[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 911 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 911
Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2022
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Bass, Mrs. Watson
Coleman, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois,
Mr. Payne, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Dean, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Titus, Mr.
Cicilline, Mr. Takano, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Smith
of Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Meng, Mr. Tonko, Mr.
Carson, Mr. Jones, Mr. Soto, Mr. Deutch, Mrs. Hayes, and Ms. Johnson of
Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day''.
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in
the United States more than 1,189,000 people are living with HIV, and 13
percent do not know they are infected;
Whereas in the United States, more than 700,000 people with AIDS have died since
the beginning of the epidemic, including nearly 16,000 in 2018;
Whereas each year nearly 40,000 people become newly diagnosed with HIV in the
United States;
Whereas since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States,
racial and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected by
the disease;
Whereas African Americans are diagnosed with AIDS later than their White
counterparts, are confronted with greater barriers in accessing care and
treatment, and face higher morbidity and mortality outcomes;
Whereas African Americans account for nearly half of all those with AIDS who
have died in the United States since the beginning of the epidemic;
Whereas, in 2017, 2,620 African Americans died of HIV or AIDS, accounting for 47
percent of total deaths attributed to the disease that year;
Whereas, in 2014, HIV/AIDS was the 6th leading cause of death for Black men
overall and for Black women ages 25 to 34, and the 5th for Black men
ages 35 to 44 and 4th for Black women ages 35 to 44, ranking higher than
their respective counterparts in any other racial or ethnic group;
Whereas, in 2018, African Americans represented 42 percent of all people living
with HIV in the United States, despite comprising just 13 percent of the
United States population;
Whereas, in 2018, over 16,000 African Americans were diagnosed with HIV;
Whereas African-American gay and bisexual men are more affected by HIV than any
other group in the United States, accounting for a higher proportion of
HIV diagnoses, those living with HIV, those ever diagnosed with AIDS,
and HIV/AIDS-related deaths;
Whereas, in 2018, more than half of African Americans diagnosed with HIV were
gay or bisexual men;
Whereas, in 2018, among all gay and bisexual men who had received an HIV
diagnosis, African Americans accounted for the highest number (39
percent);
Whereas according to a 2016 study by the CDC, an estimated half of Black gay men
will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime, if current HIV diagnosis
rates persist;
Whereas homophobia, stigma, and discrimination pose major obstacles to HIV
testing, treatment and other prevention services for gay and bisexual
African-American men;
Whereas data show a 22 percent decrease in new HIV infections among Black women
between 2010 and 2019;
Whereas among all women in the United States, Black women account for the
largest share of 6,400 new HIV infections (3,400 or 53 percent) in 2019;
Whereas African-American women face the highest risk of HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections compared with women of other groups;
Whereas the rate of new HIV infections among Black women (18.9 per 100,000) is
nearly 11 times as high as the rate among White women (1.8 per 100,000)
and nearly 4 times as high as the rate among Latinas (4.9 per 100,000);
Whereas among African-American women, the leading transmission category of HIV
infection is heterosexual contact, followed by intravenous drug use;
Whereas research indicates that the high incarceration rates of Black men may
contribute to the disproportionate rates of HIV infections among Black
women;
Whereas, in 2010, the most recent data available, there were more than 20,000
inmates with HIV/AIDS in State and Federal prisons, a prevalence that is
4 times the rate of HIV in the general population;
Whereas among incarcerated populations, African-American men are 5 times as
likely as White men, and twice as likely as Hispanic/Latino men, to be
diagnosed with HIV;
Whereas among incarcerated populations, African-American women are more than
twice as likely to be diagnosed with HIV as White or Hispanic/Latino
women;
Whereas transgender women in the United States are at high risk for HIV;
Whereas more than half of all transgender people diagnosed with HIV are Black or
African American;
Whereas, in 2018, the South made up 51 percent of the new HIV diagnoses in the
United States;
Whereas African Americans are severely and disproportionately affected by HIV in
the South, accounting for 52 percent of all new HIV infections in the
region;
Whereas socioeconomic issues impact the rates of HIV infection among African
Americans in the South and throughout the United States;
Whereas socioeconomic factors like income inequality, poverty, and lack of
access to HIV prevention education and basic health services, and
cultural factors like homophobia, transphobia, and racism all pose
significant challenges to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic;
Whereas we are seeing signs of progress;
Whereas, from 2014 to 2018, HIV diagnoses among African-American women fell by
over 10 percent and have also fallen sharply among African Americans who
inject drugs;
Whereas testing, education, counseling, and harm reduction practices are all
critical to prevent HIV;
Whereas life-saving treatment is also a proven prevention tool, and research
