Sometimes I think I have become immune to Washington, D.C., feeling as though nothing can shock or surprise me, and then I hear a story that brings my expectations to an all-time low. Seven senators -- known as the “Coburn Seven” -- are playing politics with the lives of millions of people affected by deadly diseases by blocking the reauthorization of the Global AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis bill.

AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis cause more than 90 percent of all deaths from infectious diseases around the world. A bill that will help fight these diseases passed in the U.S. House and has strong presidential support, but the “Coburn Seven” have blocked it from coming to a vote in the Senate. They say they want a mandate to shift money from prevention to treatment, but this argument is a fool’s errand; for every person who goes on treatment, there are 2.5 people newly diagnosed.

The Global AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis program includes special provisions for orphans, women, and girls -- some of the hardest-hit populations in disease-ravaged villages and neighborhoods. These treatment and prevention programs are more than charity: They invest in local clinics and pharmacies and train nurses and doctors. They reach beyond the tired prevention debate of abstinence versus contraception and address a broad array of real-world factors that lead to infections, such as gender violence, unsanitary housing, and education.

Next month President Bush will attend the G8 meeting in Japan, and without a signed bill he has little leverage to gain commitments for aid from the partner countries.

More importantly, without the assurance of uninterrupted U.S. support, programs on the ground will begin to decrease their services -- including accepting new patients -- in order to guard their limited budgets.

Fighting pandemic diseases is and should be a nonpartisan issue. Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson recently challenged these obstructionist senators, saying:

Without a five-year U.S. commitment on AIDS funding, other countries would be reluctant to put new people on treatment. And lives would be lost. Each of the Coburn Seven counts himself pro-life. If a bill came to the Senate floor that would save millions of unborn children, one assumes that pro-life members would push to improve it, accept a few necessary compromises and then enthusiastically support the legislation. It is difficult to imagine why pro-life legislation involving millions of Africans should be viewed differently.

You can still help save those lives -- click here to take action now!

Kevin Lum is the congregational network coordinator for Sojourners.

Sojourners’ June issue features a cover story by Amy Green and a column by Jim Wallis about the new paths of Christians in their 20s and 30s, plus a set of mini-interviews with 10 next-gen Christian leaders. Here’s a taste: part of Sojourners’ interview with Jena Nardella, the 26-year-old executive director of Blood:Water Mission. Started by the band Jars of Clay, this ministry works for clean water and against AIDS in Africa.

What motivated you to get involved?

A billion people in the world lack access to clean water, and women and children are the ones who suffer the most from this reality. I think people can be paralyzed by the social injustices of the world and feel the need to shut it out or feel as though there is nothing that they can do to respond to the injustices. I have always been motivated by the truth that ordinary people can do something extraordinary, if it is done with love, humility, and large doses of hope.

I had no professional training, but I had a load of passion and a willingness to learn quickly on my feet. I got involved because I believed that there was a huge potential to engage young Americans in creatively raising awareness and funds for water and HIV/AIDS support in Africa, and I believed in supporting local organizations in Africa that knew their communities better than we ever could.

What one thing would you most like to tell Christians?

God is author and creator of the world in which we live. God hates injustice and loves mercy. We are free to live for ourselves, but living for something greater than ourselves brings joy deeper than understanding. We live in a deeply broken world, and it needs your love—whether in your family, neighborhood, or halfway across the globe. Just don't miss out.

What’s your biggest challenge personally?

Balancing hope with reality, and staying on the side of hope. After countless visits to African communities in the last four years, I have been on a roller coaster of extreme optimism and utter disillusionment. Poverty cannot be alleviated by charity. Charity cannot just be handouts of leftovers. And leftovers aren't what the world needs.

But even if you give it your all, the challenges that accompany community development, politics, scarce resources, empty leadership, and histories of oppression make hope feel weak sometimes. But I celebrate the seemingly small and yet significant changes that come as a result of hardworking African communities and generous Americans. A simple cup of cool water is something that bears greater hope than I could have ever imagined—because it represents so much more. I have seen more than 250,000 people work toward access to clean water in their communities as a result of a resilient hope. The structures of poverty and brokenness compel us toward defeat. And I choose hope.

+ Read the full interview

One of the few high points of the Bush administration has been its commitment to aid for Africa -- especially in combating HIV/AIDS. The president recently proposed an increase in funding for PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.) But it's not going anywhere. Why?

Columnist and former presidential speechwriter Michael Gerson answered the question. Seven Republican senators -- Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, Jeff Sessions, Saxby Chambliss, David Vitter, Jim Bunning, and Richard Burr -- have placed a hold on the reauthorization.

