Now or Never!

It's fourth and goal for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). For $50 billion to fight AIDS in the developing world. For millions upon millions of people living with HIV.

Earlier this year the House of Representatives passed the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, an unprecedented historic $50 billion aid package that aims to get 3 million people in poor countries on AIDS meds and prevent some 12 million new infections in the next five years. The Lantos/Hyde Act is an essential scaffolding upon which to build a sustainable structure for fighting global AIDS.

There are enough votes in the Senate to pass the legislation, but not the political will. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are letting the objections of seven conservative senators stand in the way of PEPFAR passage (see "You Better Work" below). And presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain aren't putting enough pressure on Reid and McConnell to get the job done. And time is running out -- if PEPFAR is not reauthorized by June 7, the start of the next Group of Eight nations meeting in Japan, President Bush won't have the leverage to insist that other nations also contribute billions to fighting AIDS.

What Can You Do?

Come to Washington, D.C. on Thursday, June 26, for a massive rally, march and direct action demanding that Obama, McCain, Reid and McConnell make a vote on PEPFAR reauthorization happen before July 7. The rally will take place at noon at the intersection of 4th and C, NE, also known as Stanton Park. Activists plan to descend on Capitol Hill to deliver a giant spine to Senators Reid, McConnell, Obama and McCain!

FREE BUSES are available for New Yorkers down to D.C. For more information contact: jaron@nycahn.org.

If you are Philadelphia-based, FREE buses leave from Broad and Walnut at 7:30am on June 26. RSVP to samsitrin500@hotmail.com.

Actions are also being planned for Boston and Chicago. To find out more contact Peter Witzler at pwitzler@phrusa.org (Boston) and Chris Curry clcurry@gmail.com (Chicago)

If you can't participate in any of next week's demonstrations, encourage friends to do so. And you can still pick up the phone! Call Sens. Obama and McCain, thank them for cosponsoring the legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR. Ask them to pressure on Sens. Reid and McConnell to bring the Lantos/Hyde Act to a vote before July 7.

And call your two state Senators and ask them to demand that Sens. Reid and McConnell bring the Lantos/Hyde Act to a vote before July 7.

To reach your senators, call the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at 800-828-0498. Ask to be connected to your Senator's office. If you don't know who your senators are, go to www.congress.org and enter your zip code in the upper left corner.