[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 211 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 211

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Postal Service 
should issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring victims of HIV/AIDS 
   and recognizing the struggle to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the 
                United States and throughout the world.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2005

   Ms. Lee submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Postal Service 
should issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring victims of HIV/AIDS 
   and recognizing the struggle to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the 
                United States and throughout the world.

Whereas in 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 
        the first cases of a rare pneumonia, later diagnosed as AIDS-related;
Whereas in 1982, the CDC formally established the term ``acquired immune 
        deficiency syndrome'' (AIDS) and the first congressional hearings on 
        AIDS were held;
Whereas the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was isolated in 1984 and later so 
        named;
Whereas on December 1, 1988, World AIDS Day was first declared by the World 
        Health Organization;
Whereas since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, approximately 1,500,000 
        people in the United States have become infected with the virus, 
        including more than 500,000 who have died from it;
Whereas the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that 
        since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, approximately 60,000,000 
        people worldwide have become infected with the virus, including more 
        than 20,000,000 who have died from it;
Whereas the CDC estimates that at the end of 2003, there were between 1,039,000 
        and 1,185,000 people in the United States living with HIV/AIDS, an 
        increase from the estimated 850,000 to 950,000 people at the end of 
        2002;
Whereas UNAIDS estimates that worldwide at the end of 2004, women accounted for 
        47 percent of adults living with HIV/AIDS (up from 41 percent in 1997), 
        and in sub-Saharan Africa, women represented 57 percent of all adults 
        living with HIV/AIDS;
Whereas communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the HIV/
        AIDS pandemic;
Whereas the CDC estimates that at the end of 2003, minorities represented over 
        42 percent of persons living with AIDS;
Whereas the CDC estimates that of the estimated 40,000 new HIV infections each 
        year, nearly 70 percent occur among minorities;
Whereas the CDC estimates that in 2003, African Americans accounted for 50 
        percent of all new diagnoses of HIV/AIDS;
Whereas the Minority AIDS Initiative was created in 1999 to enhance efforts to 
        prevent the acquisition or transmission of HIV infections in racial and 
        ethnic communities;
Whereas the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency Act of 1990 was 
        enacted to address the unmet health needs of persons living with HIV/
        AIDS by funding primary health care, capacity building, community 
        outreach, and support services that enhance access to and retention in 
        care;
Whereas the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000 was signed into law 
        by President Clinton to provide the first significant funding to prevent 
        and control the spread of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and tuberculosis, 
        and which established the framework for a World Bank Global AIDS Trust 
        Fund which later became the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and 
        Malaria;
Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria was formally 
        established in 2001 with the purpose of attracting, managing, and 
        disbursing additional resources through a new public-private partnership 
        to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria by making sustainable and 
        significant contributions to the reduction of infections, illness, and 
        death as a result of these diseases, and contributing to poverty 
        reduction as part of the Millenium Development Goals;
Whereas the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria 
        Act of 2003 was enacted to work with international, national, and local 
        leaders to promote prevention, treatment, and care programs to address 
        the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and its linkages to tuberculosis and 
        malaria;
Whereas greater global attention and funding have led to several important 
        initiatives, such as the United Nations General Assembly Special Session 
        on HIV/AIDS and the ``3 by 5 Initiative'', coordinated by the World 
        Health Organization to provide 3,000,000 people with AIDS treatment by 
        the end of 2005; and
Whereas in 2005, the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) agreed to work to 
        develop and implement a package for HIV prevention, treatment, and care, 
        with the goal of providing universal access to treatment and care by 
        2010: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) a commemorative postage stamp should be issued by the 
        United States Postal Service honoring victims of HIV/AIDS and 
        recognizing the struggle to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the 
        United States and throughout the world; and
            (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend 
        to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued.
                                 <all>