[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 154 (Thursday, October 22, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RYAN WHITE HIV/AIDS TREATMENT EXTENSION ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 21, 2009

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
3792, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. Our 
state receives $75 million in federal Ryan White assistance which 
provides care to an estimated 10,000 people in the state.
  People in Illinois depend on Ryan White Care programs for help with 
expensive anti-retroviral drugs, to aid them in getting to and from the 
medical appointments, to prevent transmission from mother to child, and 
for continued access to dental services through the University of 
Illinois at Chicago. Throughout the year, I meet with Illinoisans whose 
lives have been changed because of these services and whose futures 
would be jeopardized without them. So I am pleased to see that the bill 
will result in a 4 year reauthorization that will allow states to 
continue their current programs without disruption to programs 
currently in operation. I am also glad that the draft continues the 
extension period for names-based reporting. Illinois is one of the 
states still transitioning from collecting surveillance data under a 
code-based system to a names-based system, and the state is grateful 
for the extended time.
  I would also like to acknowledge the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and 
the many others in the Illinois HIV/AIDS community for being tireless 
advocates and unwavering resources for me and the 44,000 people living 
with HIV/AIDS in the state. We could not have accomplished this bill 
and other important pieces of legislation, like comprehensive health 
reform without their activism and community organizing.
  We have come a long way since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 
Twenty years ago, someone was diagnosed as being HIV positive and 
people assumed it was a death sentence. The public was often 
misinformed about modes of transmission, and the science behind 
treatment was far more limited than it is today.
  Unfortunately, a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found 
that the level of attention paid to HIV/AIDS awareness has declined 
rapidly. The percentage of the American people who say that they have 
seen or heard or read a lot about HIV/AIDS in the U.S. has fallen from 
34% five years ago to just 14% today. The percentage of African 
Americans reporting has fallen from 62% to 33%.
  The public's sense of urgency is down. And yet we learned earlier 
this year that 3% of the residents in the District are infected with 
HIV or AIDS, making D.C.'s rates higher than those in West Africa.
  Our need to increase prevention efforts and raise awareness about the 
disease is no less important or any less urgent today than it was when 
the first cases were diagnosed in 1981. The Ryan White Care Act enables 
us to continue moving forward with prevention and treatment. I urge my 
colleagues to support this critical legislation.

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