[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 122 (Wednesday, July 26, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10697-S10699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RYAN WHITE CARE REAUTHORIZATION ACT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the majority leader.
  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I call for the regular order with respect to 
S. 641.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 641) to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act of 
     1990, and for other purposes.

  The Senate resumed consideration of the bill.
  Mr. KENNEDY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Grams). The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, as I understand from the leader and from 
the clerk, we are now on the reauthorization of the Ryan White bill; am 
I correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I see the chairman of the Labor and Human 
Resources Committee here. We are prepared to move along in terms of the 
amendments.
  We had opening statements and discussion on last Friday.
  I see my friend and colleague from California, who wishes to address 
the Senate on this issue. But I would like to indicate at least to our 
side that we are prepared to consider amendments. This measure has been 
on the calendar for some period of time. We have some 63 cosponsors.
  We are, as we have said, prepared to deal with various amendments, 
and we hope we will have some brief comments in terms of whatever 
people's views are about the legislation and then we can get down to 
dealing with the amendments.
  So I would yield the floor at this time.
  
[[Page S10698]]

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the 
Ryan White CARE Reauthorization Act, and in so doing I would very much 
like to thank the Labor and Human Resources Committee.
  I would like to thank its distinguished chairman, the Senator from 
Kansas, and the ranking member, the Senator from Massachusetts. And I 
must say, to the credit of this committee, this reauthorization bill is 
reported to the full floor unanimously.
  Mr. President, Ryan White affects 42 cities--7 in my State--and all 
50 States. It costs $630 million, and it provides 350,000 people with 
services they would not be able to get, otherwise, outside of a 
hospital. It has dramatically reduced the overall cost of the health 
care delivery system.
  Let me give you some examples of how Ryan White funding has helped 
communities in my State. In California, through use of its Ryan White 
title II funds, the State has reported a 50-percent reduction in 
hospital stays resulting in over $21 million in cost savings.
  In San Francisco, Project Open Hand delivers a meal to 1,200 
homebound people every day. This is accomplished through the efforts of 
2,400 volunteer drivers and food preparers.
  In Los Angeles, the AIDS Health Care Foundation, which is the largest 
AIDS organization in California, annually serves approximately 2,400 
people living with HIV and AIDS at outpatient clinics. Last year it 
provided a final home to over 250 hospice residents.
  In San Diego, the AIDS Foundation uses its Ryan White funding to 
provide a full range of outpatient clinical and social services to 
people with AIDS.
  Let me say that, increasingly, the majority of new cases served under 
the Ryan White Act are in rural areas. Increasingly they are women, 
they are minorities, and they are children. And I think the lesson in 
this is that AIDS really knows no gender or sexual orientation. It is a 
real and major threat, and, as such, this act is very important in its 
treatment.
  Mr. President, I am one who has had quite a bit of experience with 
AIDS. I would like to take a few moments to tell you what it was like 
before there was a Ryan White CARE Act. As mayor of San Francisco 
during the 1980's, I had many challenges. But none was more serious or 
severe than the emergence of the AIDS epidemic. I remember my first 
meeting on this subject as if it were yesterday. I think it was 1981. I 
was told in a meeting in the mayor's office that there was a rumor of a 
so-called gay cancer which had as one of its symptoms purple skin 
lesions. I called our director of public health and asked him to look 
into it. He called the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and 
learned that New York and Los Angeles were reporting a similar syndrome 
that was appearing in gay men.
  At the time, we had no idea what we were dealing with. We did not 
know whether this was caused by a virus, a bacteria, or something else. 
We did not know how widely spread the epidemic had become or that 
hemophiliacs, Haitians, and intravenous drug users were already 
infected. We certainly did not know that it had originated in Central 
Africa, and that it would impact millions of people, and that it was 
sweeping through sub-Saharan Africa long before it reached this 
hemisphere.
  But one thing I did know. We were dealing with something that was 
deadly. And it is my belief that as an elected official, when one 
learns of a threat to the public health, one has a responsibility to 
act. By the end of that first year, there were 76 diagnosed cases in 
San Francisco. We had allocated $180,000 for the first AIDS program in 
the Nation. By the time I left office in 1988, January, we were 
spending approximately $20 million a year, more than the rest of the 
cities in the country combined and, for most of the time, more than the 
State of California.
  There was no Ryan White program then. But I can tell you that I 
certainly could have used it. We had to fund all those services from 
the city budget--the first AIDS prevention programs, the first AIDS 
housing programs, the first preliminary AIDS research efforts, which 
were pioneered at San Francisco General Hospital by Dr. Paul 
Volberding, and others. We opened the first AIDS ward. I broke that 
ribbon. We funded hospice care as well as a full range of support 
services.
  San Francisco's response became known as the model AIDS program. 
Health officials from around the world came to observe it. And many 
returned home to replicate it. Make no mistake about it, it was hard. 
But if I had it to do over again, I would do it again. And if I do 
nothing else in my public life, creation of that model will be among my 
proudest achievements.
  Last year it was learned that San Francisco was actually experiencing 
a decline in the number of new AIDS cases. This was very encouraging. 
As far as I know, San Francisco is the only major city on the planet 
that has experienced a decline in its AIDS caseload. When I read in the 
New York Times that the decline was attributable to one thing, the 
prevention program put into place in the early 1980's, I felt an 
affirmation of the principle which I stated earlier, which I will state 
again. As an elected official, when one learns of a threat to the 
public health, one has a responsibility to act.
  Having said that, a lot of cities have sustained devastating losses. 
No city has been harder hit than my own, a city just 7 miles square, 
renowned for its beauty and its people. It is a city where 2 percent of 
its entire population has been claimed by AIDS, and 4 percent of its 
remaining population is estimated to be infected with the HIV. More 
than 50,000 young Californians have died from AIDS, approximately the 
same number as all Americans who died in Vietnam. Almost five times 
that many young Americans have died from AIDS.
  While my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have recounted the 
alarming statistics with which we have become all too familiar, I 
believe that America has become numbed by the statistics of AIDS. I am 
reminded of a statement made in a different context: ``A single death 
is a tragedy; a million deaths are a statistic.'' That is all too true 
when it comes to AIDS.
  The young man for whom this legislation is named gave the disease a 
face and a name to which every American could relate. Ryan White, a 
youngster, with his courage in fighting prejudice, helped this Nation 
begin to understand that AIDS knows no boundaries. Many years before 
the world came to know the name of Ryan White, there were also other 
names. There were names and faces that will be with many of us in this 
Chamber for a long, long time. For me, I lost many friends. I can tell 
you that I have lost many friends, and could recount a long litany of 
tragedy and suffering.
  Let me tell you about two because they are recent deaths. The first 
is police officer Ray Benson whose funeral I attended just a few weeks 
ago. Ray became a San Francisco police officer in 1980 when I was 
mayor. And during the next 12 years he became the model police officer. 
He displayed conspicuous gallantry that personifies the risk of police 
officers daily when they report to duty. He received many awards during 
the course of his tenure, most recently the Medal of Valor for his 
actions while arresting a narcotics suspect. At the time he sustained 
serious wounds which required more than a 100 stitches in his face. But 
he shielded his fellow officers from the suspect's knife. Officer Ray 
Benson was a friend of mine. When I last saw him, his vision was 
failing, but his same strong spirit stood out. Ray's death from AIDS is 
but the most recent loss I have personally known.
  I would like to mention just one other name and, due to the time 
constraints, I will stop. That name is Brad Wilson.
  Brad was my scheduler during my campaign for Governor of California 
and my Senate campaign until he became too sick. He grew up in the 
Ozarks, graduated from the University of Chicago with top honors, and 
received his law degree from New York University.
  After receiving an AIDS diagnosis, Brad fought for 6 more years, 
struggling to maintain his dignity and working as much as possible 
until 2 months before his death. In his final days, this brilliant 
young attorney, 39, was unable to care for himself in any 

