[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18967]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             WORLD AIDS DAY

  (Ms. CLARKE of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in commemoration of World 
AIDS Day and to honor those who labor to end its spread.
  Today is the day to raise our awareness of HIV/AIDS and our 
unwavering fight against it. New infections worldwide are down 35 
percent since 2000, and AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 42 
percent since 2004.
  Though HIV and AIDS are now considered chronic illnesses, like with 
any chronic illness, first you must know that you have it in order to 
treat it.
  We know that 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS globally, and 
that is unacceptable. My own district, the Ninth District of Brooklyn, 
New York, has been particularly hard hit over the past three decades by 
HIV/AIDS.
  Nearly 29,000 Brooklyn residents were living with HIV/AIDS since June 
of 2014. Over 30 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the first half of 2014 
were made concurrent with AIDS diagnoses and years after infection. 
Surveys suggest that 40 percent of Brooklyn adults have yet to receive 
an HIV screening.
  Mr. Speaker, in the first half of 2014, Brooklyn had the highest 
percentages of HIV/AIDS, so now is the time for us to act. Let us end 
HIV/AIDS. Help stop the spread today.

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