[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 99 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 99

Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness 
                                 Day''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 7, 2023

Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Tonko, Mrs. Beatty, Mrs. Watson 
Coleman, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Bush, Ms. 
   Titus, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. 
 Payne, Ms. Meng, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Norton, Mr. Cohen, Ms. 
 Jackson Lee, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. 
Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Takano, Mr. Smith of 
Washington, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Soto, Mr. 
Ivey, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Schakowsky, and 
Mr. Grijalva) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness 
                                 Day''.

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in 
        the United States, more than 1,189,000 people are living with HIV, and 
        13 percent do not know their status;
Whereas in the United States, more than 700,000 people with AIDS have died since 
        the beginning of the epidemic, including more than 290,000 African 
        Americans;
Whereas, in 2020, 30,635 people aged 13 and older become newly diagnosed with 
        HIV in the United States;
Whereas since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, 
        racial and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected by 
        the disease;
Whereas African Americans are diagnosed with HIV later than their White 
        counterparts, are confronted with greater barriers in accessing care and 
        treatment, and face higher morbidity and mortality outcomes;
Whereas African Americans account for nearly half of all those with AIDS who 
        have died in the United States since the beginning of the epidemic;
Whereas, in 2017, 2,620 African Americans died of HIV or AIDS, accounting for 47 
        percent of total deaths attributed to the disease that year;
Whereas, in 2014, HIV/AIDS was the sixth-leading cause of death for Black men 
        overall and for Black women ages 25 to 34, and the fifth for Black men 
        ages 35 to 44 and fourth for Black women ages 35 to 44, ranking higher 
        than their respective counterparts in any other racial or ethnic group;
Whereas, in 2019, African Americans represented 42 percent of all people living 
        with HIV in the United States, despite comprising just 13 percent of the 
        United States population;
Whereas, in 2020, over 12,800 African Americans were diagnosed with HIV;
Whereas, from 2015 to 2019, HIV diagnoses for African Americans decreased by 8 
        percent;
Whereas African-American gay and bisexual men are more affected by HIV than any 
        other group in the United States, accounting for a higher proportion of 
        HIV diagnoses, those living with HIV, those ever diagnosed with AIDS, 
        and HIV/AIDS-related deaths;
Whereas, in 2018, more than half of African Americans diagnosed with HIV were 
        gay or bisexual men;
Whereas, in 2018, among all gay and bisexual men who had received an HIV 
        diagnosis, African Americans accounted for the highest number (39 
        percent);
Whereas, according to a 2016 study by the CDC, an estimated half of Black gay 
        men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime, if current HIV 
        diagnosis rates persist;
Whereas homophobia, stigma, religious trauma, and discrimination pose major 
        obstacles to HIV testing, treatment, and other prevention services for 
        gay and bisexual African-American men;
Whereas data show a 22-percent decrease in new HIV cases among Black women 
        between 2010 and 2019;
Whereas among all women in the United States, Black women account for the 
        largest share of 6,400 new HIV diagnoses (3,400 or 53 percent) in 2019;
Whereas African-American women face the highest risk of HIV and other sexually 
        transmitted infections compared with women of other groups;
Whereas the rate of new HIV transmission among Black women (18.9 per 100,000) is 
        nearly 11 times as high as the rate among White women (1.8 per 100,000) 
        and nearly 4 times as high as the rate among Latinas (4.9 per 100,000);
Whereas among African-American women, the leading transmission category of HIV 
        is heterosexual contact, followed by intravenous drug use;
Whereas among African-American men, the leading transmission category of HIV is 
        male-to-male sexual contact, followed by heterosexual contact;
Whereas research indicates that the high incarceration rates of Black men may 
        contribute to the disproportionate rates of HIV transmissions among 
        Black women;
Whereas, in 2020, there were more than 11,000 people living with HIV in State 
        and Federal prisons;
Whereas among incarcerated populations, African-American men are 5 times as 
        likely as White men, and twice as likely as Hispanic/Latino men, to be 
        diagnosed with HIV;
Whereas among incarcerated populations, African-American women are more than 
        twice as likely to be diagnosed with HIV as White or Hispanic/Latina 
        women;
Whereas the Williams Institute reports that HIV criminalization laws 
        disproportionately impact African-Americans, who are more likely to be 
