Call Upon President Bush to Step Up the Fight Against AIDS
AIDS is one of the most pressing moral issues of out time. Everyday, some 6,500 people die from AIDS in Africa, leaving behind a generation of orphans.
President Bush has described AIDS as "one of the greatest challenges of our time" and a "public health catastrophe that threatens the future of many nations." Clearly, the global AIDS emergency demands urgent action and real resources.
For 2005, Congress has allocated $2.7 billion for the fight against AIDS, or just 0.1% of the total U.S. budget. We believe America can and should do more to fight global AIDS.
President Bush has a historic opportunity to demonstrate his compassion and justice by helping the poorest people in the world help themselves. There is broad-based support to expand AIDS funding, with 86% of Americans recently polled saying a multilateral effort to fight the disease should be a priority during the next presidential term.
Instead of 0.1%, we call upon the U.S. to commit 1% of the federal budget to combat HIV/AIDS. It represents a sensible way for America to use its economic power to deal with poverty, injustice and the global epidemic of AIDS.
Dear President Bush:
This is a time of enormous need as well as great hope. We ask that early in your new term as president you demonstrate your compassion and justice by helping the poorest people in the world fight the emergency of AIDS and the poverty in which it thrives.
We ask that you support such measures as fair trade, debt cancellation, fighting corruption and targeting an additional one percent of the U.S. budget towards providing basic needs such as education, health, clean water, food and care for orphans to transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries.
We believe this request is in the best American tradition of helping others help themselves. We also believe it will make a better, safer world.
Thank you for making a commitment to this issue.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
