[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15778-15779]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                HIV/AIDS

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate World AIDS Day today, we 
have reason to be proud of what we've done to fight HIV/AIDS.
  When I came to the Congress in 1989, AIDS was a death sentence; now, 
with the right medicine, it's a manageable chronic disease. And we've 
made real progress toward a vaccine. That happened because the United 
States Congress took action. It wasn't magic. People living with the 
disease fought to make it happen, and leaders in the Congress and the 
White House fought to make it happen too.
  As we recognize World AIDS Day today, we cannot get complacent. We 
can create an AIDS-free generation--it is possible. But it will slip 
away if we let these essential programs get cut. Today, we should 
resolve to stay the course, to keep the pressure on, and win the fight, 
to honor all those who died of AIDS and all those who are still 
fighting for AIDS today. This Capital has an epidemic of AIDS. We need 
to deal with it.

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