IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 461 
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 4, 2021 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 
WILSON of Florida, Mr. RUSH, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
CLEAVER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. 
DEUTCH, Ms. TITUS, Mr. COHEN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. CARSON, Mr. 
POCAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. BERA, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Ms. BASS, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. WATSON 
COLEMAN, Mr. CICILLINE, and Mr. SCHIFF) submitted the following res-
olution; 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 con-
cerned 
RESOLUTION 
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the HIV/AIDS 
epidemic. 
Whereas June 5, 2021, marks the 40th anniversary since the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report described the 
first five cases of what later became known as acquired 
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); 
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•HRES 461 IH 
Whereas this day is observed to honor those we have lost, rec-
ognize the progress made over 40 years, and recommit to 
the ongoing bipartisan efforts to further the goals of end-
ing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in 
the United States and globally; 
Whereas in the United States, more than 770,000 people 
with AIDS have died since the beginning of the HIV epi-
demic, including nearly 16,000 deaths among people di-
agnosed with HIV in 2018; 
Whereas according to the CDC, Black Americans, Latinos, 
Asians, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native 
Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are disproportion-
ately affected by HIV in the United States; 
Whereas the CDC has found that men who have sex with 
men, particularly young Black and Latino men, are the 
population most affected by HIV in the United States; 
Whereas southern areas of the United States bear the great-
est burden of HIV, accounting for 51 percent of new in-
fections 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 
to be diagnosed with HIV compared to the global general 
adult population; 
Whereas groundbreaking science, policies, and work have 
drastically extended the life expectancy and wellbeing of 
those who are able to access and maintain HIV treat-
ment, where one in two people living with HIV in the 
United States is over the age of 50; 
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•HRES 461 IH 
Whereas, as of the end of 2019, globally an estimated 
38,000,000 people were living with HIV or AIDS, includ-
ing 1,800,000 children; 
Whereas 1,700,000 people are newly infected with HIV every 
year, including 40,000 in the United States; 
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; 
Whereas it is estimated that, without treatment, half of all 
infants living with HIV will die before their second birth-
day; 
Whereas despite significant gains, every week 6,000 adoles-
cent girls and young women are infected with HIV world-
wide; 
Whereas it is estimated that 1,700,000 people who inject 
drugs (PWID) are also living with HIV; 
Whereas injection drug use makes up 10 percent of HIV in-
fections globally and 30 percent of those outside of Afri-
ca, and regional HIV prevalence rates are high in PWID 
in all parts of the world; 
Whereas adult and adolescent PWID accounted for 10 per-
cent (or 3,864) new HIV diagnoses in the United States 
each year with growing numbers as the opioid crisis con-
tinues; 
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•HRES 461 IH 
Whereas the bipartisan leadership of the United States over 
the last four decades has built innovative programs that 
have changed the course of the epidemic within the 
United States and abroad, creating a compassionate, evi-
dence-based approach responsible for saving millions of 
lives; 
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, which now pro-
vides services and support for over half of all people diag-
nosed with HIV in the United States; 
Whereas to further focus attention on the HIV/AIDS epi-
demic among minority communities in the United States, 
in 1998, the Minority AIDS Initiative was established to 
provide funds to State and local institutions and organi-
zations to best serve the health care costs and support 
the needs of racial and ethnic minorities living with HIV; 
Whereas the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS 
Program provides housing assistance and related services 
to low-income people living with HIV; 
Whereas the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative 
was established in 2019 to leverage scientific progress in 
HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outbreak re-
sponse to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 
2030; 
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•HRES 461 IH 
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 cre-
ated the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief 
(PEPFAR); 
Whereas the PEPFAR program remains the largest commit-
ment in history by any country to combat a single dis-
ease; 
Whereas, as of 2020, PEPFAR has supported treatment for 
approximately 17,200,000 people, including by providing 
antiretroviral drugs to 2,800,000 pregnant women living 
with HIV to prevent the transmission of HIV from moth-
er to child during birth; 
Whereas, in fiscal year 2020, PEPFAR directly supported 
HIV testing and counseling for 50,000,000 people; 
Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
Malaria, 
launched 
in 
2002, 
has 
helped 
provide 
antiretroviral therapy to approximately 20,100,000 peo-
ple 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 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is leading 
the effort, in conjunction with PEPFAR, the United 
States Agency for International Development, and others 
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around the world, developing a scientifically sound HIV 
treatment and prevention toolkit that includes new treat-
ments, vaccines, microbicides, and preexposure prophy-
laxis for communities impacted by HIV and people living 
with HIV in the United States and globally; 
Whereas NIH-funded research has been crucial in the devel-
opment of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), that 
has enabled people diagnosed with HIV to have 
undetectable viral load and longer lifespans, and prevents 
sexual transmission to partners, establishing a concept 
known as ‘‘Undetectable equals Untransmittable’’ or 
U=U; 
Whereas NIH-sponsored clinical trials demonstrated that 
ART medication taken by an HIV negative person effec-
tively prevents acquisition of HIV, leading to the ap-
proval of ART for preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a 
once-a-day medication which effectively prevents HIV; 
Whereas United States public sector investment in HIV and 
HIV-related research and development rose by five per-
cent in 2019, increasing from $829,000,000 in 2018 to 
$871,000,000; 
Whereas United States Government investments in HIV re-
search fuel biomedical advances and breakthroughs that 
will have profound medical and financial benefits far be-
yond the HIV epidemic, including advancements and 
breakthroughs with respect to the COVID–19 pandemic; 
Whereas vaccine approaches originally developed for HIV vac-
cine design are at the forefront of COVID–19 vaccine de-
velopment; and 
Whereas strong research and development investment is es-
sential for innovative and successful biotechnology, med-
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•HRES 461 IH 
ical devices, and pharmaceutical industry development: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reiterates the continued bipartisan leader-
ship and commitment by the United States in do-
mestic, bilateral, multilateral, and private sector ef-
forts to fight and end human immunodeficiency 
virus/acquired 
immunodefiency 
syndrome 
(HIV/ 
AIDS); 
(2) commends the efforts and achievements in 
combating HIV/AIDS through the Ryan White HIV/ 
AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 (Public 
Law 111–87), the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 
National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse 
and Mental Health Services Administration, the Of-
fice of Minority Health, the Office of the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services, and the Department 
of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of HIV/ 
AIDS Housing; 
(3) commends the efforts and achievements in 
combating HIV/AIDS made by the President’s 
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund 
to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the 
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 
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(4) supports strong, sustained investment for 
prevention, care, and treatment services, and re-
search programs for communities impacted by HIV 
and people diagnosed with HIV in the United States 
and globally; 
(5) urges, in order to ensure that an AIDS-free 
generation is achievable, rapid action by all countries 
toward further expansion and a scale-up of 
antiretroviral treatment programs, including efforts 
to reduce disparities and improve access for children 
to lifesaving medications; 
(6) encourages scaling up of comprehensive pre-
vention services, including biomedical and structural 
interventions, to ensure equitable and inclusive ac-
cess to programs and appropriate resources for all 
people at risk of contracting HIV, especially in com-
munities disproportionately impacted by new HIV 
infections in the United States; 
(7) calls for greater focus on the HIV-related 
vulnerabilities of women and girls, including women 
and girls at risk for or who have survived violence 
or faced discrimination as a result of the disease; 
and 
(8) encourages input from civil society in the 
development and implementation of domestic and 
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global HIV policies and programs that guide the re-
sponse. 
Æ 
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