CONSERVATIVES PROTEST OBAMA'S AIDS BILL
By Cliff Kincaid

July 19, 2008
NewsWithViews.com

In another sign of the leftward drift of the national Republican Party, only 24 Republican senators voted on Tuesday for an amendment to the global AIDS bill to prohibit AIDS funds from being used to pay for forced abortions and sterilizations in Communist China. The $50 billion legislation, which is still being debated on the Senate floor, has the support of Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama, as well as organizations associated with his financial backer, billionaire leftist George Soros.

There is a strong possibility that Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and original sponsor of the legislation, could also vote for it. But that may depend on the ultimate form the bill takes on the Senate floor and whether conservatives can put enough pressure on him to reject it.

In a provision that has ramifications for the immigration debate, the bill would allow AIDS-infected aliens into the U.S., despite the obvious health dangers.

Only $15 billion had originally been proposed in the bill, known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Democrats added the extra money, bringing it up to $50 billion, and President Bush, apparently determined to leave a “legacyâ€