IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 731 
Supporting the goals and ideals of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness 
Day. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 7, 2018 
Ms. LEE (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. MCCOL-
LUM, Mr. NADLER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 
KHANNA, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. 
WILSON of Florida, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 
Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. BASS, 
Mr. COHEN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. MEEKS, Mr. POCAN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 
Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. DANNY K. 
DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. MOORE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. CASTOR 
of Florida, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. CRIST, Mr. 
CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of 
California, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. 
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. CAPU-
ANO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Supporting the goals and ideals of National Black HIV/ 
AIDS Awareness Day. 
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC) estimates that in the United States more than 
1,100,000 people are living with HIV, and 15 percent do 
not know they are infected; 
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noses, those living with HIV, those ever diagnosed with 
AIDS, and HIV/AIDS-related deaths; 
Whereas in 2015, more than half of African Americans diag-
nosed with HIV were gay or bisexual men; 
Whereas in 2015, among all gay and bisexual men who had 
received an HIV diagnosis, African Americans accounted 
for the highest number (39 percent); 
Whereas according to a 2016 study by the CDC, an esti-
mated half of Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV 
in their lifetime, if current HIV diagnoses rates persist; 
Whereas homophobia, stigma, and discrimination pose major 
obstacles to HIV testing, treatment and other prevention 
services for gay and bisexual African-American men; 
Whereas among all women diagnosed with HIV in 2015, 61 
percent were African American, despite comprising only 
14 percent of the female population in the United States; 
Whereas African-American women face the highest risk of 
HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) 
compared with women of other groups; 
Whereas the HIV diagnosis rate for African-American women 
remains 16 times as high as that of White women, and 
almost five times that of Hispanic women; 
Whereas among African-American women, the leading trans-
mission category of HIV infection is heterosexual contact, 
followed by intravenous drug use; 
Whereas research indicates that the high incarceration rates 
of Black men may contribute to the disproportionate 
rates of HIV infections among Black women; 
Whereas in 2010—the most recent data available—there 
were more than 20,000 inmates with HIV/AIDS in State 
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and Federal prisons, a prevalence that is 4 times the rate 
of HIV in the general population; 
Whereas among incarcerated populations, African-American 
men are 5 times as likely as White men, and twice as 
likely as Hispanic/Latino men, to be diagnosed with HIV; 
Whereas among incarcerated populations, African-American 
women are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with 
HIV as White or Hispanic/Latino women; 
Whereas transgender women in the United States are at high 
risk for HIV; 
Whereas half of all transgender people diagnosed with HIV 
are Black or African American; 
Whereas the Southern United States now experiences the 
highest burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic; 
Whereas Southern States account for an estimated 44 per-
cent of all people living with HIV, despite having just 37 
percent of the overall United States population; 
Whereas African Americans are severely and disproportion-
ately affected by HIV in the South, accounting for 54 
percent of all new HIV infections in the region; 
Whereas socioeconomic issues impact the rates of HIV infec-
tion among African Americans in the South and through-
out the United States; 
Whereas socioeconomic factors like income inequality, pov-
erty, and lack of access to HIV prevention education and 
basic health services, and cultural factors like homopho-
bia, transphobia, and racism all pose significant chal-
lenges to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic; 
Whereas we are seeing signs of progress; 
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Whereas from 2010 to 2014, HIV diagnoses among African- 
American women fell by nearly 25 percent and have also 
fallen sharply among African Americans who inject 
drugs; 
Whereas testing, education, counseling, and harm reduction 
practices are all critical to prevent HIV; 
Whereas life-saving treatment is also a proven prevention 
tool, and research shows that antiretroviral drugs can re-
duce the amount of virus to undetectable levels (also 
known as viral suppression), effectively resulting in no 
risk of transmission of HIV; 
