[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 118 (Friday, August 19, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 INTRODUCTION OF HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 288, EXPRESSING THE SENSE 
 OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO CHILDREN INFECTED WITH AIDS IN ROMANIA

                                 ______


                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 19, 1994

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am today introducing a concurrent 
resolution commending the humanitarian assistance provided by American 
private voluntary organizations to children in Romania who were 
inadvertently infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
  I am pleased that I have been joined by 26 of my colleagues in 
introducing this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, prior to 1989, the Communist regime in Romania 
encouraged medical practices that unwittingly led to the injection of 
HIV-infected blood into otherwise healthy children.
  As a tragic result, 89 percent of those infected with the HIV virus 
in Romania are children.
  Unfortunately, many of these children, residing in poorly staffed and 
poorly provisioned orphanages, had been left to suffer without proper 
medical care and attention. These innocents were simply left to spend 
their final days--lying three and four to a bed--with no pain killers 
to ease their misery.
  In most cases, no one even bothered to try to give them the things 
that all children need--simple things like a trip to a playground or 
having toys to play with.
  I was pleased to learn, however, that with the assistance of the 
United States Agency for International Development and the United 
Nations Children's Fund, American private voluntary organizations have 
been able to make great strides in ameliorating the harsh conditions 
for these children.
  Frankly, these American PVO's could not have done this good work 
without the assistance provided by the United States Agency for 
International Development and the United Nations Children's Fund. I 
want to commend both of these organizations for devoting their 
attention to these children's needs.
  I believe Americans can take pride in the care that their assistance 
is now providing to these children who were innocent victims of the 
policies pursued by the former Communist regime in Romania.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join in sponsoring this 
measure commending the good work done on behalf of Romanian children 
inadvertently infected with the AIDS virus.
  Mr. Speaker, the text of the resolution follows:

                    House Concurrent Resolution 288

       Whereas prior to 1989, the former communist government of 
     Romania denied the widespread existence of the human 
     immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that cause acquired immune 
     deficiency syndrome (AIDS):
       Whereas prior to 1989, the communist government of Romania 
     promoted medical practices that led unwittingly to the 
     injection of HIV-infected blood into otherwise healthy 
     children;
       Whereas after Romania began to address the reality of the 
     problem of AIDS, it was found that by 1993, 89 percent of all 
     cases of HIV infection in Romania involved children, which is 
     the highest such rate in Europe, with most such case being in 
     the port city of Constanta;
       Whereas with the assistance of the United States Agency for 
     International Development and under the coordination of the 
     United Nations Children's Fund, American private voluntary 
     organizations have joined private voluntary organizations of 
     other nations in working to alleviate the suffering of 
     Romanian children infected with the AIDS virus, primarily in 
     the Constanta region, by providing for these children a 
     ``homelike'' atmosphere, proper nutrition, proper hygiene, 
     foster parenting, and parent counseling; and
       Whereas reliable statistics with respect to the AIDS 
     situation in Romania are no longer available because the 
     Romanian Ministry of Health has disbanded its HIV/AIDS unit: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) commends the work of those private voluntary 
     organizations from the United States and other countries who, 
     with help of the United States Agency for International 
     Development and other assistance organizations, have made 
     life more bearable for Romanian children infected with the 
     AIDS virus;
       (2) calls for the continuation of current measures to 
     assist children infected with the AIDS virus in the Constanta 
     region of Romania and elsewhere, and for the implementation 
     by the Government of Romania or its designee of a nationwide 
     AIDS;
       (3) urges the United States Agency for International 
     Development to use its authority under the Support for East 
     European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 to provide assistance 
     for the extension of AIDS treatment programs to other areas 
     of Romania where children infected with the AIDS virus have 
     similar needs;
       (4) calls on the United States Agency for International 
     Development to report to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
     the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate on--
       (A) the extent of HIV infection among children in Romania, 
     and
       (B) efforts to provide assistance to address this problem 
     and to prevent further infection among both children and 
     adults;
       (5) calls on the Government of Romania to provide all 
     appropriate assistance to address the AIDS problem, in 
     particular statistical and other analyses on the spread of 
     infection by the AIDS virus; and
       (6) calls on the United States Agency for International 
     Development to offer assistance to the Romanian Ministry of 
     Health in the collection and analysis of relevant statistics 
     with respect to AIDS.

                          ____________________