Bush Asks Congress to Double AIDS Effort

President Bush wants to double the funding of a U.S. program that battles the global AIDS crisis. Bush will ask Congress today to commit $30 billion over the next five years after the current program expires in 2008. The extra cash could save the lives of 1.5 million more people.

The president's pitch comes a week before the G8 summit in Germany; he also announced new economic sanctions on Sudan yesterday, the Washington Post observes,  hightlighting his commitment to international development and human rights. The anti-AIDS initiative has been positively rated by international experts, though some criticize the 7% set mandated for abstinence education. (More PEPFAR stories.)