[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 110 (Thursday, June 26, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3548-S3549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Remembering Cal Anderson

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I know people from all over Washington 
State have been celebrating Pride this month, and many are going to be 
heading to Seattle this weekend, and a lot of those celebrations will 
actually be taking place at Cal Anderson Park in Capitol Hill. For 
those who don't know, Cal was a friend of mine, so I want to

[[Page S3549]]

share a little about his story and how it relates to what is happening 
in our country today.
  Cal was a Vietnam veteran and Washington's first openly gay State 
legislator. During my time as a State senator, we worked together to 
help make State government more accessible to the public. But in 1995, 
like so many at that time, we lost Cal too soon as a result of his AIDS 
diagnosis.
  I remember visiting him in the hospital just a month before he 
passed, and, of course, he wasn't focused on himself. He was telling 
me, newly elected to the U.S. Senate, what I needed to do to make 
healthcare better for other people in our country.
  That is still relevant today as we face down Republican attacks on 
Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Cal's election back then was a 
huge step towards equality, and he really helped change people's 
opinions.
  I have served now on the Senate Appropriations Committee since I was 
first elected here and have always kept stories like Cal's close to me, 
fighting to invest in medical research and HIV prevention programs, 
year after year.
  Over the years, we have made enormous and tremendous strides in the 
fight to prevent and even cure HIV and AIDS so that others do not 
suffer that fate that Cal did.
  NIH funding is supporting work to discover an HIV vaccine. And, 
separately, PEPFAR, which helps prevent HIV infections around the 
world, has been one of the most effective programs in our country's 
history.
  But Donald Trump has now terminated more than $250 million in NIH 
funding supporting work to discover an HIV vaccine. Much of that work 
happened at Fred Hutch in Seattle for over 20 years. And now he is 
pushing Congress to pass hundreds of millions in cuts to PEPFAR.
  And it is not just that. Trump is terminating all kinds of NIH 
studies if they even have the words ``gay'' or ``trans'' in them.
  He is overseeing an all-out government campaign to turn back the 
clock and go after our trans friends and loved ones. It is totally 
wrong, and it is backwards.
  Pride this year represents tremendous progress, but that progress is 
being threatened today like never before. So to everyone who is heading 
to Cal Anderson Park this weekend, I hope you will join me in 
reflecting on Cal's story, remembering how his fight matters today, and 
using your voice to speak up against this discrimination and this 
administration.
  We can't let them sweep these attacks on science and the LGBTQ 
community under the rug. Let's keep fighting together to end HIV and 
AIDS, to protect healthcare for everyone, and for equal rights under 
the law no matter who you are or whom you love because in the end, we 
will win.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.

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