Bush praises cooperation on AIDS bill

President Bush said Saturday that he will sign Congress’s bill to expand a program to fight AIDS in the developing world, praising Republicans and Democrats for working with him to pass the legislation.

Bush said in his weekly radio address that he would sign the bill, which would build on the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, next week.

{mosads}In a highly partisan time for foreign policy in Washington, Bush’s work on the AIDS epidemic has won praise from even some of his detractors.

He said the program has expanded the number of people receiving antiretroviral treatment in sub-Saharan Africa from 50,000 to 1.7 million over the past five and half years.

“We will expand access to lifesaving antiretroviral drugs. We will help prevent millions of new HIV infections from occurring. And we will also bolster our efforts to help developing nations combat other devastating diseases like malaria and tuberculosis,” Bush said.

The Democrats offered a more partisan foreign policy message in their address, playing of Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) recent visit to the Middle East.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), fresh off his trip to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), referenced comments made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki which supported an Obama-style plan for Iraq.

“Prime Minister Maliki told us that while the Iraqi people deeply appreciate the sacrifices of American forces, they do not want an open-ended presence of U.S. combat forces,” Reed said. “We, in turn, had a very clear message for the Prime Minister: the Iraqi government needs to do more.”