Diaz-Balart Remarks at Hearing on Assessing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
I want to welcome you all to our hearing today to assess the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, commonly referred to as PEPFAR. I would first like to introduce our witnesses.
Ambassador Mark Dybul is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center where he serves as Chief Strategy Officer of the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact. He is also Chair of the Board of Purpose Africa. Ambassador Dybul played a lead role in founding the PEPFAR program during the Bush Administration and served as the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
Ms. Catherine Connor is the Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and has been with the organization for over seventeen years. You both have a wealth of experience on this topic, and we are grateful for your testimony this morning. Thank you for being here.
I have long been a strong supporter of PEPFAR. Since it was launched in 2003, the program has saved 26 million lives and prevented 7.8 million babies from being born with HIV. That is an incredible feat. Over 20 million people are now on lifesaving treatment and over 70 million people receive testing services in more than 50 countries.
The PEPFAR program—through the generosity of the American people—saved a generation. Much of the success—both in terms of impact and the decades of trust and continued support from Congress—is due to the unmatched level of accountability and transparency that President Bush, and you Ambassador Dybul, demanded from the very start.
This is especially important for appropriators. The data-driven approach that PEPFAR uses to justify budget allocations, and the detailed reports this committee receives, clearly outline results achieved through the annual funding.
Unfortunately, under the Biden Administration, the PEPFAR program was not immune from the misguided campaign to push controversial ideologies using U.S. taxpayer dollars. I warned in every hearing, markup, and engagement that using funds to promote radical agendas will cost support for programs that I—and many other Republicans—have historically supported. But even more egregious, under the Biden Administration’s watch, the PEPFAR program violated the Helms Amendment and used taxpayer funds to pay for abortions, for the very first time, as far as we know.
My staff was briefed on the violation literally hours before the Biden Administration was out the door, even though the facts had been uncovered months prior. I was outraged and heartbroken to learn of this shocking betrayal—funds provided to save lives were instead used to end lives. This was despite my efforts as Chairman to push for more training and oversight with respect to enforcement of long-standing provisions in law to protect life.
The incoming Trump Administration announced a review of all foreign assistance programs on day one. Let me be clear—given the circumstances and the gross mismanagement of the Biden Administration, a review is necessary. I fully support this Administration doing a thorough scrub of PEPFAR programs. Frankly, it was sorely needed to ensure that bipartisan support can continue.
We understand that challenges remain in terms of ensuring programs that received lifesaving waivers get continued support and that owed payments are provided in a timely fashion. So, where do we go from here? I trust that the Administration is going to continue to work through these challenges—in coordination with Congress—and I am looking forward to continuing fulsome discussions to understand implementation and the results of their review.
I think all of us here today would agree—PEPFAR was never meant to go on forever. Financially, we cannot continue spending at current rates for years to come. Countries need to step up their own financial commitment and maintain a laser focus on achieving epidemic control. However, as we demand additional burden sharing and look to wind down, we also cannot afford to lose progress gained and create a bigger, more expensive problem for later. A failure to maintain HIV patients on anti-retrovirals means the likelihood of increased drug-resistance and threatens achieving epidemic control. With new innovations coming online—notably American-made innovations—I believe there are new opportunities to accelerate progress.
As this committee begins the important work of crafting the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bill, this hearing will play an important role in shaping the recommendations ahead of us. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about the successes, challenges, and opportunities as we think about the future of the PEPFAR program.
It is my assessment that PEPFAR has, and if implemented correctly, will continue to, make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
Again, I want to thank the witnesses for being here today. I will turn now to my dear friend and colleague, Ranking Member Frankel.
