IV
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 288
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to children infected with
AIDS in Romania.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 19, 1994
Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. LANTOS, Mr.
LEACH, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. HYDE, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. SMITH of New Jer-
sey, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Mr. BORSKI, Mr.
GALLEGLY, Mr. ANDREWS of New Jersey, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BROWN
of Ohio, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. LEVY, Mr. HASTINGS,
Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. FINGERHUT, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr.
WOLF, Mr. WYNN, and Mr. GUTIERREZ) submitted the following concur-
rent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to children
infected with AIDS in Romania.
Whereas prior to 1989, the former communist government of
Romania denied the widespread existence of the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes acquired im-
mune deficiency syndrome (AIDS);
Whereas prior to 1989, the communist government of Roma-
nia promoted medical practices that led unwittingly to
the injection of HIV-infected blood into otherwise healthy
children;
•HCON 288 IH
Whereas after Romania began to address the reality of the
problem of AIDS, it was found that by 1993, 89 percent
of all cases of HIV infection in Romania involved chil-
dren, which is the highest such rate in Europe, with most
such cases being in the port city of Constanta;
Whereas with the assistance of the United States Agency for
International Development and under the coordination of
the United Nations Children’s Fund, American private
voluntary organizations have joined private voluntary or-
ganizations of other nations in working to alleviate the
suffering of Romanian children infected with the AIDS
virus, primarily in the Constanta region, by providing for
these children a ‘‘homelike’’ atmosphere, proper nutri-
tion, proper hygiene, foster parenting, and parent coun-
seling; and
Whereas reliable statistics with respect to the AIDS situation
in Romania are no longer available because the Roma-
nian Ministry of Health has disbanded its HIV/AIDS
unit: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) commends the work of those private vol-
untary organizations from the United States and
other countries who, with the help of the United
States Agency for International Development and
other assistance organizations, have made life more
bearable for Romanian children infected with the
AIDS virus;
•HCON 288 IH
(2) calls for the continuation of current meas-
ures to assist children infected with the AIDS virus
in the Constanta region of Romania and elsewhere,
and for the implementation by the Government of
Romania or its designee of a nationwide AIDS-
awareness campaign to lessen the possibility of the
spread of infection to additional children and other
members of the population in Romania;
(3) urges the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development to use its authority under the
Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act
of 1989 to provide assistance for the extension of
AIDS treatment programs to other areas of Roma-
nia where children infected with the AIDS virus
have similar needs;
(4) calls on the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development to report to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate
on—
(A) the extent of HIV infection among
children in Romania, and
(B) efforts to provide assistance to address
this problem and to prevent further infection
among both children and adults;
•HCON 288 IH
(5) calls on the Government of Romania to pro-
vide all appropriate assistance to address the AIDS
problem, in particular statistical and other analyses
on the spread of infection by the AIDS virus; and
(6) calls on the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development to offer assistance to the Ro-
manian Ministry of Health in the collection and
analysis of relevant statistics with respect to AIDS.
Æ