IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 906 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to encourage continued 
investment to complete the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine for 
the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2009 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. 
GRIJALVA) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to 
encourage continued investment to complete the develop-
ment of an HIV/AIDS vaccine for the United States. 
Whereas HIV affects the entire globe and comes in a variety 
of subtypes; 
Whereas the United States is leading global efforts to combat 
the HIV/AIDS pandemic through its $15,000,000,000 
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, 
which do not address the United States strain of the 
virus, Clade B; 
Whereas Clade B is the predominant subtype in the United 
States where the estimated number of new HIV infec-
tions in adults and adolescents in 2006 was 56,300, the 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
02:22 Nov 17, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR906.IH
HR906
wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 906 IH 
overall rate of new HIV infections was 22.8 cases per 
100,000 population; 
Whereas in 2007, the estimated rate of people who have pro-
gressed from HIV to AIDS in the United States was 
11.9 cases per 100,000 population; 
Whereas from 2004 through 2007, the estimated number of 
newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases in the United States 
increased among all races and ethnicities, with African- 
Americans accounting for 51 percent of all new HIV/ 
AIDS cases diagnosed in 2007; 
Whereas from 2004 through 2007, the estimated number of 
newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases increased approxi-
mately 18 percent among males and 8 percent among fe-
males, and males accounted for 74 percent of all HIV/ 
AIDS cases among adults and adolescents in 2007; 
Whereas of the HIV infections diagnosed in 2006 in the 34 
States with confidential name-based HIV reporting, 36 
percent progressed to AIDS within 12 months after the 
HIV infection was diagnosed; 
Whereas at the end of 2007, the AIDS prevalence rate 
among adults and adolescents in the United States was 
estimated at 185.1 per 100,000 with the highest preva-
lence rate in Washington, DC, estimated at 1,750.6 per 
100,000 population; 
Whereas through 2007, a total of 1,030,832 persons in the 
United States and dependent areas had been reported as 
having AIDS since the epidemic began; 
Whereas each year, more than 14,000 people with AIDS die 
in the United States; 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
02:22 Nov 17, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR906.IH
HR906
wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 906 IH 
Whereas President Obama has pledged to develop and imple-
ment a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that 
will include a focus on reducing HIV incidence; 
Whereas there are few alternatives for preventing HIV trans-
mission other than abstinence, education, circumcision, 
and condoms; 
Whereas in 2002, the total aggregate lifetime cost of illness 
for people in the United States newly diagnosed with 
HIV was estimated to be $36,400,000,000; 
Whereas it is estimated that patients on antiretroviral ther-
apy have direct, individual medical costs averaging 
$230,044, based on an estimated life expectancy of 24.4 
years after diagnosis; 
Whereas in FY 2007, alone, the cost to the Federal Govern-
ment for programs to care for people living with HIV/ 
AIDS in the United States was $13,200,000,000; 
Whereas as with commonly used vaccines such as polio, if the 
population were vaccinated for HIV, over time, the dis-
ease would decrease in prevalence to the point where it 
could be essentially eradicated; 
Whereas an HIV vaccine could be used to protect individuals 
from developing AIDS or used to treat people already in-
fected with HIV to prevent the disease from progressing 
to AIDS; 
Whereas there are three HIV/AIDS vaccines, out of approxi-
mately 100 original vaccine candidates that were part of 
the Phase 1 protocols undertaken by the NIH-funded 
HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) that are presently 
in clinical testing at the Phase 2 level and beyond; 
Whereas two of the vaccines that were part of the Phase 1 
protocols undertaken by HVTN are viable candidates for 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
02:22 Nov 17, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR906.IH
HR906
wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 906 IH 
preventing the United States strain of HIV infection 
from progressing to AIDS; 
Whereas in 2009, the results of a clinical trial conducted in 
Thailand indicated that an AIDS vaccine was safe and 
reduced the chance of infection by 31 percent; and 
Whereas despite the failure of other HIV/AIDS vaccines, the 
testing of the remaining two vaccines which hold promise 
for preventing the United States strain of the AIDS virus 
should be encouraged by public and private sectors: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives strongly 
encourages domestic efforts in the public and private sec-
tors to invest in and complete the development of a vaccine 
for the United States strain of the HIV/AIDS virus, Clade 
B. 
Æ 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
02:22 Nov 17, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR906.IH
HR906
wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS