the American tax people want their problems solved,” Greene concluded.
Greene also made headlines for trying to defund the salary of USAID administrator Samantha Power for supporting DEI programs having served in the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
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Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, has “resulted in 25 million lives saved from AIDS, 20 million people with HIV provided antiretroviral treatment and 5.5 million babies born to HIV-positive mothers but free of the virus themselves,” according to NBC News in 2023 – the twenty-year anniversary of the initiative. Bush himself has often called it his proudest achievement while in office and urged subsequent administrations to continue funding it. USAID, which Greene called to defund, is one of the key agencies that works with PEPFAR overseas.
* Original Article:
Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls To Stop Fighting AIDS In Africa: ‘We Should Be Caring About Americans’
