[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18811-18812]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 98--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS ON 
                 THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL AIDS STRATEGY

  Mrs. CLINTON submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                            S. Con. Res. 98

       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
     estimate that more than 1,000,000 people are currently living 
     with HIV in the United States;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
     estimate that 56,300 individuals were newly infected with HIV 
     in 2006;
       Whereas approximately 25 percent of individuals with HIV 
     are unaware that they are infected;
       Whereas the estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention utilizes a new methodology that has resulted in 
     more accurate estimates of new infections than the previous 
     methodology;
       Whereas previous estimates of HIV infection rates 
     undercounted the rate of infection by 40 percent;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have 
     determined that the leading transmission category of HIV 
     infection is male-to-male sexual contact, followed by 
     heterosexual contact and injection drug use;
       Whereas the 2000 United States Census noted that African 
     Americans account for approximately 13 percent of the 
     population of the United States, but in 2006 African 
     Americans accounted for 46 percent of HIV diagnoses;
       Whereas, of the estimated 18,849 people under the age of 25 
     who were diagnosed with HIV between 2001 and 2005, more than 
     60 percent were African American;
       Whereas the rate of AIDS diagnoses for African-American 
     adults and adolescents is 10 times higher than that of their 
     White counterparts and the rate of diagnoses for Black women 
     is nearly 23 times the rate for White women;
       Whereas, in 2006, Black women accounted for 61 percent of 
     new HIV infections among women and had an infection rate that 
     was almost 15 times higher than that of White women;
       Whereas AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women 
     between the ages of 25 and 34;
       Whereas the Black AIDS Institute notes that there are more 
     African Americans living with HIV in the United States than 
     there are people living with HIV in 7 out of the 15 focus 
     countries served by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS 
     Relief;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note 
     that socioeconomic issues impact the rates of HIV infection 
     among Blacks, and studies have found an association between 
     higher AIDS incidence and lower incomes;
       Whereas, in 2006, Hispanics accounted for 18 percent of new 
     HIV/AIDS diagnoses, but account for approximately 15 percent 
     of the overall population, according to the Bureau of the 
     Census;
       Whereas, in 2005, HIV/AIDS was the fourth leading cause of 
     death among Hispanic men and women between the ages of 35 and 
     44;
       Whereas, in 2006, Hispanic women were 5 times more likely 
     to have AIDS than non-Hispanic White women;
       Whereas, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, funding 
     for domestic HIV prevention programs was decreased by more 
     than $40,000,000 in the 5-year period beginning with fiscal 
     year 2003 and ending with fiscal year 2008, despite the 
     evidence that HIV infections continue to increase in at-risk 
     communities;
       Whereas, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the 
     President's fiscal year 2009 budget requests a decrease of 
     $15,700,000 for the Minority AIDS Initiative, despite the 
     fact that HIV has a disproportionate impact on African 
     Americans and other racial and ethnic minority populations;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are 
     engaging in outreach programs to increase HIV testing in 
     jurisdictions with the highest AIDS case rates among African 
     Americans, and those outreach programs are expected to 
     identify approximately 20,000 previously undiagnosed cases;
       Whereas, despite those efforts, the Centers for Disease 
     Control and Prevention have noted that ``new strategies are 
     warranted to increase HIV testing, particularly among persons 
     who are disproportionately affected by HIV infection'';
       Whereas the United States must do more to address the 
     disproportionate impact of HIV and AIDS in minority 
     communities;
       Whereas the United States needs to address the stigma faced 
     by individuals living with HIV and AIDS and help communities 
     have an open discussion about HIV and the behaviors that 
     contribute to increased transmission rates;
       Whereas the United States needs to ensure that prevention 
     efforts are founded on a base of scientific evidence and 
     reinforce interventions that have proven successful;

[[Page 18812]]

       Whereas the United States must do more to provide education 
     and testing in the communities most at risk;
       Whereas the United States needs to involve individuals 
     living with HIV and AIDS in the development of policies and 
     programs regarding prevention and treatment; and
       Whereas the United States needs to develop a comprehensive 
     national AIDS strategy that will unite efforts to prevent new 
     HIV infections, treat HIV and AIDS, reduce stigma, and 
     increase education about HIV and associated conditions: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) calls upon the President to develop a national AIDS 
     strategy, with the input of individuals living with HIV and 
     the communities that have been adversely impacted by the AIDS 
     epidemic;
       (2) calls upon the Federal Government to partner with 
     African-American communities, particularly faith-based groups 
     and community-based organizations, to develop strategies to 
     reduce and reverse the impact of the epidemic upon Black 
     communities;
       (3) calls upon the Department of Health and Human Services 
     to increase education and outreach regarding HIV prevention, 
     testing, and treatment, to ensure that all people in the 
     United States are aware of how to protect themselves from 
     infection; and
       (4) calls upon the people of the United States to educate 
     themselves about HIV infection and the ways in which they can 
     protect themselves.

                          ____________________