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U.S. Leaders Speaking About Worldwide AIDS Fact sheet released by the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State November 30, 2000

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON:
"Sadly both the number of people living with AIDS and the number of new HIV infections is rising worldwide. This year, as we observe the 10th World AIDS Day, we recognize with particular concern the toll HIV and AIDS continue to take on our children and youth." -- December 1, 1997

"From the earliest days of my Administration, we have sought to meet the challenges posed by AIDS with increased resources and action . . . Such programs and research have helped to slow the spread of HIV and AIDS and have made possible the production of new drugs that are extending the lives of people with HIV and AIDS here at home and around the world." -- December 1, 1997

"The battle against AIDS can only be won on common ground -- with a healthy dose of common sense, compassion, and common decency." -- December 1, 1997

SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT:
"We have learned by now that America cannot be secure if millions elsewhere are trapped by strife and scarcity. The imperative in Africa now, as in our own country a decade or so ago, is to face squarely the reality of this disease. For we know that with national leadership, international assistance and local interventions, the tide can be turned." -- July 13, 1999

"A global disease demands a global response. HIV/AIDS is a health problem but its prevention and treatment depend not only on the mysteries of medical science, but on economic and social change." -- October 22, 1999

"The way to beat AIDS is to prevent it. Ignoring it does not work. Denying it does not work. And stigmatizing its victims does not work … When we fight AIDS with openness, information and resources, we have seen a fall in the infection rates. From San Francisco to Senegal, we know it can be done. It can be done in Kenya and the United States is ready to help." -- October 22, 1999

SANDRA THURMAN, PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR AIDS COOPERATION & DIRECTOR,
WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF NATIONAL AIDS POLICY:
"AIDS is a plague of Biblical proportion, and it is claiming more lives than all armed conflicts in this century combined … It is almost impossible to describe the grip that AIDS has on villages across Africa and on communities around the world." -- July 22, 1999

"There is a great sense of urgency for us to work together and develop programs that we can share for those countries that are now standing on the brink of a real disaster, and literally, millions of lives, hang in the balance. The United States is committed to working with our partners around the world to do just that." -- July 11, 2000

"By 2005, more than 100 million people worldwide will have been infected with HIV. Without our help … the pace of these deaths will continue to accelerate." -- July 22, 1999

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS RICHARD HOLBROOKE:
"Today will be marked as a benchmark in the evolution of the Security Council, and the vote today will illustrate our recognition that AIDS is as great a security challenge as we have faced since the founding of the United Nations." -- July 17, 2000

"AIDS is not just the problem of a single country. It is not just an African problem. It cannot be treated simply as a problem of a single continent … We have to recognize that while interdependence gives economic opportunities, it can also pose global threats. You cannot deny AIDS a visa; you cannot embargo it or quarantine it; you cannot stop it at a border. That's why we must work together." -- July 17, 2000

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