As your constituent, I am writing to encourage your leadership in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. As you may know, this global epidemic represents one of the most devastating crises in the history of human health.

More than 40 million people are living with HIV, over 25 million have already died from the disease and 11,000 new people are infected daily. HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects people living in poverty; 95% of the cases of HIV/AIDS occur in developing countries where less than 10% of the people have access to life-saving antiretroviral medication.

Recently, Congress has debated the budgetary allocations for combating AIDS internationally as outlined in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006. While we applaud the efforts of Congress to fund the fight against the AIDS pandemic, we are deeply concerned that the current allocations do not meet our country's pledged commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The current 2006 appropriations allocate $401 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. However, this is significantly lower than the $544 million previously pledged by our government. If we fail to meet our pledge for this fiscal year, the gap between our initial pledge of $2.54 billion over the period of 2001-2008 and our actual contribution will continue to grow.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has demonstrated that its model for fighting the AIDS pandemic is both effective and transparent. Our commitment to the Fund reflects a commitment to international collaboration in the fight against global poverty.

We urge you to play a leadership role in Congress and to help keep America's promise to the global community by supporting full funding of the U.S. pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.