At $2 billion for the first year, "the president is following through on his commitment," said Trent Duffy, spokesman at the Office of Management and Budget.
Aides of Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., say that the first-year budget may slightly exceed Bush's request and that Frist is committed to spending $15 billion over five years. But the White House hasn't asked for $3 billion the first year, and Frist and many members of Congress do not want to spend that much because of concern that it might overwhelm AIDS programs.
Bono disagrees. "It's sort of 'We'd love to give them the money, but the Africans just couldn't spend it.' Please, just say you don't have the money, but don't say that. Let's be respectful of the gravity of 7,000 casualties a day to this illness."