Congresswoman Lee Hails Supreme Court Decision on USAID v AOSI
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2013
Contact: Carrie Adams (202) 225-2661
Washington, D.C.—Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee issued the following statement as the Supreme Court issued their ruling on U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) v. Alliance for Open Society, International (AOSI). Congresswoman Lee, along with Senators Enzi, Leahy, Daschle and Frist, and Reps. Lowey, Waxman, Berman, and Kolbe, signed an amicus brief in support of AOSI:
“At the heart of this case was a stigmatizing pledge, the Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath, which required organizations and individuals who receive AIDS funding to specifically pledge to be against prostitution. The implication of the pledge is that groups are barred from reaching a highly-vulnerable population: sex workers, undermining the effectiveness of our foreign assistance efforts.
“As a member of the United Nations Global Commission on HIV and the Law, I could not be more pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down this discriminatory pledge, which clearly stands in the way of achieving an AIDS-free generation. This pledge is not only unconstitutional, it is counterproductive to the effective work that many HIV and public health organizations are performing. Not only am I glad that the Supreme Court ruled against it, I’ve introduced legislation to repeal it.”
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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 to take place in July 2012 in Washington, D.C., which was held in the U.S. after 20 years.