        arrested and convicted of outdated laws lacking inclusion of modernized 
        treatment access, options, and efficacy, facing longer sentences after 
        conviction, and more likely to experience the lifelong consequences of a 
        felony conviction including sex offender registry placement;
Whereas transgender women in the United States are at high risk for HIV, with 
        the CDC finding that 4 in 10 transgender women surveyed in seven major 
        United States cities have HIV;
Whereas more than half of all transgender people diagnosed with HIV are Black or 
        African American;
Whereas, in 2018, the South made up 51 percent of the new HIV diagnoses in the 
        United States;
Whereas African Americans are severely and disproportionately affected by HIV in 
        the South, accounting for 52 percent of all new HIV diagnoses in the 
        region;
Whereas socioeconomic issues impact the rates of HIV transmission among African 
        Americans in the South and throughout the United States;
Whereas socioeconomic factors like income inequality, poverty, and lack of 
        access to HIV prevention education and basic health services, and 
        cultural factors like homophobia, transphobia, and racism all pose 
        significant challenges to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic;
Whereas the epidemic of community and interpersonal violence that communities 
        most impacted by HIV experience disproportionately fuels the HIV 
        epidemic;
Whereas the United States is seeing signs of progress;
Whereas, from 2014 to 2018, HIV diagnoses among African-American women fell by 
        over 10 percent and have also fallen sharply among African Americans who 
        inject drugs;
Whereas culturally competent outreach, testing, education, counseling, and harm 
        reduction practices are all critical to prevent HIV;
Whereas lifesaving treatment is also a proven prevention tool, and research 
        shows that antiretroviral drugs can reduce the amount of virus to 
        undetectable levels (also known as viral suppression), effectively 
        resulting in no risk of transmission of HIV;
Whereas, in 2012, the Food and Drug Administration approved preexposure 
        prophylaxis (PrEP) as prevention for people who are HIV-negative;
Whereas PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV transmission for HIV-negative people by 
        up to 99 percent;
Whereas, in 1998, Congress and the Clinton administration created the National 
        Minority AIDS Initiative to help coordinate funding, build capacity, and 
        provide prevention, care, and treatment services within the African-
        American, Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American 
        communities;
Whereas the National Minority AIDS Initiative assists with leadership 
        development of community-based organizations (CBOs), establishes and 
        links provider networks, builds community prevention infrastructure, 
        promotes technical assistance among CBOs, and raises awareness among 
        African-American communities;
Whereas 2022 marks the 24th year of the National Minority AIDS Initiative which 
        has successfully established lifesaving services and programs to address 
        the needs of those communities, families, and individuals most impacted 
        and burdened by HIV;
Whereas studies show that diversity in health care leadership can enhance 
        quality of care, quality of life in the workplace, community relations, 
        health communication, and the ability to positively affect community 
        health status;
Whereas HIV studies have found that patient-provider race/ethnic concordance is 
        associated with higher provider cultural competency and that greater 
        cultural competency of health care providers is associated with 
        increased quality and equity of HIV care as defined by patients 
        recording higher levels of self-efficacy and more likely to be on and 
        adhering to antiretroviral (ARV) therapies;
Whereas it stands to reason that the linkages between provider identity, 
        cultural competency, and patient outcomes in the clinical setting would 
        also apply to nonclinical settings important for advancing public 
        health;
Whereas AIDS service organizations have played a vital role in responding to the 
        HIV epidemic, yet many are plagued by an underrepresentation of racial 
        and ethnic minorities in leadership positions;
Whereas research on community empowerment suggests that health outcomes are 
        improved when individuals are engaged in advancing the health of their 
        own communities and working with their peers and partners in health 
        promotion and services;
Whereas a focus on equity in the provision of services suggests a diverse public 
        health workforce can help sustain much needed attention to community-
        identified priorities and raise the responsiveness of the health care 
        system to diverse populations;
Whereas, in 2010, the Obama administration unveiled the first National HIV/AIDS 
        Strategy, which identified a set of priorities and strategic action 
        steps tied to measurable outcomes for moving the Nation forward in 
        addressing the domestic HIV epidemic;
Whereas, in December 2021, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States 
        (2022-2025) was released and included actions and goals in order to 
