Washington, D.C. -
In testimony before the Senate on Wednesday, Sir Elton John called on Congress to continue the fight against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
John, who founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 to increase awareness and funds to end the disease, told Congress that it "has the power to end AIDS."
"There is a window of opportunity before us – a window through which we can very clearly see the end of AIDS – within my lifetime," the singer told a Senate appropriations subcommittee on US global health programs chaired by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a possible candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. "We cannot afford to let that window close."
Accompanied by his husband, filmmaker David Furnish, John added that the stigma associated with the disease continues to hamper efforts, especially in some African countries where anti-gay rhetoric runs high.
Jesus "would be appalled at the way people are being stigmatized," he said.