mr. speaker , i rise in support of the conference agreement .  i wish to commend the conferees for their work in bringing this important legislation to the house floor .  not only does this bill provide critical support to our military and the war on terror , but it also funds international humanitarian reconstruction and economic assistance programs provided by the united states agency for international development .  as my colleagues know , i have believed for many years that the hiv/aids pandemic represents one of the greatest health and moral crises of our time , particularly in africa .  that is why i was especially pleased by the president 's announcement of a visionary emergency plan for aids relief , and have supported grants and other programs funded by usaid that help to reverse the spread of this pandemic .  it is thus my strongly held view that usaid should continue to fund existing programs , as well as invest in new programs , that support the president 's hiv/aids initiative .  in this regard , there are two programs , both directed toward south africa , that i believe deserve the agency 's particular attention .  the first program is the new african center for aids management , which has , to date , trained over 800 graduates and is the largest program of its kind worldwide .  i understand that usaid has provided only modest funding to support this initiative , while the bulk of the support has come from south african institutions .  with substantial additional support from usaid during fiscal years 2005 and 2006 , this program could double in size and provide training for executives and senior managers from government , the provinces , municipalities and educational institutions , as well as ngos , corporations , and trade unions , in the management of an expanded capability to detect and treat hiv/aids in africa .  the second program would be a new joint u.s.-south african program to provide telemedicine-equipped mobile clinics to serve the south african military involved in peacekeeping efforts throughout africa .  this program , which merits both usaid and dod support , would be run through the south africa medical research council and provide medical services to remote areas to combat hiv/aids and other infectious diseases .  this mobile clinic system , employing some of the latest u.s. telemedicine technologies , would leverage u.s. military expertise across distances .  as this system develops , so would it expand in both its capabilities and its services to the civilian population .  both of these programs are examples of humanitarian initiatives requiring modest investments that usaid is both equipped and funded to support .  i applaud the agency 's past work in this area , and encourage both the continuation of existing efforts and the expansion of the new efforts that i have outlined .  