[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 969]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL BLACK HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY

  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, tomorrow, February 7, is the 13th 
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
  We represent 14 percent of the 1.1 million Americans living with HIV, 
and account for 44 percent of all new infections. My district, the U.S. 
Virgin Islands, carries a disproportionate burden of this disease.
  From 2001 to 2005, the incidence of HIV infection in the territory 
increased by 19.4 percent, and has increased every year since 1998. In 
2008, HRSA estimated the combined HIV infection rate of people living 
with AIDS in the territory to be 1 percent of our population. And CDC 
reports that the Virgin Islands has one of the highest newly identified 
confirmed HIV positivity rates among African Americans in this country.
  Most, if not all of us, know someone who is living with HIV or has 
died from AIDS. Today no one needs to die. Let's talk openly with our 
partners, family, and friends; let's get educated; let's get tested; 
and let's reduce stigma and discrimination.
  Tomorrow and every day, we will do more than commemorate those we 
have lost. We will rededicate ourselves to the work ahead. We can beat 
this disease. We can win this fight. Together, we can end this 
epidemic.

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