[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 21594]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          RYAN WHITE CARE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today, 
especially the Congressional Black Caucus, as I rise to speak on a 
piece of legislation that is of utmost importance to me and to many in 
this body, and that is the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources 
Emergency Act. It is scheduled, as my colleagues have said, to end this 
week.
  This law, Mr. Speaker, provides care and assistance to over 500,000 
persons in this country infected by HIV. A piece of legislation this 
important should not expire. It should be expanded, because it affects 
tremendously the African American community. I would be hard pressed to 
find an issue that is more troubling to the African American community 
than HIV and AIDS. As African Americans, we make up only 13 percent of 
the United States population; however, about 50 percent of the 
estimated AIDS cases in this country are African Americans. This number 
is an outrage.
  HIV is killing our young people. African American women are 
especially at risk. In 2001, HIV was the third leading cause of death 
among African Americans between the ages of 25 and 34. Among women of 
this same age group, HIV was the number one cause of death. This is why 
annually I have a minority AIDS walk for women and children, especially 
minority women, because of the devastation this has caused. It is 
ravaging communities of color.
  In 2003, African Americans accounted for two-thirds of new AIDS cases 
among all women nationwide. Moreover, African American teenagers make 
up only 15 percent of the U.S. teenagers. Why is it then that they 
account for 65 percent of the total new AIDS cases reported among 
teenagers in 2002?
  Mr. Speaker, we must have this piece of legislation expanded. We must 
have this piece of legislation so that we can eradicate this dreadful 
disease that is ravaging our communities. We cannot sit idly by and 
watch this disease tear apart our communities and affect a generation 
of our children. That is why I stand here today with my CBC colleagues 
to impress upon my colleagues the absolute necessity for the 
reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act.
  This act is essential in making sure that HIV/AIDS no longer ravages 
our community. The numbers illustrate the horrible trend. We are an 
underserved and vulnerable population, and I refuse to allow that to 
continue.
  Title IV of the CARE Act is particularly essential. Title IV serves 
women, children, youth, and families who are all affected by AIDS. Each 
year, over 50,000 women and children benefit from title IV services. 
Title IV services include, among other things, medical care, child 
care, and transportation. Without these services, Mr. Speaker, women 
and children participants would not receive the care they need to fight 
this dreadful disease. People of color make up 88 percent of the 
beneficiaries of title IV services. Thirty percent of all title IV 
consumers are children under the age of 13.
  In 2002, almost half of all Ryan White CARE Act clients were African 
Americans. The Ryan White CARE Act funds the National Minority AIDS 
Education and Training Center. We need this. We need it desperately. 
Programs like this ensure that African American victims of this disease 
get the quality care they need and deserve to survive and that our 
communities get the clinical expertise to be able to provide that care.
  We also need more education programs and testing sites. We need to 
make sure that the care is available to everyone in need. We need more 
attention paid to this epidemic. It is not just international, it is 
national, and it is widespread among the African American community. We 
need the reauthorization of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources 
Emergency Act.

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