(05-19-2004) Bono's Testimony Transcript from DC - Senate.gov*

[HelloAngel]

Foreign Operations Subcommittee Hearing on the FY05 Budget Request for HIV/AIDS: Testimony of Bono, Founding Member, DATA

Statement of Bono Hearing of the Subcommittee on Appropriations of the Committee on Foreign Operations U.S. Senate
May 18, 2004



Thank you, Chairman McConnell. It is an honour to be asked to share my thoughts today. Let me also thank some very good friends: Senators Leahy, DeWine, Durbin and so many others who have shown such leadership on these issues.

And such patience in dealing with a rock star who asks for a seat at your distinguished table, then refuses to leave? or to turn down the music he?s blasting. Frankly there are a lot of people who wish I?d stay in the studio?including my band.

You let me in the door on debt relief; we?ve worked together on AIDS and the Millennium Challenge; and now I?m going to abuse your hospitality by hanging ?round and talking loudly when you really ought to be hearing from someone who knows better?a medical doctor like Jim Kim at WHO, or a treatment advocate like Zackie Achmet of South Africa, or a true heroine like Agnes, here, whom many of you know.

That said, I promise to talk briefly?and politely. Though I think it?s really ? brilliant to be here? my testimony will be suitable for family audiences. Your children, your country, are safe from my exuberant language.

I?ve just returned from your nation?s first capital?Philadelphia?where my organisation, DATA, and an array of other groups launched a new effort we?re calling ?The ONE Campaign.? These organisations represent millions of Americans, from evangelicals to student activists. They came from all over the country. And they?re speaking with one voice in the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty.

What are they saying?

They?re saying?as I think we all agree?this is a critical moment.

We?re making progress in the fight against AIDS. Gaining speed. Building momentum. But only as long as we keep our foot on the gas. Senators, as you know, we?ve got a lot more road ahead.

Our success so far should make us confident. But it can?t make us content. We?re off to a great start?but only you can make sure it?s not a false start. If we stop at AIDS, we won?t beat AIDS. We need to do more about the conditions?the extreme poverty?in which AIDS thrives.

Now, I?m not a Pollyanna on this stuff; I?ve seen it work. I?ve seen it save and transform lives. So let me talk briefly about the results we?re seeing.

As I mentioned, I met many of you a few years back when we worked to cancel the debt that burdens the poorest countries. Today, 27 countries?almost all in Africa?are investing that money in schools, vaccinations, and roads instead of in debt payments. In Uganda, I?ve stood with Senator Frist at a clean water well built thanks to debt relief. Debt money didn?t go down a ?rathole?, it went down a waterhole.

More recently, we?ve all worked together on the Millennium Challenge. This is smart money, new aid in new ways, rewarding poor countries who are leading in the fight against corruption. Though it?s only just up and running, it?s already having an impact, encouraging countries to reform.

The President has asked you for another $2.5 billion for 2005. I figure that?s a little more persuasive than my asking you, so I?ll just urge you to support him on that. DATA, the organization I helped start, has found that the 16 well-governed poor countries selected for MCA are ready to use all of that funding on sound poverty reduction plans. They need what only you can give them: a chance.

All in all, then, we?ve made a good start. But only that. A start.

We?re not here today for a victory lap; we?re here to pick up the pace. Because AIDS is outrunning us, Senators; it?s killing 6,300 Africans a day, infecting 8,800 more Africans a day; and the most incredible part is it?s fully preventable, it?s fully treatable.

We actually have the power to make this stop. But the tough thing about that realisation is that it means you?ve actually got to do something about it. For the first time in history, we have the brains, we have the cash, and we have the life-saving drugs. But do we have the political will?

Ambassador Tobias does. As we heard, he sees the fire raging and he is leading a fire brigade, and that?s a great thing. He needs your support, full funding of around two and a half billion dollars for bilateral programs.

Every dollar counts. That?s why the whole debate over generic medications is frankly frustrating. When there?s a fire raging, you don?t fight it with the finest spring water? You turn on the hose and put the fire out. There are safe generic drugs saving lives right now at a fraction of the price of their brand-name twins.

I know that Americans want to get the biggest bang for their buck: to treat as many people as possible. That?s the whole point, right? If that?s your goal, isn?t the Administration?s position on generics untenable? Hopefully this is starting to change, we still need to hear the details.

As I said, every dollar counts, and some dollars count for triple. I?m talking about your contributions to the Global Fund?an essential part of the fight and a vital partner to what the U.S. is doing. Every contribution America makes gets other countries to kick in more. Tony Blair says so. So does President Chirac. So does Paul Martin. I know because I?ve been making the rounds with the tin-cup in those countries too.