shows that antiretroviral drugs can reduce the amount of virus to
undetectable levels (also known as viral suppression), effectively
resulting in no risk of transmission of HIV;
Whereas, in 2012, the Food and Drug Administration approved preexposure
prophylaxis (PrEP) as prevention for people who are HIV-negative;
Whereas PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection for HIV-negative people by up
to 99 percent;
Whereas, in 1998, Congress and the Clinton administration created the National
Minority AIDS Initiative to help coordinate funding, build capacity, and
provide prevention, care, and treatment services within the African-
American, Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American
communities;
Whereas the National Minority AIDS Initiative assists with leadership
development of community-based organizations (CBOs), establishes and
links provider networks, builds community prevention infrastructure,
promotes technical assistance among CBOs, and raises awareness among
African-American communities;
Whereas 2022 marks the twenty-fourth year of the National Minority AIDS
Initiative which has successfully established life-saving services and
programs to address the needs of those communities, families, and
individuals most impacted and burdened by HIV;
Whereas, in 2010, the Obama administration unveiled the first National HIV/AIDS
Strategy, which identified a set of priorities and strategic action
steps tied to measurable outcomes for moving the Nation forward in
addressing the domestic HIV epidemic;
Whereas, in December 2021, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States
(2022-2025) was released and included actions and goals in order to
reduce HIV-related disparities and inequalities;
Whereas, in 2016, Prevention Access Campaign and community members living with
HIV launched the U=U movement to build and communicate a consensus about
the largely unknown fact that people living with HIV who are on
treatment and have an undetectable viral load cannot sexually transmit
HIV;
Whereas, when people living with HIV are on treatment and have an undetectable
viral load, they protect their own health, they cannot transmit HIV to
their sexual partners, and their HIV is untransmittable;
Whereas, in 2013, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) released a manual of best practices for faith leaders to
mobilize communities, advocate for community support for people infected
with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and organize dialogues on HIV/AIDS as a
social justice issue as part of ``The Black Church and HIV: The Social
Justice Imperative'';
Whereas the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid and reforms to the
individual insurance market have helped lower the uninsured rates for
nonelderly African Americans by more than one-third between 2013 and
2016, leading to better health outcomes for African Americans living
with or at risk of HIV;
Whereas ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day'' was founded by 5 national
organizations in 1999 to provide capacity-building assistance to Black
communities and organizations; and
Whereas each year on February 7, individuals, organizations, and policymakers
across the Nation participate in ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day'' to promote HIV education, testing, community involvement, and
treatment in Black communities: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/
AIDS Awareness Day'';
(2) encourages State and local governments, including their
public health agencies, and media organizations to recognize
and support such day, to publicize its importance among their
communities, and to encourage individuals, especially African
Americans, to get tested for HIV;
(3) commends the work of AIDS service organizations,
community-based organizations, faith-based organizations,
health care providers, community health centers, and health
departments that are providing effective, evidence-based,
prevention, treatment, care, and support services to people
living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS;
(4) supports the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS
Strategy and its goals to reduce new HIV infections, increase
access to care and improve health outcomes for people living
with HIV, reduce HIV-related disparities and health inequities,
and achieve a more coordinated national response to the HIV/
AIDS epidemic;
(5) supports reducing the impact of incarceration as a
driver of new HIV infections within the African-American
community;
(6) supports reducing the number of HIV infections in the
African-American community resulting from intravenous drug use;
(7) supports effective and comprehensive HIV prevention
education programs to promote the early identification of HIV
through voluntary routine testing, and to connect those in need
to clinically and culturally appropriate care and treatment as
early as possible;
(8) encourages State and local governments, including their
public health agencies, and community-based organizations to
share and disseminate Undetectable equals Untransmittable (U=U)
information;
(9) supports appropriate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention,
care, treatment, research, and housing, including community-
based approaches to fight stigma, discrimination, racism,
sexism, homophobia, and transphobia; and
(10) encourages comprehensive prevention, treatment, and
care strategies that empower public health workers, educators,
faith leaders, and other stakeholders to engage their
communities to help decrease violence, discrimination, and
stigma toward individuals who disclose their sexual
orientation, gender identity, or HIV status.
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