Bush Urges Support For Africa AIDS Program

President Bush said Sunday that Congress should renew his global AIDS program and preserve a requirement that steers money into abstinence efforts.

"We don't want people guessing on the continent of Africa whether the generosity of the American people will continue," Mr. Bush said in Tanzania, the second stop of his African trip.

Congress, in fact, strongly backs the program, which is credited with getting medicine and preventive treatment to millions of people - most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet its renewal has gotten hung up over ideology and political debate about disease prevention.

Some Democrats want to eliminate a provision in the bill that requires one-third of all prevention spending go to abstinence-until-marriage programs. Critics say that while they don't oppose abstinence programs, the inflexible requirement hampers the effort.

Bush said the time for debate is over, and that those seeking changes on both ends of the political spectrum should "stop the squabbling."

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, expires this year.

"My attitude toward Congress is, see what works," Mr. Bush said. "PEPFAR is working. It is a balanced program. It is an ABC program: abstinence, be faithful and condoms. It is a program that's been proven effective."

Tanzania is one of the countries targeted by Bush's emergency AIDS relief effort. More than two-thirds of all people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Standing with Mr. Bush, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete thanked U.S. lawmakers for the program, but prodded them to keep it moving. "If this program is discontinued or disrupted, there will be so many people who will lose hope," he said.

Bush is pushing to renew the program at $30 billion over five years, double his original commitment. Congress has put more than $18 billion into it so far and is expected to extend the program beyond the Bush presidency. It is the largest effort to ever target an infectious disease.

Mr. Bush, nearing the end of a presidency dominated by the war in Iraq, is targeting disease and poverty in his visits to five African nations. The president and first lady, Laura Bush, began their African trip in Benin in West Africa, then flew to the east coast of the continent to Tanzania. He also plans to visit Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.

Unlike in the United States, where his approval rating hovers near his record lows, Mr. Bush is treated here with reverence. A crowd of people, some wearing clothing bearing Mr. Bush's image, waved tiny U.S. and Tanzanian flags to welcome him as he walked down a red carpet toward the State House.

"People may have different views about you and your administration and your legacy," Kikwete said. "But we in Tanzania, if we are to speak for ourselves and for Africa, we know for sure that you, Mr. President, and your administration, have been good friends of our country."

Later, Mr. Bush met with HIV-positive patients and doctors at AIDS treatment wing of the city's Amana Hospital, funded in part with PEPFAR dollars.

"I'm very lucky,' said Tatu Msangi, who was tested for HIV while pregnant, received treatment and delivered a healthy baby, Faith, now 2.

Mr. Bush also signed a nearly $700 million aid pact with Kikwete to help Tanzania build up its infrastructure. It's the largest deal under a Bush program that offers economic aid to countries that treat their people fairly, rule justly and root out corruption.

"I'll just put it bluntly, America doesn't want to spend money on people who steal the money from the people," Mr. Bush said. "We like dealing with honest people, and compassionate people. We want our money to go to help human condition and to lift human lives as well as fighting corruption in marketplace economies."

At the news conference, both leaders dodged a question about the presidential race in the United States and the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan.

Mr. Bush, momentarily taken aback by a question about the excitement surrounding Obama's candidacy, said: "Seems like there was a lot of excitement for me."

Kikwete would say only: "Let him be as good a friend of Africa as President Bush has been."

Mr. Bush also Sunday visited the families of victims from the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy here. He said a silent prayer in front of a plaque in the garden of the new embassy before going inside for private talks. A total of 224 people were killed in the twin bombings in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.