IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 204 
Supporting the goals and ideals of ‘‘National STD Awareness Month’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 5, 2011 
Ms. LEE of California submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Supporting the goals and ideals of ‘‘National STD Awareness 
Month’’. 
Whereas sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (also known 
as sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs) are a major 
public health challenge that pose a significant burden in 
the United States both in economic and human terms; 
Whereas the United States has the highest rate of STIs in 
the industrialized world, with an estimated 19,000,000 
new cases occurring each year, and almost half of those 
infections occurring in young people between the ages of 
15 to 24; 
Whereas all people in the United States have an interest in 
STIs because every community is impacted and everyone 
pays for the cost of these infections, either directly or in-
directly; 
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•HRES 204 IH 
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), STIs impose a tremendous economic 
burden on the United States, costing the healthcare sys-
tem $16,400,000,000 per year; 
Whereas, in 2008, the CDC estimated that 1 in 4 young 
women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United 
States, or 3,200,000 teenage girls, and nearly 1 in 2 Af-
rican-American young women are infected with at least 
one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, 
which are human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, her-
pes simplex virus, and trichomoniasis; 
Whereas in 2010, CDC data indicated that 1 in 6 Americans 
between the ages of 14 and 49 years old were infected 
with the Herpes Simplex virus Type 2, a lifelong and in-
curable infection, and that African-American women 14– 
49 years old were the most affected group, with a preva-
lence rate of 48 percent; 
Whereas poverty and lack of access to quality health care ex-
acerbate the rate of infection with the human immuno-
deficiency virus (HIV) and other STIs; 
Whereas men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be 
disproportionately impacted by STIs, accounting for 62 
percent of all syphilis cases in 2009 as compared to only 
4 percent of such cases in 2000; 
Whereas racial disparities in rates of STIs are among the 
worst health disparities in the Nation for any health con-
dition; 
Whereas most STIs have been associated with increased risk 
of HIV transmission and are likely contributing to the 
ongoing HIV epidemic in the United States; 
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Whereas the CDC also reports that the two most common 
STIs among young women are HPV, with 18 percent in-
fected, and chlamydia, with 4 percent infected; 
Whereas the long-term health effects of these STIs are espe-
cially severe for women and include infertility and cer-
vical cancer; 
Whereas vaccination, screening, and early treatment can pre-
vent some of the most devastating effects of STIs; 
Whereas high STI infection rates in the United States dem-
onstrate the need for better ways to reach those most at 
risk of infection; 
Whereas the CDC recommends annual chlamydia screenings 
for sexually active women 25 years of age and younger; 
Whereas the CDC also recommends HPV vaccination for 
girls and women between the ages of 11 and 26 who have 
not been vaccinated, or who have not completed the full 
series of shots; 
Whereas the CDC recommends screening for HIV, syphilis, 
chlamydia, and gonorrhea at least once a year for MSM 
who are not in a long-term, mutually monogamous rela-
tionship; 
Whereas chlamydia can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, 
chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and tubular pregnancies, 
which can affect a woman’s health and well-being 
throughout her lifetime; 
Whereas STIs can be transmitted from infected mothers to 
infants during childbirth and can cause severe health 
consequences in these infants; 
Whereas STIs often cause social stigma and may have a seri-
ous psychological impact among those who are infected; 
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•HRES 204 IH 
Whereas programs that provide comprehensive and medically 
accurate health information and screening and treatment 
services can help people protect themselves against STIs, 
including through a variety of Federal programs such as 
Title X of the Public Health Service Act and the CDC’s 
STD prevention program; 
Whereas school-based STI screening programs have been 
highly successful where implemented and are effective at 
preventing the spread of STIs among adolescents; 
Whereas the sexual and reproductive health needs of men 
must be more thoroughly recognized and better addressed 
by the public health and medical provider community in 
order to more effectively combat the spread of STIs; 
Whereas STD programs in State and local health depart-
ments that are funded through the CDCs Division of 
STD Prevention are the Nation’s frontline defense 
against the spread of STIs; 
Whereas STI screening, vaccination, and other prevention 
strategies for sexually active women should be among the 
highest public health priorities; and 
Whereas the CDC observes April as ‘‘National STD Aware-
ness Month’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the goals and ideals of ‘‘National 
STD Awareness Month’’; 
(2) encourages the Federal Government, States, 
localities, and nonprofit organizations to observe the 
month with appropriate programs and activities, 
with the goal of increasing public knowledge of the 
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