[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 174 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8603-S8604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 314--COMMEMORATING AND SUPPORTING THE GOALS OF WORLD 
                                AIDS DAY

  Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. Isakson) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 314

       Whereas an estimated 35,000,000 people are living with HIV/
     AIDS in 2013;
       Whereas Target 6a of the United Nations Millennium 
     Development Goals is to halt and begin to reverse the spread 
     of HIV/AIDS by 2015;
       Whereas the 2001 United Nations Declaration of Commitment 
     on HIV/AIDS Global mobilized global attention and commitment 
     to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and set out a series of national 
     targets and global actions to reverse the epidemic;
       Whereas the 2011 United Nations Political Declaration on 
     HIV and AIDS provided an updated framework for intensified 
     efforts to eliminate HIV and AIDS, including redoubling 
     efforts to achieve by 2015 universal access to HIV 
     prevention, treatment, care, and support, and to eliminate 
     gender inequalities and gender-based abuse and violence and 
     increase the capacity of women and adolescent girls to 
     protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection;
       Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
     Malaria was launched in 2002 and, as of November 2013, 
     supported programs in more than 140 countries that provided 
     antiretroviral therapy to 6,100,000 people living with HIV/
     AIDS and antiretrovirals to 2,100,000 pregnant women to 
     prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS to their babies;
       Whereas the United States is the largest donor to the 
     Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria;
       Whereas, for every dollar contributed to the Global Fund to 
     Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by the United States, an 
     additional $2 is leveraged from other donors;
       Whereas the United States hosted the Global Fund's Fourth 
     Voluntary Replenishment Conference on December 2-3, 2013;
       Whereas the United States President's Emergency Plan for 
     AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), introduced by President George W. Bush 
     in 2003, remains the largest commitment in history by any 
     nation to combat a single disease;
       Whereas, as of the end of September 2012, PEPFAR supported 
     treatment for 5,100,000 people, up from 1,700,000 in 2008, 
     and in 2012, PEPFAR supported provision of antiretroviral 
     drugs to 750,000 pregnant women living with HIV to prevent 
     the transmission of HIV from mother to baby during birth;
       Whereas PEPFAR directly supported HIV testing and 
     counseling for more than 46,500,000 people in fiscal year 
     2012;
       Whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight 
     against HIV/AIDS, with total new HIV infections estimated at 
     2,300,000 in 2012, a 33 percent reduction since 2001; new HIV 
     infections among children reduced to 260,000 in 2012, a 
     reduction of 52 percent since 2001; and AIDS-related deaths 
     reduced to 1,600,000 in 2012, a 30 percent reduction since 
     2005;
       Whereas increased access to anti-retroviral drugs is the 
     major contributor to the reduction in deaths from HIV/AIDS, 
     and HIV treatment reinforces prevention because it reduces, 
     by up to 96 percent, the chance the virus can be spread;

[[Page S8604]]

       Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) has revised its 
     guidelines for determining whether HIV positive individuals 
     are eligible for treatment, thereby increasing the number of 
     individuals eligible for treatment from about 15,000,000 to 
     28,000,000;
       Whereas 9,700,000 people in low- and middle-income 
     countries had access to antiretroviral therapy by the end of 
     2012, an increase of nearly 20 percent in a year;
       Whereas an estimated 50 percent of those living with HIV do 
     not know their status, according to a 2012 UNAIDS report;
       Whereas sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicenter of the 
     epidemic, accounting for 1,200,000 of the 1,600,000 deaths 
     from HIV/AIDS;
       Whereas stigma, gender inequality, and lack of respect for 
     the rights of HIV positive individuals remain significant 
     barriers to access to services for those most at risk of HIV 
     infection;
       Whereas President Barack Obama voiced commitment to 
     realizing the promise of an AIDS-free generation and his 
     belief that the goal was within reach in his February 2013 
     State of the Union address;
       Whereas the international community is united in pursuit of 
     achieving the goal of an AIDS-free generation by 2015;
       Whereas international donor funding has held steady since 
     2008 and countries affected by the epidemic are increasingly 
     taking responsibility for funding and sustaining programs in 
     their countries, currently accounting for approximately 53 
     percent of global HIV/AIDS resources;
       Whereas December 1 of each year is internationally 
     recognized as World AIDS Day; and
       Whereas, in 2013, World AIDS Day commemorations focused on: 
     ``[g]etting to zero: zero new HIV infections, zero 
     discrimination, zero AIDS-related deaths'': Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day, 
     including getting to zero through zero new HIV infections, 
     zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths;
       (2) applauds the goals and approaches for achieving an 
     AIDS-free generation set forth in the PEPFAR Blueprint: 
     Creating an AIDS-free Generation, as well as the targets set 
     by United Nations member states in the 2011 United Nations 
     Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS;
       (3) commends the dramatic progress in global AIDS programs 
     supported through the efforts of PEPFAR, the Global Fund to 
     Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and UNAIDS;
       (4) urges, in order to ensure that an AIDS-free generation 
     is within reach, rapid action towards--
       (A) full implementation of the Global Plan Towards the 
     Elimination of New HIV Infections Among Children by 2015 and 
     Keeping Their Mothers Alive to build on progress made to 
     date; and
       (B) further expansion and scale-up of antiretroviral 
     treatment programs, including efforts to reduce disparities 
     and improve access for children to life-saving medications;
       (5) calls for scaling up treatment to reach all individuals 
     eligible for treatment under WHO guidelines;
       (6) calls for greater focus on HIV/AIDS vulnerabilities of 
     women and girls, including more directed efforts to ensure 
     that they are connected to the information, care, and 
     treatment they require;
       (7) supports efforts to ensure inclusive access to programs 
     and human rights protections for all those most at risk of 
     HIV/AIDS and hardest to reach;
       (8) encourages additional private-public partnerships to 
     research and develop better and more affordable tools for the 
     diagnosis, treatment, vaccination, and cure of HIV;
       (9) supports continued leadership by the United States in 
     bilateral, multilateral, and private sector efforts to fight 
     HIV;
       (10) encourages and supports greater degrees of ownership 
     and shared responsibility by developing countries in order to 
     ensure sustainability of their domestic responses; and
       (11) encourages other members of the international 
     community to sustain and scale up their support for and 
     financial contributions to efforts around the world to combat 
     HIV/AIDS.

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