PI Action alerts & updates ... 2001
HIV/AIDS Funding Battle In Final Stage
Ask Your Senators To Sign On To Important Letter Supporting Higher
Funding
Congress is in the final stages of determining funding levels for
HIV/AIDS programs for Fiscal Year 2002. In early October, the House
of Representatives passed its version of the Labor Health and Human
Services (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill, which funds HIV/AIDS care,
treatment, research, and prevention programs. In early November,
the U.S. Senate completed work on its version. Because there are
differences between the two versions, a joint House/Senate conference
committee has been put together that will negotiate a final bill.
That bill will go to the full House and Senate for a final vote
and then sent to President Bush for his signature or veto.
Both the House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill do
offer some increases for HIV/AIDS programs. However, they fall well
short of the amounts needed to provide adequate care, treatment,
and prevention services.
Of particular concern is the lack of adequate funding proposed
for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which provides treatment
to low-income uninsured and underinsured people living with HIV/AIDS
across the country. As reported in previous Alerts, many state ADAPs
are currently experiencing difficulties meeting the needs of their
clients, caused primarily by lack of adequate funding from last
year’s appropriations cycle. Without adequate funding this
year, we are likely to see very serious problems with people being
able to access their treatments through many state ADAPs. Senator
Jon Corzine (D-NJ) has developed a sign-on letter for U.S. Senators
to express their support for HIV/AIDS funding. The letter addresses
the need for the highest possible funding for ADAP and the Minority
HIV/AIDS Initiative, which funds care, treatment, and prevention
services for communities of color. This letter will be distributed
to members of the conference committee. Your help is needed to make
sure this letter has strong support by members of the Senate.
What you can do:
Call your two U.S. Senators’ DC offices as soon as possible,
as this issue is moving rapidly. Email is not recommended, as it
may not be read in time.
Tell whoever answers the phone:
“I am calling to urge Senator ____________
to sign on to Senator Corzine’s letter in support of adequate
HIV/AIDS funding for Fiscal Year 2002. The contact in Senator Corzine’s
office for this letter is Sandra Caron and her phone number is 224-4744.”
The following Senators have already signed the letter as of this
writing. You might want to place a quick call to their office and
thank them for their leadership:
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Bob Graham (D-FL)
Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Contact information:
You can reach your Senators through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Ask to be connected to their office. You can also find their phone
numbers on their websites. Go to www.senate.gov, and click “Senators”.
Please distribute this Alert widely and ask your friends, family,
colleagues, etc. to take action!
