IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1223 
Supporting the goals of World AIDS Day. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico, 
Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. CAR-
SON of Indiana, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. TRONE, Ms. WILSON of 
Florida, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. MENG, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. MCKINLEY, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 
BASS, and Ms. JUDY CHU of California) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Supporting the goals of World AIDS Day. 
Whereas, as of the end of 2019, an estimated 38,000,000 
people were living with human immunodeficiency virus 
(HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), 
including 1,800,000 children; 
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 with 
diagnosed HIV in 2018, with the disease disproportion-
ately affecting communities of color; 
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•HRES 1223 IH 
Whereas each year nearly 40,000 people become newly diag-
nosed with HIV in the United States; 
Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (‘‘CDC’’), Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Amer-
ican Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and 
other Pacific Islanders are disproportionately affected by 
HIV in the United States; 
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; 
Whereas the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides serv-
ices and support for over half of all people diagnosed 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 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); 
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•HRES 1223 IH 
Whereas the PEPFAR program remains the largest commit-
ment in history by any country to combat a single dis-
ease; 
Whereas, as of 2019, PEPFAR has supported treatment for 
approximately 15,700,000 people, including by providing 
antiretroviral drugs to 2,600,000 pregnant women living 
with HIV to prevent the transmission of HIV from moth-
er to child during birth; 
Whereas, in fiscal year 2019, PEPFAR directly supported 
HIV testing and counseling for 79,600,000 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 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; 
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Whereas research funded by the National Institutes of Health 
found that HIV treatment not only saves the lives of peo-
ple living with HIV, but people living with HIV on effec-
tive antiretroviral therapy and who are durably virally 
suppressed cannot sexually transmit HIV, proving that 
HIV treatment is prevention; 
Whereas it is estimated that, without treatment, half of all 
infants living with HIV will die before their second birth-
day; 
Whereas despite the remarkable progress in combating HIV, 
significant challenges remain; 
Whereas there were approximately 1,700,000 new HIV diag-
noses in 2019 globally, structural barriers continue to 
make testing and treatment programs inaccessible to 
highly 
vulnerable 
populations, 
and 
an 
estimated 
7,100,000 people living with HIV globally still do not 
know their HIV status; 
Whereas the CDC reports that more than 37,000 people were 
diagnosed with HIV in the United States in 2018 and 14 
percent of the 1,200,000 people in the United States liv-
ing with HIV are not aware of their HIV status; 
Whereas the CDC has found that men who have sex with 
men (MSM), particularly young Blacks and Hispanics, 
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 
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to be diagnosed with HIV compared to the global general 
adult population; 
Whereas one in two people living with HIV in the United 
States are over 50; 
Whereas people living with HIV are frequently susceptible to 
other infections, such as hepatitis B and C and tuber-
culosis; 
Whereas the opioid and heroin epidemics have led to in-
creased numbers of new HIV transmissions among people 
who inject drugs, and the crisis has disproportionately af-
fected nonurban areas, where HIV prevalence rates have 
been low historically and have limited services for HIV 
prevention and treatment and substance use disorder 
treatment; 
Whereas, in 2020, the United States hosted the Conference 
of the International AIDS Society reinforcing the impor-
tant leadership role the United States plays in ending 
AIDS globally; 
Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic has placed a significant 
burden on the public health systems across the United 
States and globe; 
Whereas December 1 of each year is internationally recog-
nized as ‘‘World AIDS Day’’; and 
Whereas, in 2020, commemorations for World AIDS Day rec-
ognize the need for ‘‘Global Solidarity, Shared Responsi-
bility’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) encourages people around the world to work 
to achieve the goal of zero new HIV transmissions, 
zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths, 
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