[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 7, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL BLACK HIV/AIDS AWARENESS 
                                  DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 5, 2007

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 
35--Supporting the goals and ideals of National Black HIV/AIDS 
Awareness Day. While we do not yet have a cure, and HIV/AIDS continues 
to consume the lives of Black people, their values and their worth here 
in the United States and in other parts of the world, we know Black 
AIDS Day can help to mobilize our communities to help shift and turn 
this epidemic around.
  In the past decades and sadly still today, HIV infection rates 
continue to escalate at an alarming pace among Black men and women as 
shown by reports year after year. Although Blacks make up around 13 
percent of the population of the United States, they represent 49 
percent of the total AIDS cases reported in this country, according to 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sixty-four 
percent of all American women living with HIV/AIDS are black, and this 
disease has become the leading cause of death for black women ages 25 
to 34. Every day, 72 African Americans are infected with HIV in the 
U.S.
  While poverty plays a role and access to health care and lack of 
information are factors, we cannot deny that the main reason for this 
plague is the silence, the closed-mouth social conservatism, of a 
people still ill at ease discussing sexuality, homosexuality, drug use 
and other realities. Instead, we mouth piety, prayers and platitudes.
  We now recognize National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, as declared 
six years ago by the Community Capacity Building Coalition, an 
affiliate of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and we 
cannot remain still. We must work together to ensure that programs for 
prevention remain adequately funded and that programs such as Ryan 
White CARE Act can be used for early detection of HIV so we can use all 
tools available to us to fight this epidemic. Everyone should be 
encouraged to get tested for HIV, learn more about the disease and how 
it is transmitted, seek medical advice if infected, and become involved 
in local community efforts to educate people and fight this disease.
  It is also important that Blacks are at the forefront of clinical 
research to achieve culturally appropriate results for treatment in our 
communities. Some of the biggest challenges we face, particularly in 
the Black community today are the misperceptions of and lack of 
knowledge about HIV/AIDS, and fear related to clinical research.
  I encourage my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and the 
rest of Congress to stay committed in their effort in whatever way 
possible to combat this epidemic which has taken too many lives, too 
early, and unnecessarily.

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