[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 7, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H1308-H1309]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING NATIONAL BLACK HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY 2007

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Madam Speaker, today we mark the seventh year 
that we commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This is a 
bittersweet accomplishment. While I am proud to say that awareness of 
this epidemic's effect on the black community has grown over these 7 
years, it pains me to admit that this disease continues to affect 
African Americans at a disproportionately large and growing rate.
  I consider the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic to be one of the 
most pressing issues of our time and of my tenure here as a Member of 
Congress. This issue attracted my concern years ago when I became aware 
of the staggering rate at which infants contract HIV from their mothers 
during birth or breast-feeding.
  I helped to raise awareness of this important issue when I came to 
Congress in 1996 through the introduction of and authorizing a bill and 
going to the Appropriations Committee to target the mother-to-child 
transmission. At that time, it was mother-to-child transmission 
internationally, and President Bush eventually incorporated aspects of 
my legislation in PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS 
Relief.
  While mother-to-child transmission continues to be a pressing problem 
abroad, we have shown some success in

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fighting this here in the United States. The rate of perinatal HIV has 
decreased steadily from 122 in 2000 to 47 in 2004. Of course, the only 
acceptable rate of mother-to-child transmission is zero. However, we 
would do well to achieve a similar 60 percent reduction in all 
categories of HIV infection.
  So today we focus on the HIV epidemic among African Americans. The 
statistics are staggering, and it highlights the growing impact this 
epidemic has on African Americans.
  In 1985, blacks accounted for 25 percent of AIDS diagnosed, whereas 
in 2005 they accounted for 50 percent of new diagnoses. This statistic 
is all the more staggering because in 2005 African Americans only made 
up 12 percent of the population of this country.
  In 2005, 75 out of every 100,000 African Americans had AIDS, compared 
to only 7.5 out of every 100,000 whites.
  Perhaps more disturbing, African American women and children suffer 
at a rate that is even greater than that of African Americans overall.
  Black women accounted for 67 percent of new AIDS cases among women in 
2005, compared to 16 percent among white women.
  In 2005, young African Americans accounted for only 15 percent of 
U.S. teens, yet they accounted for 75 percent of new AIDS cases.
  In 2002, HIV was the number one cause of death for black women 
between the ages of 25 and 34, and this is why, Madam Speaker, that I 
started the first-of-its-kind AIDS Walk for minority women and children 
and dedicated that to minority women and children. We celebrated 10 
years last year because of the staggering statistics that we are still 
faced with, and we will not stop until we eradicate this dreadful 
disease. It is ravishing the communities of Latinos, especially 
Latinas, African American women and both our children.
  The devastating effects of this epidemic have not escaped the notice 
of African American communities, in part due to the success of the 
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Half of the African Americans 
say the HIV/AIDS is a more urgent problem than it was a few years ago, 
and indeed, it is. Half of African Americans also believe that the U.S. 
is losing ground in the fight against this epidemic domestically.
  Today is an important day in the effort to increase awareness of the 
HIV/AIDS epidemic in the African American community. However, awareness 
is not enough. We must work toward solutions to reduce and eventually 
eradicate not only the racial disparities of HIV/AIDS, but the disease 
itself. To do so we must increase funding for domestic HIV/AIDS 
programs, particularly those that target minorities. We must strengthen 
our efforts to educate the public, particularly young people. We must 
work harder to encourage HIV testing, and we must also work to care for 
those who already have contracted this devastating illness.

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