LAKE FOREST, CA (ANS) -- Rick Warren told both Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain at his Civic Form at Saddleback on Saturday night (August 16) that he believed that the time had come for a US Government supported Emergency Plan to deal with the 148 million orphans that now exist in the world.

Sen. McCain, left, Dr. Rick Warren, center, and Sen. Barack Obama at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California (Photo Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

He said that the world urgently needs a plan and funding like the $15 billion that President Bush has made available to fight HIV/AIDS, to help orphans throughout the world.

“We need a PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) for orphans in world,” Rick Warren said. “These orphans need to grow up in homes.”

He first asked Barack Obama if he would support such a plan. “I think it's a great idea,” he replied. “I think it's something that we should sit down and figure out working between nongovernmental organizations, international institutions, the US government, try to figure out what can we do. I think that part of our plan, though, has to be how do we prevent more orphans in the first place and that means that we're helping to build the public health infrastructure around the world, that we are you know building on the great work that you and, by the way, this president has done when it comes to AIDS funding around the world.

“I think you know I’m often a critic of President Bush but I think the PEPFAR program has saved lives and has done very good work and he deserves enormous credit for that.”

When it came to his turn, Senator McCain said that he would also be willing to consider such a plan.

“We also need to make adoption a lot easier in this country,” Senator McCain said. “That’s why so many people now go to other countries to adopt children.”

Senator McCain then explained how he and his wife Cindy had an adopted daughter. He told how his wife, Mrs. Cindy McCain had gone to Dhaka, in Bangladesh, 17 years ago to visit with Mother Theresa. He said that Mother Theresa’s nuns gave her two little baby girls that were not going to live, if they stayed in that environment.

“Cindy came home. I met her at the airport and she showed me this 5 week old baby and said, meet your new daughter. Today she is 17 and our life is blessed,” Senator McCain said.
 

Dan Wooding, 67, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma of 45 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com.