IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 731 

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness 

Day. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2018 

Ms. LEE (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. NADLER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 

KHANNA, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. 

WILSON of Florida, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 

Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. BASS, 

Mr. COHEN, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. MEEKS, Mr. POCAN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 

Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. DANNY K. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. MOORE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. CASTOR

of Florida, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. CRIST, Mr. 

CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of 

California, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. CAPUANO) 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 

1,100,000 people are living with HIV, and 15 percent do 

not know they are infected; 


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Whereas in 2016, approximately 39,782 people were 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 2014, 3,591 African Americans died of HIV or 

AIDS, accounting for 53 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 

25–34, and the 5th for Black men ages 35–44 and 4th 

for Black women ages 35–44 in 2014, ranking higher 

than their respective counterparts in any other racial/ethnic group; 

Whereas in 2016, African Americans represented 44 percent 

of all people living with HIV in the United States, despite 

comprising just 13 percent of the United States population; 

Whereas in 2016, over 17,000 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 diagVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Feb 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR731.IH HR731

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noses, those living with HIV, those ever diagnosed with 

AIDS, and HIV/AIDS-related deaths; 

Whereas in 2015, more than half of African Americans diagnosed with HIV were gay or bisexual men; 

Whereas in 2015, 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 diagnoses 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 among all women diagnosed with HIV in 2015, 61 

percent were African American, despite comprising only 

14 percent of the female population in the United States; 

Whereas African-American women face the highest risk of 

HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) 

compared with women of other groups; 

Whereas the HIV diagnosis rate for African-American women 

remains 16 times as high as that of White women, and 

almost five times that of Hispanic women; 

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 


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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 half of all transgender people diagnosed with HIV 

are Black or African American; 

Whereas the Southern United States now experiences the 

highest burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic; 

Whereas Southern States account for an estimated 44 percent of all people living with HIV, despite having just 37 

percent of the overall United States population; 

Whereas African Americans are severely and disproportionately affected by HIV in the South, accounting for 54 

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; 


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Whereas from 2010 to 2014, HIV diagnoses among AfricanAmerican women fell by nearly 25 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 pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as prevention 

for people who are HIV-negative; 

Whereas PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection for HIVnegative 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 2018 marks the twentieth year of the National Minority AIDS Initiative which has successfully established 

life-saving services and programs to address the needs of 


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those communities, families, and individuals most impacted and burdened 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 2012 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 in July 2015, the ‘‘National HIV/AIDS Strategy for 

the United States: Updated to 2020’’ was released and 

included actions and goals in order to reduce HIV-related 

disparities and inequalities; 

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; 

Whereas each year on February 7, individuals, organizations, 

and policy makers across the Nation participate in National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day to promote HIV 


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education, testing, community involvement, and treatment in Black communities; and 

Whereas the theme for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness 

Day 2018 is ‘‘Stay the Course, the Fight is Not Over’’: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of National 

3 Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day; 

4 (2) encourages State and local governments, in5 cluding their public health agencies, and media orga6 nizations to recognize and support such day, to pub7 licize its importance among their communities, and 

8 to encourage individuals, especially African Ameri9 cans, to get tested for HIV; 

10 (3) commends the work of AIDS service organi11 zations, community-based organizations, faith-based 

12 organizations providers, community health centers 

13 and health departments that are providing effective, 

14 evidence-based, prevention, treatment, care, and sup15 port services to people living with and vulnerable to 

16 HIV/AIDS; 

17 (4) supports the implementation of the National 

18 HIV/AIDS Strategy and its goals to reduce new 

19 HIV infections, increase access to care and improve 

20 health outcomes for people living with HIV, reduce 

21 HIV-related disparities and health inequities, and 


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1 achieve a more coordinated national response to the 

2 HIV/AIDS epidemic; 

3 (5) supports reducing the impact of incarcer4 ation as a driver of new HIV infections within the 

5 African-American community; 

6 (6) supports reducing the number of HIV infec7 tions in the African-American community resulting 

8 from intravenous drug use; 

9 (7) supports effective and comprehensive HIV 

10 prevention education programs to promote the early 

11 identification of HIV through voluntary routine test12 ing, and to connect those in need to clinically and 

13 culturally appropriate care and treatment as early as 

14 possible; 

15 (8) supports appropriate funding for HIV/AIDS 

16 prevention, care, treatment, research, and housing, 

17 including community-based approaches to fight stig18 ma, discrimination, racism, sexism, homophobia, and 

19 transphobia; and 

20 (9) encourages comprehensive prevention, treat21 ment, and care strategies that empower public 

22 health workers, educators, faith leaders, and other 

23 stakeholders to engage their communities to help de24 crease violence, discrimination, and stigma towards 


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1 individuals who disclose their sexual orientation, 

2 gender identity, or HIV status. 

Æ 


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