[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 105 (Monday, July 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  HIV

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 2002

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation that will 
help patients who received HIV infected blood products and transplants. 
The humanitarian relief fund, modeled on the bipartisan Ricky Ray 
Hemophilia Relief Act of 1998, honors Steve Grissom, the North Carolina 
resident infected with HIV while undergoing treatment for leukemia. 
What happened to Steve Grissom and the thousands of people like him is 
a national tragedy.
  It is my hope that this legislation can help victims of tainted 
transfusions. Steve's story is not unique. An estimated 12,000 
Americans contracted HIV from tainted blood and blood products. Others 
got the disease through tissue and organ transplants.
  In the early 1980s, the U.S. government is believed to have known 
about the risks of HIV infection, but may have failed to do enough to 
warn recipients or to institute safe blood practices, according to a 
report by the Institute of Medicine.
  In 1995, legislation was introduced to help hemophiliacs who 
contracted HIV through such transfusions. The bill passed with 
overwhelming support, and was fully funded in 2001. However, the bill 
did not include funding for people like Steve Grissom, who received 
blood or transplants for other reasons.
  This legislation would provide needed relief for Steve and people 
like him. For it is the right thing to do.

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