[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 10, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6954-S6955]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 452--COMMEMORATING AND SUPPORTING THE GOALS OF WORLD 
                                AIDS DAY

  Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Risch, Mr. Menendez, Mr. 
Sullivan, and Mr. Booker) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 452

       Whereas, as of the end of 2018, an estimated 37,900,000 
     people were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or 
     acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), including 
     1,700,000 children;
       Whereas the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 
     established a global target to end AIDS as a public health 
     threat by 2030;
       Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
     Malaria was launched in 2002, and, as of 2018, has helped 
     provide antiretroviral therapy to approximately 18,900,000 
     people living with HIV/AIDS and to 719,000 pregnant women to 
     prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS to their children, 
     saving an estimated 32,000,000 lives;
       Whereas the United States is the largest donor to the 
     Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and, as 
     of December 2019, every $1 contributed by the United States 
     has leveraged an additional $2 from other donors;
       Whereas the United States President's Emergency Plan for 
     AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program remains the largest commitment 
     in history by any country to combat a single disease;
       Whereas, as of 2018, PEPFAR has supported treatment for 
     approximately 14,600,000 people, including by providing 
     antiretroviral drugs to 2,400,000 pregnant women living with 
     HIV to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child 
     during birth;
       Whereas, in fiscal year 2018, PEPFAR directly supported HIV 
     testing and counseling for nearly 95,000,000 people;
       Whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight 
     against HIV/AIDS, including a 16-percent reduction in new HIV 
     infections, a 41-percent reduction in new HIV infections 
     among children, and a 33-percent reduction in the number of 
     AIDS-related deaths between 2010 and 2018;
       Whereas approximately 23,300,000 people had access to 
     antiretroviral therapy in 2018, compared to only 7,700,000 
     people who had access to such therapy in 2010;
       Whereas it is estimated that, without treatment, \1/2\ of 
     all infants living with HIV will die before their second 
     birthday;
       Whereas, despite the remarkable progress in combatting HIV/
     AIDS, significant challenges remain;
       Whereas there were approximately 1,700,000 new HIV 
     infections in 2018, structural barriers continue to make 
     testing and treatment programs inaccessible to highly 
     vulnerable populations, and an estimated 8,100,000 people 
     living with HIV globally still do not know their HIV status;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
     estimates that more than 37,000 people are diagnosed with HIV 
     in the United States every year and 14 percent of the 
     1,100,000 people in the United States living with HIV are not 
     aware of their HIV status;
       Whereas, in the United States, more than 675,000 people 
     with AIDS have died since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS 
     epidemic, including 15,807 deaths among people with diagnosed 
     HIV in 2017, with the disease disproportionately affecting 
     minority communities;
       Whereas December 1 of each year is internationally 
     recognized as ``World AIDS Day''; and
       Whereas, in 2019, commemorations for World AIDS Day focused 
     on the vital role that communities play in addressing the 
     HIV/AIDS epidemic: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day, 
     including the goal to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero 
     discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths;
       (2) commends the efforts and achievements in combatting 
     HIV/AIDS made by PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
     Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Joint United Nations 
     Programme on HIV/AIDS;
       (3) supports efforts to end the HIV epidemic in the United 
     States by 2030;
       (4) urges, in order to ensure that an AIDS-free generation 
     is achievable, rapid action by all countries toward further 
     expansion and scale-up of antiretroviral treatment programs, 
     including efforts to reduce disparities and improve access 
     for children to life-saving medications;
       (5) encourages the scaling up of comprehensive prevention 
     services, including biomedical and structural interventions, 
     to

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     ensure inclusive access to programs and appropriate 
     protections for all people at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, 
     especially hard-to-reach populations;
       (6) calls for greater focus on the HIV-related 
     vulnerabilities of women and girls, including women and girls 
     at risk for or who have survived violence or faced 
     discrimination as a result of the disease;
       (7) supports continued leadership by the United States in 
     domestic, bilateral, multilateral, and private sector efforts 
     to fight HIV;
       (8) encourages and supports greater degrees of ownership 
     and shared responsibility by developing countries in order to 
     ensure the sustainability of the domestic responses to HIV/
     AIDS by those countries; and
       (9) urges 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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