[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 184 (Tuesday, December 4, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H14132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WORLD AIDS DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my strong 
support for the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day, which took place on 
Saturday, December 1. I also want to thank my distinguished colleague, 
Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California, for her leadership in 
organizing this message hour and for introducing a resolution 
commemorating the occasion, which I have cosponsored.
  Nineteen years after the first World Aids Day and more than 25 years 
since the AIDS epidemic began, the need to spread the message about 
this devastating disease is as critical as ever.
  Worldwide, the United National Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates that 
33.2 million people are living with the disease, 2.5 million of whom 
are newly infected.
  In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
estimates that more than 1 million individuals are living with HIV/
AIDS. Tragically, communities of color and African Americans in 
particular are disproportionately impacted. African Americans are 
currently more likely to suffer from this disease, and the race gap is 
growing as we speak.
  Despite the fact that African Americans constitute approximately 13 
percent of the total United States population, they account for over 44 
percent of all persons living with AIDS and 49 percent of all new HIV/
AIDS diagnoses.
  This trend is illustrated when the numbers are examined by subgroup 
as well. The CDC found in 2005 that women represented 26 percent of all 
new HIV/AIDS infections, with African American women 25 times more 
likely to be infected than white women and accounting for 64 percent of 
all women living with HIV/AIDS.
  A 2005 CDC study of 1,700 gay men in five cities found that African 
American men were infected at nearly twice the rate of whites, 46 
percent compared to 25 percent. In my hometown of Baltimore, only an 
hour's drive away, 8 percent of the men interviewed had become infected 
in the previous year, the highest rate in any city surveyed.
  These trends persist despite there being little difference between 
the sexual practices of white and African American gay men. Racial 
disparities in HIV and AIDS can be attributed at least in part to the 
same factors that contribute to racial disparities in overall public 
health: poor access to life-saving care.
  Researchers find that African Americans are more likely to be 
infected with other sexually transmitted diseases, which makes them 
more likely to catch or transmit HIV. Further, African Americans are 
less likely to be taking antiretroviral medications which can lower the 
concentration of the virus in the bloodstream, thereby decreasing the 
risk of transmission.
  Madam Speaker, we cannot afford to ignore these troubling trends any 
longer. Nearly a quarter of a century after HIV emerged, it continues 
to wreak havoc upon communities across the world. We must remain 
vigilant in our efforts to stamp out this global pandemic for the 
benefit of generations yet unborn.

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