Barbara Lee Introduces Bill Providing Policy and Financing Framework to Achieve an AIDS Free Generation
Contact: Kristal DeKleer
202-225-1882
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced H.R. 6138, a bill that articulates a policy and financing framework to achieve an AIDS-Free Generation in the United States and globally. The bill was introduced in advance of the 19th International AIDS Conference which will be held in Washington D.C. beginning on July 22, 2012.
“The conference is an excellent opportunity to shine a global spotlight on the fight against AIDS in African American communities and a national spotlight on the ongoing global epidemic,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee, founding co-chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus. “I’m calling for a new, Global AIDS Free Generation Strategy—for the US and abroad. AIDS remains an urgent global health crisis, but the end of AIDS is within our reach.”
The Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Act of 2012 increases and targets federal resources to maximize impact of HIV efforts, expands efforts to end stigma and discrimination, repeals and reforms laws that violate human rights and undermine the positive impact of resources, and maximizes federal coordinating efforts to drive greater efficiency and improved results in all HIV and related programs. The bill establishes a system to expand targeted efforts to prevent HIV infection using a combination of effective, evidence-based approaches and accelerated research and educational reforms to addressing the epidemic at home and abroad. The bill also provides for the expansion of comprehensive sex education, thedistribution of condoms to people in prison, and improved provisions for monitoring HIV care.
“Thirty years after the first discovery of AIDS cases, the U.S. has made tremendous progress in addressing the global and domestic crisis,” said Congresswoman Lee. “AIDS, however, remains an urgent global crisis requiring a long-term strategy and immediate action. Our hard won successes are in jeopardy and H.R. 6138, the Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Act, is a critical measure as we recommit ourselves to fighting to end AIDS. Our charge in Congress must now be to ensure that we provide the necessary resources to address these urgent needs and ensure that this new strategy gets implemented quickly and effectively.”
The legislation introduced today spearheads a new era by defining U.S. public health goals toward an AIDS-free generation. Specifically, the bill supports a 5-year Global HIV/AIDS-Free Generation Strategy, to expand and improve efforts to combat global HIV/AIDS, while promoting efficiency and maximizing results.
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Congresswoman Lee has been a leader in the fight against the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. She co-authored legislation signed into law creating the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in 2000, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003, the PEPFAR Reauthorization Act in 2008, and in 2005 legislation addressing the needs of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS. She has also been a leader in the effort to establish a National AIDS Strategy, and is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services & Education with jurisdiction over all domestic HIV/AIDS funding. She is the only United States representative on United Nations Development Programme’s Global Commission on HIV and the Law and was the original sponsor of legislation that lead to the repeal of the Immigration and Travel ban that barred the entry of HIV positive individuals. The repeal allowed the International AIDS conference - scheduled for July 2012 in Washington DC - to be held in the U.S. after 20 years.