Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush urged the U.S. Congress to double spending for his AIDS program, while he signed an almost $700 million infrastructure grant to Tanzania and said his administration would continue to reward African leaders that it trusts.

``I want to ask Congress to listen to the leaders of Africa, analyze what works, stop the squabbling and get the program reauthorized,'' Bush said today at Tanzania's statehouse in Dar es Salaam, in a press conference with President Jakaya Kikwete.

``We don't want people on the continent of Africa questioning whether the generosity of the American people will continue,'' Bush said.

Bush arrived in Tanzania yesterday, greeted by a 21-gun salute at the airport and cheered by thousands of Tanzanians en route to his hotel. Tanzania is a the second stop on a five- country, six-day tour of the continent to promote trade and democracy, while highlighting what Bush regards as a major legacy of his foreign policy.

Kikwete told Bush he ``will be remembered for many generations to come for the good things you have done for Tanzania, and good things you have done for Africa.''

Bush called Kikwete a ``good man'' and said he is the kind of African leader his administration wants to support. ``I will just put it bluntly: America doesn't want to spend money on people who steal money from the people,'' Bush said.

Kenya

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, funded at $15 billion for the last five years, is the largest-ever international health initiative dedicated to fighting a single disease. He initially asked Congress to double the funding to $30 billion a year ago.

Kikwete said that, because of the program, ``today there are thousands of children who have managed to avoid the long list of orphans.''

Tomorrow, Bush will dispatch Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Kenya to support the efforts of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to mediate post-election violence there.

Bush laid a wreath commemorating the victims of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing at the new embassy in Tanzania. Simultaneous car bomb explosions on Aug. 7, 1998, targeting the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, killed more than 200 people and wounded at least 4,000 others. The bombings were linked to al-Qaeda.

Malaria Program

Bush visited a Dar es Salaam hospital that serves about 1 million people and administers the U.S. program to fight HIV/AIDs. The president shook hands with more than a dozen infected patients, talked with doctors and inspected a pharmacy.

At a medical roundtable, President Kikwete pointed to a young women, HIV positive during pregnancy, ``who came under our care; the baby is healthy'' and not infected, because of the antiretroviral drugs from the U.S. program, he said.

``I want the American people to know these programs are successful,'' Bush said. ``Their generosity is saving lives.''

First lady Laura Bush, speaking to reporters later, said she planned to lobby lawmakers over coffee at the White House for renewal of the program, and predicted its approval. Mrs. Bush said she opposed increasing funding to $50 billion or more, as some advocates suggest. ``A lot of these countries don't have the capacity to take huge sums all at once.''

Tanzania is one of 15 countries benefiting from Bush's five-year, $1.2 billion anti-malaria program, aimed at cutting the infection rate in half by 2010. The program provides insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor spraying and anti-malaria medicines. U.S. aid is matched against private-sector donations.

Mosquito Nets

More than 6 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets have been distributed so far, according to Bush National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. The program has reached more than 25 million people, Hadley said.

Tanzania, an east African nation with 39 million people and a per person income of about $320 a year, was given a five-year $698 million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corp. in September. Bush today formally signed the compact meant to help upgrade electricity, roads and infrastructure.

The program has awarded more than $5.5 billion in poverty- reduction grants to 16 countries to promote democracy. The grant to Tanzania is the program's largest so far.

To contact the reporters on this story: Roger Runningen in Dar es Salaam at rrunningen@bloomberg.net; Hans Nichols in Dar en Salaam at hnichols2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 17, 2008 09:08 EST