To date, the U.S. has made one-third of the Fund?s contributions?I urge you to maintain that commitment, in the neighbourhood of $1.2 billion for next year. Yes, the Fund has had growing pains, but the fact is it?s growing?in scale and in impact: not only on AIDS but on the other killer diseases that worsen it, malaria and TB. Combined with bilateral, this is about $3.6b which is allowed under last year?s law.

Of course, miracle drugs alone are no miracle cure: we can?t defeat AIDS unless we do more about the extreme poverty in which it spreads. Otherwise our efforts will come to naught. You can?t take a pill if you don?t have clean water to swallow it. You can?t strengthen your immune system if there?s no food in your belly. And you can?t teach kids to protect themselves if they don?t go to school.

That?s why the Millennium Challenge and other key programs you fund through USAID are essential. More investment is needed? a lot more. President Bush has asked for a lot more?over $21 billion total?for Foreign Operations for 2005, because he, like many of you, I think, sees victory in this battle as vital to your national security. The Senate in passing a bipartisan budget resolution has gone a step further on these issues, and I applaud that. I trust the Senate will hold onto its minimum amounts and keep up the pressure for more.

Let me say this in closing.

Senators, I spend a lot of time in this country. Maybe too much for your liking. I spend a lot of time in buses. At truck stops. In town halls. In church halls. I do all this, and I?m not even running for office.

But you know what?s amazing? Everywhere I go, I see very much the same thing. I see the same compassion for people who live half a world away. I see the same concern about events beyond these borders. And, increasingly, I see the same conviction that we can and we must join together to stop the scourge of AIDS and poverty.

Americans are thinking big. As you always have. You know, almost 60 years ago, another continent was in danger of terminal decline?not Africa, but Europe. And Europe is strong today thanks in part to the Marshall Plan. It was great for Europe, but it was also great for America. Brand USA never shined brighter.

Today we need the same audacity, imagination, and all-out commitment of a modern Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan built a bulwark against Communism; today, for half the cost, we can build a bulwark against the extremism of our age.

In turbulent times it?s cheaper, and smarter, to make friends out of potential enemies than to defend yourself against them. A better world happens to be a safer one as well. That?s a pretty good bargain.

The attention of the world might sometimes be elsewhere, but history is watching. It?s taking notes. And it?s going to hold us to account, each of us. There is so much you can do, with your power, with your leadership, to ensure that America is on the right side of history. When the story of these times gets written, we want it to say that we did all we could, and it was more than anyone could have imagined.

Thank you.


http://appropriations.senate.gov/hearmarkups/record.cfm?id=221699

Many thanks to Paul!

 

[U2Kitten]

Thanks!

I have a question about something that was first brought up on PLEBA when the pics came out. You can see people protesting behind Bono's head, calling Tobias a puppet of the drug companies, and how generic drugs are a better way to fight the African AIDS problem. As Mrs. Springsteen pointed out, it's Bush in the 'puppet' picture. Here you can see them as Bono sits without comment:

According to transcript and the video I found

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/media.cfm?ap=366274&tid=r700

Bono does support the protesters' cause, though he didn't comment during the protest.

So, it seems that there is some kind of controversy involving Tobias, and Tobias and Bush are being accused by the protesters of being puppets of the big drug companies, so I'm guessing that funding is being held up or questioned because some congressmen can't decide whether to give the order to the big drug companies or not, while Bono and the protesters think the cheaper generic drugs would do more good faster?

If anyone knows anything about this, please explain or post links. Sherry Darling, you were there, what did you see and hear on this subject?

 

[Scarletwine]

Kitty,

"Ambassador Tobias does. As we heard, he sees the fire raging and he is leading a fire brigade, and that?s a great thing. He needs your support, full funding of around two and a half billion dollars for bilateral programs.

Every dollar counts. That?s why the whole debate over generic medications is frankly frustrating. When there?s a fire raging, you don?t fight it with the finest spring water? You turn on the hose and put the fire out. There are safe generic drugs saving lives right now at a fraction of the price of their brand-name twins.

I know that Americans want to get the biggest bang for their buck: to treat as many people as possible. That?s the whole point, right? If that?s your goal, isn?t the Administration?s position on generics untenable? Hopefully this is starting to change, we still need to hear the details. "

The Presidents AIDS package requires brand name drugs only to be used, no generics which are so much cheaper.

 

[U2Kitten]

Thanks Scarletwine. I thought that was it. How sad that something so important is being used as some kind of business deal Do they really want to help the sick, or are they only interested in it if there's profit involved somewhere?

It only makes sense, the cheaper the drugs, the more people you can treat, and the better for US taxpayers and the budget. I can't see how anyone could get any good out of this except the drug companies. It is frustrating and sad. That's red tape and the US gov't for you (always happens no matter who is in office, it's all about the money)

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Here's an article about the subject

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Jen Cohn of Health Global Access Project (HealthGAP). "Even though the WHO pre-qualification program has the support of the international community, the U.S. government is more interested in pleasing big Pharma and stifling the use of generics."


