I was disturbed to find out that the Trump administration has suggested budget cuts to the United States Agency for International Development and President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. These programs were instituted by John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush, respectively, and have both been responsible for saving many lives.
This is especially important to me because I have three sponsored children in Africa, three beautiful girls whose parents died of AIDS. My sponsored children’s lives were saved only because of anti-HIV medication provided to them as babies at a public clinic by USAID. Without this medication, they would have died painful deaths as very young children, before they were ever found by the charitable program, which later allowed me to help them get an education.
I cannot imagine a bigger priority than saving children’s lives, and I hope that Congress will choose to protect full funding for these programs.
John Dziak, State College
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