PI Action alerts & updates ... 2003

Congress Making Final Funding Decisions for Fiscal Year 2003

Last Chance To Fight For Adequate ADAP Funding Your Help Still Needed!!

Congress has entered the final phase of finishing work on the Fiscal Year 2003 appropriations bill. The House of Representatives and the Senate have passed differing versions of the bill and a joint House/Senate conference committee has been appointed (see list below) to negotiate a final bill.

The House version of the bill recommends only a $20 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The Senate has approved a $100 million increase for ADAP. Senator Schumer (D-NY) introduced an amendment calling for a $162 million increase for ADAP and more money for the rest of the Ryan White CARE Act, but it unfortunately was never brought up for a vote. Therefore, the final recommendations from the House and Senate fall short of the $162 million increase needed to alleviate the current fiscal crisis in many state ADAPs—and the amount that we have all been advocating for the past several months.

The joint House/Senate conference committee will soon determine a final funding level for ADAP and other HIV/AIDS programs. The committee is not like to consider an increase higher than the Senate’s proposed $100 million for ADAP in the final appropriations bill. While this amount is short of what is needed, it will go a long way in helping to ease the financial burden on ADAPs around the country.

Many of you have called, written, emailed, and/or met with your elected representatives on this issue over the past several months. Your efforts have made a HUGE difference in raising awareness about the importance of ADAP and ensuring Senate support for the $100 million increase for ADAP.

During this conference committee process, your help is needed one last time to ensure that ADAP gets the highest possible increase in this bill! Please take a few minutes to call your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators TODAY!

What you can do to help:
Please call your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators’ DC offices. Identify yourself as a constituent, and ask to speak to the legislative staffer who handles HIV/AIDS issues. Whether you speak to that person or have to leave a message, tell them:

Sample Phone Message

“I am a constituent of Senator/Representative _____________. I urge him/her to do everything he/she can to support the Senate’s proposal for a $100 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in the final Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2003, and the highest possible increases for all HIV/AIDS programs. I urge Senator/Representative _____________ to convey that support to members of the Omnibus Appropriations conference committee.”

If your Representative or Senator is on the conference committee (see list below), it is extremely important that you contact their office immediately and ask them to do everything they can to fight for the $100 million increase in the final appropriations bill!

Contact information:
You can reach your Senators toll-free through the Capitol switchboard toll-free at 1-800-648-3516. Ask to be transferred to their offices.

Don’t know who your representative is? Call 1-888-VOTE-SMART (888-868-3627) or visit www.vote-smart.org.

Omnibus Appropriations Conference Committee Members:

Senators:
Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Pete Domenici (R-NM)
Christopher Bond (R-MO)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Conrad Burns (R-MT)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (CO)
Larry Craig (R-ID)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Mike DeWine (R-OH)
Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)

House of Representatives:
C.W. Bill Young (R-FL)
Ralph Regula (D-OH)
Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Frank Wolf (R-VA)
Jim Kolbe (R-AZ)
Jim Walsh (R-NY)
Charles Taylor (R-NC)
David Hobson (R-OH)
Ernest Istook (R-OK)
Henry Bonilla (R-TX)
Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI)
Jack Kingston (R-GA)
David Obey (D-WI)
John Murtha (D-PA)
Norman Dicks (D-WA)
Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN)
Alan Mollohan, (D-WV)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Peter Visclosky (D-IN)
Nita Lowey (D-CT)
Jose Serrano (D-NY)
Jim Moran (D-VA)

Other key Senators/Representatives:
House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX)
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-SF)
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD)

For more information, contact one of the following SAVE ADAP members:

Bill Arnold (DC)
Title II Community AIDS National Network
202-588-1775
weaids@tiicann.org

Mark Baker (Massachusetts)
AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod
508-487-9445 x47 or pasg@capecod.net

James Carr (Indiana)
jamesmcarr@hotmail.com

Lei Chou (New York)
AIDS Treatment Data Network
TheAccessProject@aol.com

Ryan Clary (California)
Project Inform
415-558-8669 x224
rclary@projectinform.org

Linda Dee (Maryland)
AIDS Action Baltimore
410-837-2437
lyndamdee@aol.com

Amanda Diers (Florida)
Florida AIDS Action
813-974-2838
amandaflaac@aol.com

Pat Donahue (Rhode Island)
tapd33@hotmail.com

Mark Garrett (Washington)
Spokane AIDS Network
509-455-8993 x221
speakinup@msn.com

Sue Gibson (Texas):
suegibson@nova1.net

Kathie Hiers (Alabama)
AIDS Alabama
205-324-9822 ext. 331
Kathie@aidsalabama.org

Patrick Lee (North Carolina)
North Carolina Council for Positive Living
336-586-0062
ncaan@ncpositiveliving.org

David Munar (Illinois)
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
312-922-2322
dmunar@aidschicago.org

Jim Musselwhite (Washington)
360-570-8380
aeon97@tss.net

Robert O’Brien (Pennsylvania)
215-803-5181

Murray Penner (DC)
National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD)
202-434-8099
mpenner@nastad.org

Fred Scaich (Oregon)
IFARA@attbi.com

Jerry Spillman (California)
gspillman@earthlink.net

Brian Varner (Tennessee)
Tennessee AIDS Support Services, Inc.
865-525-7766
tassi@kornet.org