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20040518/wl_oneworld/4536862621084889286

This article says there is a protest in DC tomorrow...

I'm probably wrong, but I'd venture a guess that drug companies have more lobbyists in DC than any other group.

 

[Jamila]

Thanks, U2kitten and Scarletwine for your feedback.

I asked that question yesterday because I'm not sure that disrupting a government meeting is the best tactic to getting the government to listen to your point of view.

I knew in my heart that Bono supports their position, but I'm not sure that he supported their decision to disrupt the hearing.

They could have protested outside the Capital building or hosted some other kind of media event - I just think confrontational politics is often counterproductive.

We may never know if Bono really supported their actions yesterday - but I think I did see a grin on his face in one o the pics!

Bono always did like a good performance!

THANK YOU, BONO, FOR NOT GIVING UP ON AFRICA'S FUTURE!

 

[u2philly]

genetic drugs are less money, and that can bring more to the african people. the name drugs not genenic would be more money and less will be sent over there because of the cost. So i would diffently vote for the generic drugs, so more people could get them. Shame what the people of Africa have to go threw.

 

[u2philly]

Thanks Scarletwine. I thought that was it. How sad that something so important is being used as some kind of business deal Do they really want to help the sick, or are they only interested in it if there's profit involved somewhere?

It only makes sense, the cheaper the drugs, the more people you can treat, and the better for US taxpayers and the budget. I can't see how anyone could get any good out of this except the drug companies. It is frustrating and sad. That's red tape and the US gov't for you (always happens no matter who is in office, it's all about the money)

I believe in the USA its all about the allmighty dollar. and that saddens me. When so many people are dying, the $$$$ shouldnt matter. I take life over money.

 

[u2philly]

i believe Bush is a puppet.. he cant function for himself. everyday he waits for his script to be handed to him.

 

[Sherry Darling]

Hi Kitty! You're asking if they're protesting Bono? No, they're not. They're protesting Tobias, as noted. Tobias is arguing basically that the FDA, obviously a domestic organization, needs to review generics which have already been declared safe by teh WHO. This puts up another bureacratic roadblock in the way. Like Bono said, when there's a fire raging, you don't wait for bottled spring water to put it out. You turn on the hose. I think my friends who were protesting could have been more strategic, which is why I didn't join them, though I was asked too. But I'd caution folks about criticizing them. The govenment is not above protest. They got a lot of attention. Someone just listening in might never have known what Tobis was NOT stating in his testimony otherwise (that the WHO thinks these drugs are safe, as do patients who have been on them for years).



SD

 

[kellyahern]

Hi Kitty! You're asking if they're protesting Bono? No, they're not. They're protesting Tobias, as noted. Tobias is arguing basically that the FDA, obviously a domestic organization, needs to review generics which have already been declared safe by teh WHO. This puts up another bureacratic roadblock in the way. Like Bono said, when there's a fire raging, you don't wait for bottled spring water to put it out. You turn on the hose. I think my friends who were protesting could have been more strategic, which is why I didn't join them, though I was asked too. But I'd caution folks about criticizing them. The govenment is not above protest. They got a lot of attention. Someone just listening in might never have known what Tobis was NOT stating in his testimony otherwise (that the WHO thinks these drugs are safe, as do patients who have been on them for years).



SD

Thank you for the explanation SD

Now, which government leaders do we send our e-mails to regarding this FDA policy

I cannot understand why a domestic orginization like the FDA needs to review generic drugs that are going to Africa and other nations, drugs that the World Health Organization has already approved What is the point of that?

 

[verte76]

You're right Sherry. Someone has got to point out the sheer wrong-headedness of insisting on brand name drugs when the generics are cheaper and more lives could be saved. The drug companies have a gazillion lobbyists in D.C. All they give a damn about is $$$.

 

[Katey]

The govenment is not above protest. They got a lot of attention. Someone just listening in might never have known what Tobis was NOT stating in his testimony otherwise (that the WHO thinks these drugs are safe, as do patients who have been on them for years).

And I'm glad you mentioned the Who stating these drug are safe, my proble in this has always been trying to understand just why thast not enough for , Why the FDA when the WHO has said these are safe and these drugs are working..it sure makes a strong case looking at it from that viewpont thast someone is puppet on a string.. and i just have never been comfortable knowing Tobias former chief exec for Eli Lily is at the head of this.

and for the protestors I agree if it opens ears then it can't be a bad thing.. as long as it's peaceful and at the right time and place then ay

 

[U2Kitten]

Hi Kitty! You're asking if they're protesting Bono? No, they're not. They're protesting Tobias, as noted.