In his column, Gerson wrote:

It is the nature of the Senate that the smallest of minorities can impede the work of the majority. But it takes a conscious choice -- an act of tremendous will and pride -- for members to employ these powers against an AIDS bill with overwhelming bipartisan support. The seven, led by Coburn, complain that the reauthorization is too costly. They object to "mission creep" -- the funding of "food, water, treatment of other infectious diseases, gender empowerment programs, poverty alleviation programs" -- as though people surviving on AIDS treatment do not need to eat, work or get their TB treated. And the senators are concerned that AIDS funds might be used for things such as abortion referrals and needle distribution, though the legislation doesn't mention these possibilities. So they are pushing for the extension of a superfluous spending mandate requiring that at least 55 percent of PEPFAR resources be used for treatment, on the theory that this will starve "feckless or morally dubious" prevention programs.

He also points out that presidential politics is at play. Gerson writes that some Democratic senators have no interest in passing something that would give credit to the president. But adding up all the obstacles, he concludes:

[S]upporters of the PEPFAR reauthorization now estimate a 50 percent chance it will be shelved until next year. Without a five-year U.S. commitment on AIDS funding, other countries would be reluctant to put new people on treatment. And lives would be lost.

Surely this is one place where saving lives should outweigh politics. It's time for something Washington knows less and less of: bipartisan politics on key moral issues.

I work in one of the largest slums in Africa - Kibera - located in Nairobi, Kenya. Some years ago, I started St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School to educate young people who have lost either both parents to the AIDS-pandemic, or one parent and the remaining parent is infected. I am proud to say we now have 265 students, and we are supporting another 50 graduates to go on to college.

Kenya and several other countries have made real progress in fighting AIDS with US support. On his recent trip to Africa, President Bush rightly received recognition for getting the ball rolling on expanding access to AIDS services in our region of the world, especially treatment and care for the sick and orphaned.

But, quite frankly, I am alarmed at how far removed from African reality his proposal is for the next five years of the program. Since Congress is now debating what direction to take this program, along with programs to address many health and development issues related to AIDS, I want to share what I have seen in Kibera and make a plea for realism.

We have learned a great deal about AIDS since 2003, when the U.S. first began its emergency response to the crisis in Africa. Anyone visiting us in Kibera would see that the AIDS issue cannot be viewed in isolation. My students, teachers, and their extended families face interrelated problems rooted in poverty, issues of gender, and a broken-down health system. A smart U.S. response must address this context, including the dearth of qualified medical personnel and community health workers. And to be effective, it would confront tuberculosis head on, since, as we have seen in Kibera, TB is what actually kills most people living with AIDS.

But the Bush approach, now taken up by the Republican leadership in the House, ignores these lessons. It does not seriously address any of these related issues and, worst of all, freezes funding at the current level for the next five years, even as the world is racing to meet the goal of universal access to all AIDS services by 2010.

This funding freeze would have a devastating impact on programs that serve the children I work with every day. So far, the U.S. AIDS initiative has provided crucial funding for programs that provide care for children - including school feeding programs, which have a broad impact. Yet, the president and his allies in the Congress would have these programs frozen in place instead of expanding them to meet the growing need.

Fortunately, an alternative is available. Congressman Tom Lantos, as chairman of the Committee responsible for AIDS programming in the House, understood that significantly greater funds were needed to fight AIDS and address basic capacity issues. One of the last things he did before he died of cancer was to propose five-year legislation which would update the U.S. response and provide $50 billion - not only for AIDS, but also for children's programs, TB, and malaria.

The Lantos proposal would also better meet the needs of women and girls. It would allow voluntary family planning services to women who are HIV positive and who do not wish to become pregnant. We can agree or disagree about the morality of contraception, but the truth is that helping women who may be weak and ill to avoid a dangerous pregnancy is about saving lives; and it would not promote abortion, as some pro-life groups have inaccurately stated.

The Lantos approach also eliminates the requirement that one-third of all HIV prevention dollars be spent on abstinence and fidelity. This funding restriction has been shown to not be workable on the ground. As someone profoundly committed to promoting abstinence and fidelity, my experience is that I can do my job most effectively when young people have the freedom to make moral choices. I am glad to see the Lantos bill still requires the U.S. to promote abstinence and fidelity as a part of a comprehensive approach.

Working in Kenya, I see people suffering and dying all too often from a disease that can be prevented. It is crucial that this program not become a political football, and I hope members of Congress of goodwill, from both sides of the aisle, can find a way to work together for the sake of Africa. Unless the U.S. AIDS program goes forward, together with programs that address the broader context of the epidemic, the ones who suffer the most will be the children I work with every day.