        reduce HIV-related disparities and inequalities;
Whereas, in 2016, Prevention Access Campaign and community members living with 
        HIV launched the Undetectable equals Untransmittable (U=U) movement to 
        build and communicate a consensus about the largely unknown fact that 
        people living with HIV who are on treatment and have an undetectable 
        viral load cannot sexually transmit HIV;
Whereas when people living with HIV are on treatment and have an undetectable 
        viral load, they protect their own health, they cannot transmit HIV to 
        their sexual partners, and their HIV is untransmittable;
Whereas, in 2013, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
        (NAACP) released a manual of best practices for faith leaders to 
        mobilize communities, advocate for community support for people infected 
        with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and organize dialogues on HIV/AIDS as a 
        social justice issue as part of ``The Black Church and HIV: The Social 
        Justice Imperative'';
Whereas the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid and reforms to the 
        individual insurance market have helped lower the uninsured rates for 
        nonelderly African Americans by more than one-third between 2013 and 
        2016, leading to better health outcomes for African Americans living 
        with or at risk of HIV;
Whereas ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day'' was founded by 5 national 
        organizations in 1999 to provide capacity-building assistance to Black 
        communities and organizations; and
Whereas, each year on February 7, individuals, organizations, and policymakers 
        across the Nation participate in ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness 
        Day'' to promote HIV education, testing, community involvement, and 
        treatment in Black communities: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/
        AIDS Awareness Day'';
            (2) encourages State and local governments, including their 
        public health agencies, and media organizations to recognize 
        and support such day, to publicize its importance among their 
        communities, and to encourage individuals, especially African 
        Americans, to get tested for HIV;
            (3) commends the work of AIDS service organizations, 
        community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, 
        health care providers, community health centers, and health 
        departments that are providing effective, culturally competent, 
        evidence-based, prevention, treatment, care, and support 
        services to people living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS;
            (4) supports the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS 
        Strategy and its goals to reduce new HIV cases, increase access 
        to care and improve health outcomes for people living with HIV, 
        reduce HIV-related disparities and health inequities, and 
        achieve a more coordinated national response to the HIV/AIDS 
        epidemic;
            (5) requests the Secretary of the Department of Health and 
        Human Services to prioritize the distribution of National 
        Minority AIDS Initiative grants to HIV-based agencies that are 
        minority-led with preference given to organizations led by 
        people who identify as African American/Black, Latino, American 
        Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian/
        Pacific Islander;
            (6) supports reducing the impact of incarceration as a 
        driver of new HIV transmission rates within the African-
        American community;
            (7) supports reducing the number of HIV transmissions in 
        the African-American community resulting from intravenous drug 
        use;
            (8) supports effective and comprehensive HIV prevention 
        education programs to promote the early identification of HIV 
        through voluntary routine testing, and to connect those in need 
        to clinically and culturally appropriate care and treatment as 
        early as possible;
            (9) encourages State and local governments, including their 
        public health agencies, and community-based organizations to 
        share and disseminate Undetectable equals Untransmittable (U=U) 
        information;
            (10) supports appropriate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, 
        care, treatment, research, and housing, including community-
        based approaches to fight stigma, discrimination, racism, 
        sexism, homophobia, and transphobia;
            (11) encourages comprehensive prevention, treatment, and 
        care strategies that empower public health workers, educators, 
        faith leaders, and other stakeholders to engage their 
        communities to help decrease violence, discrimination, and 
        stigma toward individuals who disclose their sexual 
        orientation, gender identity, or HIV status; and
            (12) encourages State, local, and Federal agencies to 
        consistently partner and formally engage with network leaders 
        comprised of subject matter experts with lived experience to 
        uphold the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV as 
        laid out in the Denver Principles of 1983.
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