I’ve learned more since posting from the session yesterday afternoon with Bill Gates, Lula, Jeff Sacks, Gordon Brown, Italian Finance Minister Siniscalco and Pres. Nkapa of Tanzania. The moderator was U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the most important U.S. government official here and a close friend of President Bush. I found his panel role surprising. It turns out that Frist has been very interested in poverty for some time. He has traveled to Africa with Bono, and returns there every year to do volunteer doctoring (he is an M.D.). It hasn’t gotten much coverage, but he’s very engaged in the problem of global poverty.

After the session I collared him amidst the crush of people to ask what he would do to reduce the gap between the amount of foreign aid that G8 resolutions have encouraged and the pitifully poor amount the U.S. actually gives. At most generous calculations, future levels pledged would add up to about .2% of GDP. That’s way way below what major European countries are starting to give– as much as .7%, which is the G8 goal. He nodded and seemed unbothered by the question. “I’m going to listen,” he said. “And I’m going to see what we can do.” I told him that if he made this a major personal commitment many Americans would be very pleased. For those of us who care about the future of the planet and about America’s role and image in it, present levels of aid are dangerously low and unacceptable. I’m glad he doesn’t seem to disagree. His answer was that of a politician, but we may be hearing more from him on this subject.