We wondered when the pics came up, but we figured out it was Tobias. But we still need the whole story from someone who was there! It was probably for the best that Bono didn't join the demonstration, he can win the stuffed shirts over better by being more dignified and speaking to them in their own language. If he protested, they might just write him off as a radical rocker. He had more credibility doing it the way he did, and you were just like Bono, on their side, but doing it a different way. They knew he was on their side and he was likely glad to have their support.


Thank you so much for your explaination, information and report.

Once again, what a shame this is being treated as a who gets the big contract deal thing instead of just getting as many drugs as fast and as cheaply as we can to those who need them!

 

[U2Kitten]

Here's an article about the subject

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Jen Cohn of Health Global Access Project (HealthGAP). "Even though the WHO pre-qualification program has the support of the international community, the U.S. government is more interested in pleasing big Pharma and stifling the use of generics."


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20040518/wl_oneworld/4536862621084889286

This article says there is a protest in DC tomorrow...

I'm probably wrong, but I'd venture a guess that drug companies have more lobbyists in DC than any other group.

Thanks

 

[oktobergirl]

I have a ? that hasn't been adressed here. Any maybe I just need to google to find out, but what are the drug names that are in question here? I mean the brand names?

Are the generic equivalents for these drugs AB rated? Are they currently being dispensed in the USA by the FDB (first data bank)?

If they're not, it's going to be a difficult hurdle to overcome. I hope I'm not being pessimistic. I work for a PBM (pharmacy benefit mgr) that used to be owned by a major Pharma company and I know the resistance that not only the govt but lay people in general have to generics that are not AB rated.

*edited* because I hadn't read the link on Yahoo to the article. That answered my questions! I strongly believe that the US will contend after the "review process" of the FDC's ( whenever THAT will be!) that they will either
1. not approve the drugs as AB rated (therefore preventing the dispensing of the already WHO approved drugs to Africa and the Carribean)
OR
2. the process will continue to be beleagured by so much red tape that it never even gets to the review committee.

I too, strongly agree that the Executive Branch of our current government ( and it's corporate benefactors) are held hostage by the donor money that big pharma gives them. If this prevents the US from getting those generics to those who need it the most we seriously SHOULD take to the streets.

 

[rivergoat]

Not arguing in favor of name brand drugs or anything, but I'm sure one of the reasons the FDA wants to 'approve' these generics is 'cause of lawsuits. It's SOP in the US that generics get heavy scrutiny before being approved, and approval generally has nothing to do with what other countries/international organizations say... We have a highly litigious society - just another wrench thrown into the works.

goat

}~

 

[t8thgr8]

all the money in the world wont mean shit once your day of judgement has come. you cant buy a ticket to heaven.

youre only on earth for the tiniest fraction of eternity, why not make a difference with the time youre here and save thousands of lives instead of trying to get more money than you already dont need that you wont be able to take with you once you die anyway? come on guys, you have the power and resources to end this rediculous epidemic, just take a sacrifice and do something that benefits the well being of your species, enough is enough! god damn!

 

[mofo82]

rivergoat raises a good point, and a pretty obvious one once you think of it. who would be held responsible if the medications that were used had adverse affects, or didn't respond the way they were thought too? good intentions are one thing, but the liabilities that rest on the politicians, governments, and drug companies must be tremendous if an epidemic on a continental scale is going to be attacked. its enough to caution the effort, but i DONT believe its enough not to stop attempts to bring some relief.

 

[Sherry Darling]

Keep in mind, mofo, that the WHO has found these generics to be safe. They're already in extensive use, and the patients (as Agnes, herself on generics, if I remember right) have not experience effects that were any different from brand drugs.

SD

 

[oktobergirl]

Here's the latest from Africa Action re the marketing of first line ARV Norvir. This pisses me off.

Take Action to ensure that your tax dollars are not subsidizing the greed of Abbott Laboratories as it denies access to the critical HIV/AIDS drug Norvir.

Norvir was developed by Abbott Laboratories with a multi-million dollar taxpayer funded grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In December 2003, Abbott raised the price of Norvir (already higher than anywhere else in the world) from under $1,600 to over $7,800 a year?4 times its original cost.

Abbott?s blatant greed has put Norvir out of reach for many who are in critical need of this unique drug. Norvir is especially important for HIV/AIDS patients in need of a last-resort ?salvage therapy? because their virus has become resistant to other medicines.

Because Norvir was developed with federal money, a ?March-In? provision exists that allows the government to intervene if this subsidy is exploited by selling drugs at astronomical prices that prevent reasonable public access. Today the NIH hosts a public meeting on this critical issue.

Click here to Tell Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and National Institute of Health Director Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni to ?March-In? and relax the patent on Norvir to ensure fair pricing and increase access to this essential drug.