Whereas in 2012, the Food and Drug Administration ap-
proved pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as prevention 
for people who are HIV-negative; 
Whereas PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection for HIV- 
negative people by up to 99 percent; 
Whereas in 1998, Congress and the Clinton administration 
created the National Minority AIDS Initiative to help co-
ordinate funding, build capacity, and provide prevention, 
care, and treatment services within the African-American, 
Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American 
communities; 
Whereas the National Minority AIDS Initiative assists with 
leadership development of community-based organizations 
(CBOs), establishes and links provider networks, builds 
community prevention infrastructure, promotes technical 
assistance among CBOs, and raises awareness among Af-
rican-American communities; 
Whereas 2018 marks the twentieth year of the National Mi-
nority AIDS Initiative which has successfully established 
life-saving services and programs to address the needs of 
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those communities, families, and individuals most im-
pacted and burdened HIV; 
Whereas in 2010, the Obama administration unveiled the 
first National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which identified a set 
of priorities and strategic action steps tied to measurable 
outcomes for moving the Nation forward in addressing 
the domestic HIV epidemic; 
Whereas in 2012 the National Association for the Advance-
ment of Colored People (NAACP) released a manual of 
best practices for faith leaders to mobilize communities, 
advocate for community support for people infected with 
and affected by HIV/AIDS, and organize dialogues on 
HIV/AIDS as a social justice issue as part of ‘‘The Black 
Church and HIV: The Social Justice Imperative’’; 
Whereas in July 2015, the ‘‘National HIV/AIDS Strategy for 
the United States: Updated to 2020’’ was released and 
included actions and goals in order to reduce HIV-related 
disparities and inequalities; 
Whereas the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid 
and reforms to the individual insurance market have 
helped lower the uninsured rates for nonelderly African 
Americans by more than one-third between 2013 and 
2016, leading to better health outcomes for African 
Americans living with or at risk of HIV; 
Whereas National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was 
founded by 5 national organizations in 1999 to provide 
capacity-building assistance to Black communities and 
organizations; 
Whereas each year on February 7, individuals, organizations, 
and policy makers across the Nation participate in Na-
tional Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day to promote HIV 
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education, testing, community involvement, and treat-
ment in Black communities; and 
Whereas the theme for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness 
Day 2018 is ‘‘Stay the Course, the Fight is Not Over’’: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the goals and ideals of National 
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day; 
(2) encourages State and local governments, in-
cluding their public health agencies, and media orga-
nizations to recognize and support such day, to pub-
licize its importance among their communities, and 
to encourage individuals, especially African Ameri-
cans, to get tested for HIV; 
(3) commends the work of AIDS service organi-
zations, community-based organizations, faith-based 
organizations providers, community health centers 
and health departments that are providing effective, 
evidence-based, prevention, treatment, care, and sup-
port services to people living with and vulnerable to 
HIV/AIDS; 
(4) supports the implementation of the National 
HIV/AIDS Strategy and its goals to reduce new 
HIV infections, increase access to care and improve 
health outcomes for people living with HIV, reduce 
HIV-related disparities and health inequities, and 
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achieve a more coordinated national response to the 
HIV/AIDS epidemic; 
(5) supports reducing the impact of incarcer-
ation as a driver of new HIV infections within the 
African-American community; 
(6) supports reducing the number of HIV infec-
tions in the African-American community resulting 
from intravenous drug use; 
(7) supports effective and comprehensive HIV 
prevention education programs to promote the early 
identification of HIV through voluntary routine test-
ing, and to connect those in need to clinically and 
culturally appropriate care and treatment as early as 
possible; 
(8) supports appropriate funding for HIV/AIDS 
prevention, care, treatment, research, and housing, 
including community-based approaches to fight stig-
ma, discrimination, racism, sexism, homophobia, and 
transphobia; and 
(9) encourages comprehensive prevention, treat-
ment, and care strategies that empower public 
health workers, educators, faith leaders, and other 
stakeholders to engage their communities to help de-
crease violence, discrimination, and stigma towards 
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