Father Terry Charlton, S.J. is the Jesuit vocation eirector for Kenya, the national chaplain of Christian Life Community, and co-founder and chaplain of the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School in Kibera.

On Dec. 1, the world commemorates World AIDS Day, a day in which we pause and remember the 25 million lives lost to the deadly epidemic. The day also challenges us to redouble our efforts to show greater solidarity with the estimated 33 million people worldwide living with HIV. The day's slogan is "Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise". This is a direct appeal to governments, policy makers, and regional health authorities to ensure that they meet the litany of targets in the fight against HIV and AIDS - especially the promise agreed to at the 2005 G8 Summit of universal access to HIV treatment, care, support, and prevention services by 2010. The 2007 theme of "leadership" highlights the stark reality that without a revolution in political will the epidemic will continue to outpace even our best response.

Dec. 1 represents a day for remembering the 2.1 million people that lost their lives this year due to this preventable and treatable disease. While we are starting to win victories in increasing access to treatment we are still losing the war to prevent new infections. Reports still show an alarming concentration of infections in the southern third of Africa, with nations such as Swaziland and Botswana reporting as many as one in four adults infected with HIV. Even closer to home, statistics released last week in Washington, D.C., reveal a state of emergency in which one in 20 residents is HIV positive - with 80 percent of cases among black men, women, and adolescents. The report shatters the common myth that AIDS is predominantly a gay disease, as 37.4 percent of newly reported cases were due to heterosexual contact. Behind these sobering statistics are real lives, real families, and real people made in the image of God.

We can give thanks to the degree to which Christians, including evangelicals, have now embraced AIDS as an urgent and legitimate cause. This weekend Pastor Rick Warren is convening thousands of faith leaders from across the country and world for his annual Summit on AIDS and the Church. I applaud his leadership in shining a spotlight on the indispensable role of the church in the fight against AIDS. However, past conferences have often shied away from the political nature of this epidemic and failed to deliver a clear call for political action to address the systemic injustices that so often fuel it. We can celebrate major advances in global treatment due in large part to increased funding through the President's Emergency AIDS Plan and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Still, only 20 percent of people in need in the developing world currently have access. Thanks in large part to activism through the 2008 Stop AIDS campaign, all three leading Democratic Presidential candidates have agreed to a bold campaign promise to increase President Bush's pledge of $30 billion for AIDS prevention and treatment over the next five years to a figure more commensurate with the global need of $50 billion. Now we must pressure the Republican candidates to follow suit.

AIDS tests our faith as well as our humanity. Applying Matthew 25 to the contemporary age of AIDS, I believe God will also ask us "when I was living with HIV, did you love me, care for me, and use your prophetic voice to help stop the epidemic?"

The gospel music artist Donald Lawrence came out with a song last year titled "I Speak Life." As Christians we must speak life by loving and supporting people around us living with the virus. We can speak life by using our voices to challenge Congress and the Bush administration to make good on their promises to achieve universal access to treatment by the year 2010. We can speak life by breaking down the walls of stigma in our churches and communities, raising awareness, and encouraging testing. We can speak life by addressing the underlying injustices and issues that so often fuel the crisis of AIDS, including intravenous drug use, poverty, sexual violence, promiscuity, and infidelity.

An old African American Spiritual says it best:

Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work's in vain.
But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
There is balm in Gilead to heal the wounded soul.
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.

Adam Taylor is director of campaigns and organizing for Sojourners.

Bono was in town the other night and had a small thank-you party for friends and allies to celebrate some successes in Africa with regard to poverty, AIDS, and other pandemic diseases. Joy and I went along, and it was nice to connect with him again. He gave a few remarks about signs of hope, even in the midst of so much still to do.

But there was another speaker. Agnes Nyamayarwo is a Ugandan nurse who has become an amazing activist in the battle against AIDS. She is HIV positive herself, lost her husband to AIDS, and unknowingly transmitted the disease to her unborn son, who also subsequently died. But Agnes is a woman full of hope. Joy and I got to spend some time with her and heard her story.

Agnes is an extraordinary woman and a person of deep faith. "When I had nothing else left," she told us, "I learned to walk with God." She is very grateful to the American people for the aid that made possible the HIV/AIDS treatment that saved her life. There are 1.34 million Africans now on lifesaving drugs, thanks to U.S. efforts—the most important thing the Bush administration has done. Here is a woman who has lost her husband and two sons, yet she has become a powerful activist and bright beacon of hope—all of which she attributes to her faith. When George Bush visited her country, the leader of the free world gave Agnes a big hug. And she whispered in his ear, "What about the global fund?" (the international AIDS fund that still needs more investment). Agnes has an agenda and a faith and both are very substantial.