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LOU CHIBBARO J
Friday, July 18, 2008
A
global
AIDS
relief
bill
that
includes
language
calling
for
the
repeal
of
a
law
that
bans
foreign
visitors
and
immigrants
with
HIV
from
entering
the
U.S.
cleared
a
major
hurdle
last
week
when
the
Senate
voted
65
to
3
to
end
a
filibuster
that
had
blocked
the
legislation
for
more
than
two
months.
The
move
cleared
the
way
for
a
Senate
vote
on
the
measure
that
was
expected
to
occur
after
Blade
deadline
late
in
the
week.
(Visit
washingtonblade.com
for
updates
on
the
bill’s
status.)
But
the
provision
calling
for
repealing
the
HIV
visitor
and
immigrant
ban
faced
another
obstacle,
when
reports
surfaced
that
Sen.
Jeff
Sessions
(R-Ala.)
was
planning
to
introduce
an
amendment
calling
for
striking
the
repeal
provision
from
the
legislation,
officially
known
as
the
President’s
Emergency
Plan
for
AIDS
Relief
or
PEPFAR.
Senate
Majority
Leader
Harry
Reid
(D-Nev.)
named
Sessions
as
the
senator
seeking
to
kill
the
repeal
provision
minutes
before
the
Senate
voted
to
end
the
PEPFAR
filibuster.
Thirty-two
senators,
including
presidential
candidates
Barack
Obama
and
John
McCain,
were
not
present
and
did
not
vote
on
the
motion
to
end
the
filibuster,
which
is
referred
to
as
a
cloture
motion.
Under
Senate
rules,
60
votes
are
needed
to
break
a
filibuster
through
cloture.
Sen.
Hillary
Rodham
Clinton
(D-N.Y.),
who
withdrew
as
a
presidential
candidate
in
June,
voted
for
the
cloture
motion.
A
campaign
to
repeal
the
HIV
visitor
and
immigrant
ban
enjoys
widespread,
bipartisan
support,
and
gay
rights
and
AIDS
activists
were
hopeful
the
repeal
clause
would
remain
a
part
of
the
global
AIDS
measure,
which
is
expected
to
win
approval
in
the
House
and
Senate.
Most
Senate
Republicans
have
joined
nearly
all
Senate
Democrats
in
expressing
support
for
the
PEPFAR
bill
and
the
clause
seeking
repeal
of
the
HIV
visitor
and
immigrant
ban.
President
Bush
has
also
endorsed
the
measure
with
the
repeal
provision.
Officials
with
the
Human
Rights
Campaign,
and
Immigration
Equality,
a
national
group
that
advocates
for
immigration
rights
for
gays
and
people
with
HIV,
said
Reid
has
attempted
to
fend
off
efforts
to
remove
the
repeal
language
from
the
PEPFAR
bill,
but
Senate
rules
make
it
difficult
for
him
to
do
so.
“Under
the
rules,
it
may
be
impossible
to
prevent
a
senator
from
moving
to
strike
a
provision
from
any
bill,”
said
Allison
Herwitt,
HRC’s
legislative
director
and
coordinator
of
HRC’s
lobbying
campaign
to
secure
passage
of
the
repeal
provision.
Herwitt
said
HRC
was
working
with
a
coalition
of
gay
and
AIDS
groups,
including
Immigration
Equality,
to
line
up
enough
votes
to
defeat
any
motion
to
strike
the
repeal
provision
from
the
PEPFAR
bill.
“Yes,
we
have
heard
about
this
threat,”
said
Adam
Francoeur,
policy
coordinator
for
Immigration
Equality.
“We
are
working
to
make
sure
we
have
enough
votes
to
keep
the
repeal
provision
in
the
bill.”
Earlier
this
year,
a
bipartisan
coalition
of
senators,
led
by
Sens.
John
Kerry
(D-Mass.)
and
Gordon
Smith
(R-Ore.),
proposed
attaching
a
provision
to
the
PEPFAR
bill
calling
for
the
repeal
of
the
HIV
visitors
and
immigrant
ban.
Sens.
Joe
Biden
(D-Del.)
and
Richard
Lugar
(R-Ind.),
the
chair
and
ranking
minority
member,
respectively,
of
the
Senate
Foreign
Relations
Committee,
agreed
to
accept
the
repeal
provision
as
part
of
the
PEPFAR
bill.
Herwitt
and
Francoeur
said
Kerry
and
Smith
were
working
behind
the
scenes
to
persuade
senators
to
oppose
any
attempt
to
remove
the
repeal
provision
from
the
PEPFAR
bill.
Capitol
Hill
sources
said
Reid
initially
scheduled
the
cloture
vote
last
week
after
many
senators,
both
Democrats
and
Republicans,
made
plans
to
travel
to
their
home
states
on
Friday.
The
Senate
rarely
holds
votes
on
Fridays.
Both
Obama
and
McCain
have
said
they
support
the
PEPFAR
bill.
Obama
has
said
he
also
favors
repealing
the
HIV
visitor
and
immigrant
ban.
McCain’s
position
on
the
repeal
provision
could
not
be
determined
by
press
time.
Twenty-five
Senate
Republicans
joined
38
Democrats
and
two
independents
to
vote
for
the
cloture
motion
to
end
the
filibuster
against
the
PEPFAR
bill.
Twenty-three
Republican
senators
and
nine
Democratic
senators
were
among
those
absent
from
the
chamber
and
not
voting
on
the
cloture
motion.
The
three
senators
who
voted
against
the
cloture
motion
were
Sessions
(R-Ala.),
Jon
Kyl
(R-Ariz.),
and
John
Barrasso
(R-Wyo.).
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