[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 78 (Thursday, June 7, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1045-E1046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             AIDS EPIDEMIC

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 5, 2001

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this year, we 
acknowledge the 20th anniversary of the recognition of the virus which 
has come to be called HIV/AIDS. Twenty years ago we called it GRID--Gay 
Related Immune Disease. Based on that designation and the 
politicization of the disease, this country spent the first 10 years 
blaming the victims and denying the necessity for concerted action.
  And while we debated, in the U.S. 400,000 people have died and more 
than a million have been infected. However, not only citizens in the 
U.S. have suffered. HIV has claimed the lives of more than 21 million 
people worldwide, with Sub-Sahara Africa representing the greatest 
number of victims.
  But we have managed some progress in the last twenty years. We have 
medications that have demonstrated some success in stemming the 
suffering and prolonging lives. We have come to learn about the 
progression of the disease and the link between malnutrition, poverty 
and the progression of opportunistic infections. And we have managed to 
teach people in all walks of life about the methods of transmission and 
prevention. So twenty

[[Page E1046]]

years after it first appeared in the U.S. much has happened, but much 
remains to be done. We must continue domestic and international 
prevention efforts. We must continue funding the search for a vaccine. 
We must continue research into promising treatments.
  However, we cannot rest on our laurels. Much remains to be done. HIV/
AIDS has become a global pandemic which threatens the lives of millions 
of people. The United Nations has estimated that by the year 2010, 
there will be 40 million children in Africa who will be orphaned by 
AIDS. Currently, there are 10 million AIDS orphans on the continent of 
Africa. What have we done and what have we failed to do for these 
children? Will we continue to deny the magnitude of the problem like we 
did 20 years ago or will we step forward and be the international 
leader that we have always claimed? If we learn nothing else from AIDS, 
let us learn this--because viruses are not respecters of persons, we 
must learn to compassionately care for everyone infected and affected. 
Our failure to do this 20 years ago brought us to where we are today. 
What will our continued failure to act bring about in another 20 years? 
Can these children count on us for help or will we blame them like we 
did so many others in years past?

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