[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 111 (Thursday, July 24, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           INTRODUCTION OF THE STEVE GRISSOM RELIEF FUND ACT

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                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 23, 2003

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, today my colleague Nathan 
Deal and I have introduced the Steve Grissom Relief Fund Act.
  This legislation would compensate individuals who contracted AIDS 
through HIV-contaminated blood products and transplants. It is modeled 
on the bipartisan Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Act of 1998, and honors 
the late Steve Grissom, a North Carolina resident who was infected with 
HIV while undergoing treatment for leukemia.
  A study conducted by the Institute of Medicine at the request of 
Congress found that ``blood became a vector for HIV infection in the 
early and mid-1980s and caused more than half of the 16,000 
hemophiliacs and over 12,000 blood transfusion recipients to contract 
AIDS.'' The Food and Drug Administration, the report claimed, failed to 
protect the blood supply when it chose not to implement screening 
options recommended by the Centers for Disease Control in 1983. In 
addition, the report recommended that a fund be established to 
compensate people who have become infected with HIV from contaminated 
blood products.
  In 1995, legislation was introduced to help hemophiliacs who 
contracted HIV through such transfusions. The Ricky Ray Act established 
a trust fund for making one-time payments of $100,000 to persons with 
hemophilia who contacted HIV through tainted blood products. The bill 
passed with overwhelming support, and was fully funded in 2001. 
However, the bill did not address the problem of people like Steve 
Grissom, who received blood transfusions or transplants for other 
reasons. Our bill would resolve the current inequity and extend the 
same benefits to non-hemophiliacs, their secondarily infected spouses, 
and children infected perinatally.
  Steve Grissom was a resident of North Carolina's 4th District and my 
constituent. An Army veteran, Steve was an avid pilot and outdoorsman, 
a loyal husband, a loving father, and a tireless advocate for others. 
He advanced legislation for terminally ill parents at the state level, 
and founded the National Association for Victims of Transfusion-
Acquired AIDS (NAVTA) organization. In 1998, he tried very hard to get 
individuals like himself included in the Ricky Ray Act. However, rather 
than contribute to the demise of this legislation, Steve pulled back so 
that at least some would be compensated for the horrors that occurred 
during the early 1980s.
  Americans who have contracted AIDS through HIV-contaminated products 
deserve the same consideration regardless of whether they are 
hemophiliacs. We owe it to people like Steve Grissom, and their 
survivors, to try and compensate for this terrible tragedy.
  I invite my colleagues to join us in completing the work begun with 
the Ricky Ray Act by cosponsoring the Steve Grissom Relief Fund Act.

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