Senate Approves Nearly $3B in Foreign Aid Spending for Global HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria

The Senate on Wednesday approved 98-1 a $31.8 billion fiscal year 2006 foreign aid appropriations bill (HR 3057) that includes nearly $3 billion to fight global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as about $1.8 billion for the Millennium Challenge Account, which is meant to encourage economic and political reform in developing countries, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports. The Senate by a voice vote added $100 million to the bill's appropriation for the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Taylor, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 7/20). Bush's total FY 2006 budget request for all departments included $3.2 billion to fight the three diseases worldwide, including $300 million for the Global Fund (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/30). The amount approved for MCA, which is administered by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, is $1.2 billion less than the $3 billion President Bush had requested (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 7/20). The measure now heads to a House-Senate conference committee to work out the differences between the two versions. With several appropriations bills in conference, a final vote on the bill might not take place until September, CQ Today reports (CQ Today, 7/21).