Governor Mitt Romney On World AIDS Day

Saturday, Dec 01, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Romney Press Shop (85) 288-6390

Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement on World AIDS Day:

"On World AIDS Day, we are reminded of the importance of America's commitment to fighting one of mankind's most deadly infectious diseases. Around the world, over 33 million people are living with HIV/ AIDS. In 2007 alone, 2.5 million people became infected with HIV and another 2.1 million died from AIDS. To strengthen our fight against HIV/ AIDS and bring hope to those afflicted with this disease, we need strong executive leadership that can build on President Bush's groundbreaking efforts.

"As President, I will mobilize our civilian instruments of power to address HIV/AIDS , poverty and other challenges across Africa by empowering a single U.S. official with the responsibility and authority to lead all of America's civilian efforts in the region. I will fundamentally transform our international aid efforts so that more of our assistance goes to those suffering rather than bureaucracy. Today, only one-third of all foreign aid gets to the people it was intended to help. That must change.

"As devastating as HIV/AIDS has been around the world, we must not forget that over a million Americans are living with the disease here at home. We should do all we can to ensure that America continues to lead the world in cutting-edge research and development into new medicines. I believe in supporting policies that foster innovation and get every American access to affordable, quality health insurance. I also believe that government should work in partnership with our nation's pharmaceutical researchers and manufacturers to advance the HIV/ AIDS research agenda and move us toward a cure."

More Romney and AIDS

July 23, 2003

ROMNEY CELEBRATES NEW CHAPTER IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Signs legislation that provides flexibility in meeting housing goals

Governor Mitt Romney today celebrated the signing of a new law that will allow MassHousing to continue to make loans to finance affordable housing in the Commonwealth.

Within weeks, the quasi-public agency was poised to come up against its legal debt cap for rental housing, which would have prevented it from making any new loans for mixed-income rental housing developments.

"This new law will allow MassHousing to finance mixed-income homes without interruption," said Romney. "We must work harder, and be smarter, to increase the state's housing supply and have it affordable to those across a broad range of incomes."

While MassHousing had additional lending capacity to make loans to first-time home buyers, the measure signed by Romney allows MassHousing to combine two separate debt limits for rental housing and home ownership into one. No new funds are being made available. Rather, the action allows MassHousing to make better use of its existing resources.

Romney signed the bill at the Providence House in Brighton, which will become a 102-unit assisted living complex for the elderly. Adjacent to the Providence House will be the rehabilitated Seton Manor, an existing 20-unit building that houses people with HIV/AIDS.

Romney and AIDS

A GENERATION'S LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

Today's challenges are daunting. They include the conflict in Iraq, the resurgence of the Taliban, and global terrorist networks made even more menacing by the threat of nuclear proliferation. While Iran's leaders relentlessly pursue nuclear weapons capabilities and spout genocidal threats against Israel, the world largely stands silent, unable to agree on effective sanctions even as each day the danger grows. Genocide ravages Darfur even as the world stands frozen. In Latin America, leaders such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez seek to reverse the spread of freedom and return to failed authoritarian policies. AIDS and potential new pandemics threaten us in an interconnected world. The economic rise of China and other countries across Asia poses a different type of challenge. It is easy to understand why Americans -- and many others around the world -- feel so much unease and uncertainty. Yet although we face fundamentally different issues today, the United States has a history of rising to meet even greater challenges. Indeed, we need not look to ancient history, but only to the courage and determination of our parents and grandparents to see a stark contrast with the confusion and infighting of Washington today. Just over 60 years ago, we were in the midst of a global war that would take the lives of tens of millions. The outcome was far from certain. General Dwight Eisenhower drafted a short note before the D-day landings at Normandy accepting full responsibility "in case of failure."

The invasion did not fail. Yet no sooner had we defeated fascism than we were engaged in a 50-year struggle with communism. Those whom the journalist Tom Brokaw memorialized as "the greatest generation" made the tough choices that allowed us to prevail in these struggles. And it was not just our Washington leaders who were decisive. In the 1940s, Americans rationed and saved, and mothers and daughters enlisted to work in factories. Together with the GIs who returned home, they built this country's prosperity and fueled a sense of optimism. In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, America pursued learning and innovation to lead the world in space, technology, and productivity -- outcompeting the Soviets and driving them to an economic bankruptcy that matched their moral bankruptcy.

In the aftermath of World War II and with the coming of the Cold War, members of "the greatest generation" united America and the free world around shared values and actions that changed history. They unified U.S. military and security efforts, creating the Department of Defense and the National Security Council. They rethought U.S. approaches to the world, building the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Peace Corps. They forged alliances, such as NATO, that magnified the power of freedom and created a world trading system that helped launch the greatest expansion of economic and political freedom and development in history. Our times call for equally bold leadership and for a renewed sense of service and shared sacrifice among Americans and our allies around the world.

Romney and AIDS

"In this era of fiscal belt-tightening, we need to ensure that Massachusetts continues to lead the nation on public health issues - from AIDS prevention to bioterrorism preparedness ."

• Governor Mitt Romney, 01-16-2003 Press Release

"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague.... It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."

• Governor Mike Huckabee, 1992 Questionnaire for The Associated Press