IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1223 

Supporting the goals of World AIDS Day. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2020 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto Rico, 

Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. TRONE, Ms. WILSON of 

Florida, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. MENG, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCKINLEY, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 

SERRANO, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 

BASS, and Ms. JUDY CHU of California) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 

in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals of World AIDS Day. 

Whereas, as of the end of 2019, an estimated 38,000,000 

people were living with human immunodeficiency virus 

(HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), 

including 1,800,000 children; 

Whereas in the United States, more than 770,000 people 

with AIDS have died since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, including nearly 16,000 deaths among people with 

diagnosed HIV in 2018, with the disease disproportionately affecting communities of color; 


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Whereas each year nearly 40,000 people become newly diagnosed with HIV in the United States; 

Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (‘‘CDC’’), Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and 

other Pacific Islanders are disproportionately affected by 

HIV in the United States; 

Whereas in order to address the HIV epidemic in the United 

States, on August 18, 1990, Congress enacted the Ryan 

White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 

1990 (Public Law 101–381; commonly referred to as the 

‘‘Ryan White CARE Act’’) to provide primary medical 

care and essential support services for people living with 

HIV who are uninsured or underinsured; 

Whereas the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides services and support for over half of all people diagnosed with 

HIV in the United States; 

Whereas to further focus attention on the HIV/AIDS epidemic among minority communities in the United States, 

in 1998, the Minority AIDS Initiative was established to 

provide funds to State and local institutions and organizations to best serve the health care costs and support 

the needs of racial and ethnic minorities living with HIV; 

Whereas the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 

established a global target to end AIDS as a public 

health threat by 2030; 

Whereas in order to further address the global HIV/AIDS 

epidemic, in 2003, Congress and the White House created the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief 

(PEPFAR); 


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Whereas the PEPFAR program remains the largest commitment in history by any country to combat a single disease; 

Whereas, as of 2019, PEPFAR has supported treatment for 

approximately 15,700,000 people, including by providing 

antiretroviral drugs to 2,600,000 pregnant women living 

with HIV to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child during birth; 

Whereas, in fiscal year 2019, PEPFAR directly supported 

HIV testing and counseling for 79,600,000 people; 

Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 

Malaria, launched in 2002, has helped provide 

antiretroviral therapy to approximately 20,100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and to 718,000 pregnant 

women to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS to their 

children, saving an estimated 38,000,000 lives, as of 

2019; 

Whereas the United States is the largest donor to the Global 

Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and 

every $1 contributed by the United States leverages an 

additional $2 from other donors, as required by law; 

Whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight 

against HIV/AIDS, including a 23-percent reduction in 

new HIV transmissions, over a 40-percent reduction in 

new HIV transmissions among children, and over a 30- 

percent reduction in the number of AIDS-related deaths 

between 2010 and 2019; 

Whereas approximately 25,400,000 people had access to 

antiretroviral therapy in 2019, compared to only 

7,800,000 people who had access to such therapy in 

2010; 


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Whereas research funded by the National Institutes of Health 

found that HIV treatment not only saves the lives of people living with HIV, but people living with HIV on effective antiretroviral therapy and who are durably virally 

suppressed cannot sexually transmit HIV, proving that 

HIV treatment is prevention; 

Whereas it is estimated that, without treatment, half of all 

infants living with HIV will die before their second birthday; 

Whereas despite the remarkable progress in combating HIV, 

significant challenges remain; 

Whereas there were approximately 1,700,000 new HIV diagnoses in 2019 globally, structural barriers continue to 

make testing and treatment programs inaccessible to 

highly vulnerable populations, and an estimated 

7,100,000 people living with HIV globally still do not 

know their HIV status; 

Whereas the CDC reports that more than 37,000 people were 

diagnosed with HIV in the United States in 2018 and 14 

percent of the 1,200,000 people in the United States living with HIV are not aware of their HIV status; 

Whereas the CDC has found that men who have sex with 

men (MSM), particularly young Blacks and Hispanics, 

are the population most affected by HIV in the United 

States; 

Whereas southern areas of the United States bear the greatest burden of HIV, accounting for 51 percent of new infections in 2018; 

Whereas the CDC estimates that 44 percent of Black 

transgender women are living with HIV in the United 

States, and transgender women are 49 times more likely 


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to be diagnosed with HIV compared to the global general 

adult population; 

Whereas one in two people living with HIV in the United 

States are over 50; 

Whereas people living with HIV are frequently susceptible to 

other infections, such as hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis; 

Whereas the opioid and heroin epidemics have led to increased numbers of new HIV transmissions among people 

who inject drugs, and the crisis has disproportionately affected nonurban areas, where HIV prevalence rates have 

been low historically and have limited services for HIV 

prevention and treatment and substance use disorder 

treatment; 

Whereas, in 2020, the United States hosted the Conference 

of the International AIDS Society reinforcing the important leadership role the United States plays in ending 

AIDS globally; 

Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic has placed a significant 

burden on the public health systems across the United 

States and globe; 

Whereas December 1 of each year is internationally recognized as ‘‘World AIDS Day’’; and 

Whereas, in 2020, commemorations for World AIDS Day recognize the need for ‘‘Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) encourages people around the world to work 

3 to achieve the goal of zero new HIV transmissions, 

4 zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths, 


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1 in order to end the HIV epidemic in the United 

2 States and around the world by 2030; 

3 (2) commends the efforts and achievements in 

4 combating HIV/AIDS through the Ryan White HIV/ 

5 AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 (Public 

6 Law 111–87), the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, 

7 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 

8 National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse 

9 and Mental Health Services Administration, the Of10 fice of Minority Health, and the Office of the Sec11 retary of Health and Human Services; 

12 (3) commends the efforts and achievements in 

13 combating HIV/AIDS made by PEPFAR, the Global 

14 Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and 

15 the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 

16 (4) supports continued funding for prevention, 

17 care and treatment services, and research programs 

18 for communities impacted by HIV and people living 

19 with HIV in the United States and globally; 

20 (5) urges, in order to ensure that an AIDS-free 

21 generation is achievable, rapid action by all countries 

22 toward further expansion and scale-up of 

23 antiretroviral treatment programs, including efforts 

24 to reduce disparities and improve access for children 

25 to life-saving medications; 


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1 (6) encourages the scaling up of comprehensive 

2 prevention services, including biomedical and struc3 tural interventions, to ensure inclusive access to pro4 grams and appropriate resources for all people at 

5 risk of contracting HIV, especially in communities 

6 disproportionately impacted as these groups make 

7 up the majority of new HIV infections in the United 

8 States and prevention efforts should specifically 

9 reach these groups; 

10 (7) calls for greater focus on the HIV-related 

11 vulnerabilities of women and girls, including women 

12 and girls at risk for or who have survived violence 

13 or faced discrimination as a result of the disease; 

14 (8) supports continued leadership by the United 

15 States in domestic, bilateral, multilateral, and pri16 vate sector efforts to fight HIV; 

17 (9) encourages input from civil society in the 

18 development and implementation of domestic and 

19 global HIV policies and programs that guide the re20 sponse; 

21 (10) encourages and supports greater degrees 

22 of ownership and shared responsibility by developing 

23 countries in order to ensure the sustainability of the 

24 domestic responses to HIV/AIDS by those countries; 

25 and 


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1 (11) urges other members of the international 

2 community to sustain and scale up their support for 

3 and financial contributions to efforts around the 

4 world to combat HIV. 

Æ 


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