[[Page S10699]]
way. Morphine was administered intravenously to deaden the pain caused 
by a brain infection, but he maintained his dignity until the end.
  Three of his last visitors at home were my daughter and her husband 
who took with them my 5-month-old granddaughter to boost his spirits. 
Both Brad and Ray were able to avail themselves of the services 
provided by the Ryan White CARE Act, and for this I am forever 
grateful.
  I mention these two names as a very personal example of the loss, but 
they are but two more names out of almost 250,000 who have died from 
AIDS in the United States. Ryan White's death proved that AIDS is an 
equal opportunity killer, and there should be no room for prejudice or 
discrimination toward those it strikes for, in truth, it can strike 
anyone.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, with Ryan White's memory 
in mind, as well as the memory of each and every American who has died 
from AIDS.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
  Mrs. KASSEBAUM addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mrs. KASSEBAUM. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from California, 
Senator Feinstein, for a very powerful statement. The reasons that she 
laid out as to why there should be support for this legislation, I 
think, will particularly help, and I appreciate her comments.
  The Senator from North Carolina, Senator Helms, had some amendments 
that he wished to offer. Senator Byrd has requested about 10 minutes as 
in morning business. I think as long as Senator Helms is not here, I am 
prepared to offer an amendment as soon as Senator Byrd finishes, if, 
indeed, Senator Helms is not here. But I think he is ready to go as 
well.
  I ask unanimous consent that Senator Byrd be allowed to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the very distinguished Senator from 
Kansas, my friend, Senator Kassebaum, for her courtesy and kindness.

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