Bush to Congress: Fund AIDS Fight
President Vows to Work for Peace in Africa
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 13, 2003; Page A18
ABUJA, Nigeria, July 12 -- President Bush challenged Congress today to increase funding for AIDS and economic development programs for this "continent of possibilities" as he wrapped up his five-country, five-day visit to sub-Saharan Africa.
"Working together, we can help make this a decade of rising prosperity and expanding peace across Africa," he said at a luncheon speech here in the capital of Nigeria, the most populous of African nations.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, who treated Bush to a 21-gun salute and military review at the presidential villa here this morning, spoke of the importance of a visit by an American president. "President Bush being with us at this time is the sort of accident we should be praying to God to always have," he said.
Discussing Nigeria's delivery from poverty, he continued: "Who can be a more respected midwife than the president of the greatest nation in the world?"
Bush's speech to the Leon H. Sullivan Summit, a gathering of African and African American political and business leaders, touched on all the major themes of his trip -- his compassion for those suffering from AIDS, his determination to help Africa fight the spread of radical-Islamic terrorism, and, in a nod to domestic politics, his celebration of the successes of African Americans. Sullivan was a Philadelphia minister who worked to end apartheid and promote African development.
One of the topics of the Sullivan summit was developing Africa's oil industry, but there was no mention of oil in the speech, although the two presidents discussed it privately and a banner on one wall of the room where Bush gave his speech proclaimed: "ChevronTexaco welcomes all Summit Participants." Nigeria is the sixth-largest producer in OPEC and provides nearly 10 percent of the U.S. oil supply.
Throughout his tour, Bush was asked whether the United States would help with peacekeeping operations in the West African nation of Liberia. After his meeting with Obasanjo, Bush, asked about Liberia again, said he was "still in the process of assessing" the U.S. role in a Liberian peacekeeping force.
"We need to know exactly what is necessary to achieve our objectives," he said, adding that he's "not sure" when he will decide. An aide said Bush was briefed by Obasanjo on the terms for President Charles Taylor's departure, including "who he was bringing with him." Bush has made Taylor's departure a requirement for any U.S. participation.
Africa gave Bush a generally polite but indifferent welcome. His visit, coming in a post-9/11 world and after an Iraq war that was strongly opposed here, produced few of the adoring masses that greeted President Bill Clinton's visit five years ago -- a topic of some sensitivity to Bush aides, who told reporters how warmly the president was received by diplomats.
But Bush has a chance to change people's opinions. "People are surprised that a Republican president is engaging in this," said E.O. Otioto, a former Nigerian government official who attended Bush's luncheon speech. "Normally Nigerians have identified more with the Democratic Party. We're seeing a new dimension in the relationship developed between our president and President Bush."
Otioto, like many Africans Bush encountered, said people are reserving judgment on the American president until they see if he delivers on his financial promises.
"We look at the kind of things Bush has talked about, the $15 billion for AIDS, and we see a commitment beyond the usual talk," Otioto said. "Will he come through? Everybody is waiting, hoping. If he performs, he will skyrocket. If he doesn't, it spells danger." Bills moving through Congress would devote only $800 million to Bush's Millennium Challenge Accounts for foreign aid, instead of the $1.3 billion Bush requested for 2004. Full funding of the president's AIDS initiative would be $3 billion in 2004, the amount authorized under legislation he signed in May, but Congress is considering only $2 billion.
Yet Joseph O'Neill, the director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, said the administration would be satisfied with AIDS funding at the level of $1.9 billion the White House has requested rather than the $3 billion authorized as part of the five-year, $15 billion program. "In the first year, it's going to take less money to get the job done," the official said.
Bush had talks with Obasanjo, who restored civilian leadership to Nigeria in 1999 and was reelected this year, and toured a hospital to highlight a U.S.-sponsored program that is working to prevent mother-to-child AIDS transmission.
For the speech wrapping up his trip, Bush was joined on stage by Obasanjo, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, who was introduced by Obasanjo as "our sister." Bush was introduced by J.C. Watts, the only African American Republican in Congress when he retired this year, who praised Bush as "a man who has a vision for Africa."
"I have confidence in Africa's future," Bush said, recalling his visits to Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria. "With greater opportunity, the peoples of Africa will build their own future of hope. And the United States will help this vast continent of possibilities to reach its full potential."
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