IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 211 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Postal Service 
should issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring victims of HIV/ 
AIDS and recognizing the struggle to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS 
in the United States and throughout the world. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 20, 2005 
Ms. LEE submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Government Reform 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States 
Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage 
stamp honoring victims of HIV/AIDS and recognizing 
the struggle to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the 
United States and throughout the world. 
Whereas in 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention (CDC) reported the first cases of a rare pneu-
monia, later diagnosed as AIDS-related; 
Whereas in 1982, the CDC formally established the term ‘‘ac-
quired immune deficiency syndrome’’ (AIDS) and the 
first congressional hearings on AIDS were held; 
Whereas the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was iso-
lated in 1984 and later so named;
•HCON 211 IH 
Whereas on December 1, 1988, World AIDS Day was first 
declared by the World Health Organization; 
Whereas since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, ap-
proximately 1,500,000 people in the United States have 
become infected with the virus, including more than 
500,000 who have died from it; 
Whereas the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 
(UNAIDS) estimates that since the beginning of the 
HIV/AIDS pandemic, approximately 60,000,000 people 
worldwide have become infected with the virus, including 
more than 20,000,000 who have died from it; 
Whereas the CDC estimates that at the end of 2003, there 
were between 1,039,000 and 1,185,000 people in the 
United States living with HIV/AIDS, an increase from 
the estimated 850,000 to 950,000 people at the end of 
2002; 
Whereas UNAIDS estimates that worldwide at the end of 
2004, women accounted for 47 percent of adults living 
with HIV/AIDS (up from 41 percent in 1997), and in 
sub-Saharan Africa, women represented 57 percent of all 
adults living with HIV/AIDS; 
Whereas communities of color have been disproportionately 
affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic; 
Whereas the CDC estimates that at the end of 2003, minori-
ties represented over 42 percent of persons living with 
AIDS; 
Whereas the CDC estimates that of the estimated 40,000 
new HIV infections each year, nearly 70 percent occur 
among minorities;
•HCON 211 IH 
Whereas the CDC estimates that in 2003, African Americans 
accounted for 50 percent of all new diagnoses of HIV/ 
AIDS; 
Whereas the Minority AIDS Initiative was created in 1999 
to enhance efforts to prevent the acquisition or trans-
mission of HIV infections in racial and ethnic commu-
nities; 
Whereas the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource 
Emergency Act of 1990 was enacted to address the 
unmet health needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS by 
funding primary health care, capacity building, commu-
nity outreach, and support services that enhance access 
to and retention in care; 
Whereas the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 
2000 was signed into law by President Clinton to provide 
the first significant funding to prevent and control the 
spread of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and tuber-
culosis, and which established the framework for a World 
Bank Global AIDS Trust Fund which later became the 
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; 
Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and 
Malaria was formally established in 2001 with the pur-
pose of attracting, managing, and disbursing additional 
resources through a new public-private partnership to 
combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria by making 
sustainable and significant contributions to the reduction 
of infections, illness, and death as a result of these dis-
eases, and contributing to poverty reduction as part of 
the Millenium Development Goals; 
Whereas the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, 
Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 was enacted to
•HCON 211 IH 
work with international, national, and local leaders to 
promote prevention, treatment, and care programs to ad-
dress the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and its linkages to 
tuberculosis and malaria; 
Whereas greater global attention and funding have led to sev-
eral important initiatives, such as the United Nations 
General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS and the 
‘‘3 by 5 Initiative’’, coordinated by the World Health Or-
ganization to provide 3,000,000 people with AIDS treat-
ment by the end of 2005; and 
Whereas in 2005, the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) 
agreed to work to develop and implement a package for 
HIV prevention, treatment, and care, with the goal of 
providing universal access to treatment and care by 
2010: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) a commemorative postage stamp should be 
issued by the United States Postal Service honoring 
victims of HIV/AIDS and recognizing the struggle to 
prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the United States 
and throughout the world; and 
(2) the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee 
should recommend to the Postmaster General that 
such a stamp be issued. 
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