[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 196 (Friday, December 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H9587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WORLD AIDS DAY

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, today is the 29th World AIDS Day. Let us 
commemorate those who lost their lives and commit to reducing the 
37,000 new HIV infections that occur each year in the United States.
  In my hometown of Newark, New Jersey, new HIV cases have been rising 
among young people under the age of 25. According to experts, the rise 
in new HIV/AIDS cases among young people in Newark is linked to the 
opioid crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of discussion lately about the 
opioid crisis, but we forget that it is linked to so many other 
issues--mental health access, poverty, communicable disease, 
joblessness, and the list goes on.
  Congress can help end the opioid crisis and the HIV/AIDS crisis here 
in the United States soon. But to do that, we must increase funding for 
healthcare access, mental health treatment, antipoverty programs, 
disease control, education, and access to HIV PrEP medication.

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