[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 129 (Thursday, October 6, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  3RD ANNUAL LATINO AIDS AWARENESS DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 6, 2005

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support of 
designating October 15, 2005 the 3rd Annual Latino AIDS Awareness Day.
  HIV and AIDS have wrecked havoc on millions of lives across the globe 
for over two decades, ending lives before their time. Today in America, 
over a million Americans, or about 1 in 300, have HIV or AIDS--a 
statistic that this Congress must acknowledge. For every American 
living with HIV or AIDS, a family is traumatized.
  Even more staggering is the distribution of those victims. While 
Hispanics are roughly 14 percent of the population of the United 
States, they account for 20 percent of America's HIV/AIDS population. 
To date, nearly 100,000 Hispanics have died with AIDS. Since Hispanics 
are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, our 
challenge is even greater.
  Minority groups have been hardest hit by the disease, adding another 
burden on families struggling to make ends meet. Another troubling fact 
is that as many as 1 in 2 people with HIV/AIDS don't even know they 
have the disease.
  And the fastest growing group of people contracting HIV is young 
people, putting a tenuous hold on their young lives and future. The 
more attention we place on HIV/AIDS, the closer we get to eradicating 
this vicious disease. We have to talk about it, the causes and the 
prevention.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to support Latino AIDS Awareness Day 
and work to educate Hispanics and other constituents about HIV and 
AIDS. Education and facts are the best way to wipe out ignorance about 
HIV/AIDS in the Hispanic populations, and every other demographic in 
our Nation.

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