[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 183 (Thursday, December 1, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H8016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WORLD AIDS DAY

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. I rise today in commemoration, Mr. Speaker, 
of World AIDS Day; and I thank our minority leader for her eloquent 
recounting of how far we have come.
  In our best days, we can look to my dear friend Magic Johnson, who 
has been a living example of the improvements and the courage of those 
who are living with the HIV infection; but we recognize that, of the 15 
million people medically recommended for antiretroviral medication 
worldwide, only half of them have access to drug treatment.
  In the United States, nearly one in five people with HIV, or 240,000 
people, don't even know that they are infected. Communities of color 
and young gay and bisexual men face the most severe burden of HIV in 
the United States--Magic Johnson, on one hand, and my dying friend on 
another hand being at the bedside of a person dying with AIDS, who, 
one, lived with the stigma and didn't have a way out.
  Today, I will join others and be tested for the HIV virus, and I 
encourage others to do so.
  I congratulate my constituents, the Harris County Hospital District 
and the Thomas Street Clinic, for their 12th annual World AIDS Day.
  Thank you, Mr. President, for recognizing that 6 million more people 
need to have access to AIDS prevention drugs.
  To those who have lost their lives, may I say to you on this day that 
your life that was lost should not be in vain. We still look for a 
cure, and we work for a better Nation and an opportunity to provide 
resources to those around the world and in the United States who still 
suffer. It is our challenge. We accept that challenge, and I believe 
someday we will be victorious.
  To those who commemorate this day because they mourn, I commemorate 
it with you in your mourning. For those who celebrate life, I, 
likewise, celebrate life.

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