IV
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 184
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to pediatric and adolescent
AIDS.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 12, 1996
Mr. SERRANO (for himself, Mr. STUDDS, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. YATES, Mr.
MCDERMOTT, Ms. VALAZ´QUEZ, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. FROST, Mr. GREEN
of Texas, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. JACK-
SON LEE of Texas, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. JOHN-
STON of Florida, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ACKER-
MAN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. STOKES, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mrs.
MALONEY, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of
Texas, Mr. MANTON, Mr. OWENS, and Mr. NADLER) submitted the fol-
lowing concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Commerce
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to
pediatric and adolescent AIDS.
Whereas more than 510,000 individuals in the United States
have been diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (commonly known as AIDS) and 319,849 have
died from the disease;
Whereas the Public Health Service has estimated that there
are currently between 630,000 and 900,000 persons in
the United States infected with HIV;
•H CON 184 IH
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
reported 6,948 cases of pediatric AIDS and 2,354 cases
of adolescent AIDS as of December 1995;
Whereas, because 1 in 5.5 of all reported AIDS cases is diag-
nosed in the 20- to 29-year-old age group and the median
incubation period between human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) infection and AIDS diagnosis is nearly 10 years,
most of those people in their twenties who are diagnosed
with AIDS were adolescents when they became infected;
Whereas AIDS was the sixth leading cause of death among
children aged 1 to 4 in 1993 and if the incidence of
AIDS continues to increase, within the next 10 years
AIDS may become the fifth leading cause of death among
children of all ages in the United States;
Whereas AIDS is now the leading cause of death in the
United States among persons 25 to 44;
Whereas by the year 2000, between 72,000 and 125,000 chil-
dren and adolescents in the United States will have lost
their mothers to HIV/AIDS;
Whereas in 1994 reported AIDS cases among women contin-
ued to grow at a faster rate than among men;
Whereas the Public Health Service estimates that approxi-
mately 100,000 women in the United States are infected
with HIV and an estimated 7,000 are expected to give
birth to children each year, and without intervention ap-
proximately 1,000 to 2,000 of these children will be in-
fected with HIV;
Whereas 90 percent of children with AIDS have a parent
with, or at risk for, HIV infection;
Whereas 23.3 percent of reported pediatric AIDS cases in the
United States have occurred in New York City, and the
•H CON 184 IH
South Bronx has the highest HIV seroprevalence rate
among newborns in the United States;
Whereas Philadelphia ranks among American cities most im-
pacted by reported AIDS cases among children age 0 to
13; and the latest heel-stick test showed that 1 in 205
women were HIV positive in Philadelphia; and
Whereas ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by
AIDS, with 75 percent of women with AIDS and 81 per-
cent of children with AIDS being African-American or
Hispanic: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—
(1) it is important that the people of the United
States diligently seek preventative measures and bet-
ter solutions to care for women and youth, including
helping them gain access to HIV services and treat-
ment and other sexually transmitted disease clinical
therapies;
(2) early intervention and education resources
must be made available to all citizens, especially
youth and other high-risk groups, to make them
more aware of AIDS and the risks associated with
engaging in unprotected sexual activity or substance
abuse;
(3) the Health Care Financing Administration
and the Public Health Service should work with ap-
propriate State officials to help design optimal care