06/17/2026
A multiple Grammy-winning music legend walked into the U.S. Senate and didn’t sing a word.
He testified.
On April 11, 2002, Elton John came before the Senate HELP Committee, on which I served, and spoke not about politics, but about people. What AIDS was taking from them. What America could help give back.
“We have not done nearly enough,” he said.
He was right. The next year, Republicans and Democrats came together to create PEPFAR. Since then, more than 26 million lives have been saved.
But the work is not done. In 2024, 630,000 people still died from HIV-related causes. The tools exist. The programs work. The funding has been appropriated.
Now we have to deliver.
Elton and I wrote in USA TODAY with a simple message: we can end AIDS.
Read it. Share it. Link in comments.
📸: Reuters / Win McNamee / Bridgeman Images
