“The U.S. Senate passed legislation [.pdf] on Monday to extend for another five years a successful and popular program to combat AIDS worldwide started 10 years ago by former President George W. Bush,” Reuters reports. The Senate approved the PEPFAR Stewardship and Oversight Act by unanimous voice vote, according to the news agency. “The measure was introduced in the Senate … by Senators Robert Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Bob Corker, its top Republican,” Reuters notes (Zengerle, 11/18).

“The measure now heads to the House, where it is expected to pass easily,” the Associated Press reports (Cassata, 11/18). In the House, “floor debate will be limited, and a two-thirds majority support will be required for [the bill] to pass, reflecting the expectation from leaders that the measure will face little opposition,” National Journal states. The news service also describes specific “provisions and reporting requirements to strengthen oversight of the program” contained in the bill (House, 11/18). Additional information on the bill is available from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s “Policy Tracker” (11/18).