[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 126 (Tuesday, August 1, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S11125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             AMENDMENT NO. 1854 TO THE RYAN WHITE CARE ACT.

 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Ryan 
White CARE Act. The purpose of the act is to provide health care 
services in a cost effective way to people with HIV and AIDS. The Ryan 
White CARE Act is working in my State and throughout the Nation. I am 
very concerned about any amendment that would undermine the 
effectiveness of this program. Senate Helms' amendment 1854 would 
prohibit the use of Federal funding to ``promote or encourage, directly 
or indirectly, homosexual activities or injection drug use.'' Senator 
Helms' amendment could be broadly applied and therefore potentially 
undermine one of the most cost effective Federal programs we have.
  Under the Helms amendment, it would be difficult to determine what 
services provided by a clinic would be considered to ``promote or 
encourage homosexual activities or injection drug use.'' In particular, 
prevention programs that discuss sexual behaviors that contribute to 
the spread of AIDS might be judged to promote homosexual activities. 
Prevention programs that discuss and advocate clean needles for drug 
addicts might be judged to promote injection drug use. Although the 
Ryan White Act does not pay for preventive services, clinics that 
deliver Ryan White-funded health services often have prevention 
programs. If these clinics which provide comprehensive care to people 
with AIDS are considered to indirectly promote homosexuality, then 
these programs could lose funding. That means denying lifesaving 
medical services for people with HIV and AIDS.
  Mr. President, doctors, nurses and other health professionals cannot 
talk about a sexually transmitted disease without also talking about 
the sexual behaviors that will prevent its spread. It is unclear if 
this amendment would allow professionals serving the HIV-infected 
population to talk about sexual behaviors. The ambiguous language of 
this amendment could damage the protection of public health.
  Again, let me remind my colleagues that the purpose of this bill is 
to provide health care to individuals suffering from a terrible, 
terminal disease. The bill reflects not a moral consensus about 
homosexuality but a shared compassion for people with AIDS and a 
commitment to the public's health.
  Finally, the Ryan White CARE Act makes economic sense. Cost-effective 
delivery of care keeps AIDS patients out of costly emergency rooms. The 
public funds provided by Ryan White have been leveraged in my State 
with private dollars to provide a network of cost-effective services to 
the HIV-infected population. If we shut off Federal funds to community-
based providers because there is a question of whether or not the 
nature of their services indirectly promotes homosexuality, then we 
will undermine efforts to limit the spread of AIDS and will shift the 
burden of caring for people with AIDS on to our already over-burdened 
public hospitals.
  (At the request of Mr. Dole, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)

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