IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 51 
Supporting the goals and ideals of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness 
Day. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 24, 2011 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. MEEKS, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. WA-
TERS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 
JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 
HINCHEY, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. AL 
GREEN of Texas, and Mr. HASTINGS of Florida) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
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 21 percent do 
not know they are infected; 
Whereas each year 56,300 people become newly infected with 
HIV in the United States, and on average, an individual 
is infected with HIV every 91⁄2 minutes; 
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•HRES 51 IH 
Whereas a total of 597,499 people have died of AIDS in the 
United States from the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epi-
demic through 2007, and African-Americans account for 
approximately 40 percent of such deaths; 
Whereas at the end of 2007, African-Americans represented 
48 percent of all people living with HIV in the United 
States, Whites represented 33 percent, Hispanics rep-
resented 17 percent, Asian-Americans and Pacific Island-
ers represented 1 percent, and American Indians and 
Alaska Natives represented less than 1 percent; 
Whereas African-Americans represent approximately 12 per-
cent of the population of the United States, but ac-
counted for 52 percent of all new HIV cases diagnosed 
in 2008; 
Whereas although African-American teens (ages 13–19) rep-
resent only 15 percent of all teenagers in the United 
States, they accounted for 68 percent of new AIDS cases 
reported among teens in 2007; 
Whereas young gay men of color bear a disproportionate bur-
den of the epidemic, with more new HIV infections in 
2006 occurring among 13- to 29-year-old African-Amer-
ican men who have sex with men (MSM) than among any 
other subpopulation of MSM, accounting for 35 percent 
of new infections among all MSM and 63 percent of new 
infections among African-American men; 
Whereas in 2006, African-American women accounted for 61 
percent of new HIV infections among women and had an 
infection rate that was almost 15 times higher than that 
of White women and 4 times higher than Hispanic 
women; 
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•HRES 51 IH 
Whereas among African-American men, the leading trans-
mission category of HIV infection is sexual contact with 
other men, followed by intravenous drug use and hetero-
sexual contact; 
Whereas among African-American women, the leading trans-
mission category of HIV infection is heterosexual contact, 
followed by intravenous drug use; 
Whereas the CDC notes that socioeconomic issues impact the 
rates of HIV infection among African-Americans, and 
studies have found an association between higher AIDS 
rates and lower incomes; 
Whereas African-Americans are diagnosed with AIDS later 
than their nonminority counterparts, are confronted with 
barriers in accessing care and treatment, and face higher 
morbidity and mortality outcomes; 
Whereas the CDC estimates that among persons whose diag-
nosis of AIDS had been made during 1997 to 2004, Afri-
can-Americans had the poorest survival rates of any ra-
cial or ethnic group, with 66 percent surviving after 9 
years compared with 67 percent of American Indians and 
Alaska Natives, 74 percent of Hispanics, 75 percent of 
Whites, and 81 percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders; 
Whereas in 2006, HIV was the ninth leading cause of death 
for all African-Americans, and the third leading cause of 
death for both African-America men and African-Amer-
ican women between the ages of 35 to 44; 
Whereas in the United States as of January 6, 2011, ap-
proximately 5,154 people across 10 States have been 
placed on waiting lists to receive AIDS treatment 
through the AIDS Drug Assistance Program authorized 
through the Ryan White CARE Act; 
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•HRES 51 IH 
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, on April 7, 2009, the CDC launched a new commu-
nication campaign entitled ‘‘Act Against AIDS’’, to facili-
tate awareness, public education, health literacy, health 
care provider marketing, and highly targeted behavior 
change communication objectives in the fight against 
HIV/AIDS; 
Whereas as part of the ‘‘Act Against AIDS’’ campaign, the 
CDC launched a $10,000,000, five-year partnership with 
14 African-American organizations to ‘‘harness the col-
lective strength and reach of traditional, longstanding Af-
rican-American institutions to increase HIV-related 
awareness, knowledge, and action within black commu-
nities across the United States’’; 
Whereas the Black AIDS Media Partnership in conjunction 
with the CDC’s ‘‘Act Against AIDS’’ campaign launched 
‘‘Greater Than AIDS’’, a public information campaign 
designed to reach African-Americans with life-saving in-
formation about HIV/AIDS and to confront the stigma 
surrounding the disease; 
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•HRES 51 IH 
Whereas, on July 13, 2010, after conducting a series of town 
halls across the country to solicit feedback from commu-
nities impacted by HIV/AIDS, the White House Office of 
National AIDS Policy released the ‘‘National AIDS 
Strategy for the United States’’ along with an accom-
panying ‘‘Federal Implementation Plan’’ to achieve the 
goals of reducing new HIV infections, increasing access 
to care and improving health outcomes for people living 
with HIV, reducing HIV-related disparities and health 
inequities, and achieving a more coordinated national re-
sponse to the HIV epidemic; 
Whereas the first annual National Black HIV/AIDS Aware-
ness Day was organized on February 23, 2001; and 
Whereas February 7 of each year is now recognized as Na-
tional Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day with the slogan 
‘‘Get Educated! Get Tested! Get Involved! Get Treated!’’, 
and this year the theme is ‘‘It Takes A Village To Fight 
HIV/AIDS’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the goals and ideals of National 
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and recognizes the 
11th anniversary of observing such day; 
(2) encourages State and local governments, in-
cluding their public health agencies, to recognize 
such day, to publicize its importance among their 
communities, and to all encourage individuals, espe-
cially African-Americans, to get tested for HIV; 
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•HRES 51 IH 
(3) encourages national, State, and local media 
organizations to carry messages in support of Na-
tional Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day; 
(4) commends the work of AIDS service organi-
zations and community and faith-based organiza-
tions that are providing effective, evidence-based, 
prevention, treatment, care, and support services to 
people living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS; 
(5) supports the implementation of the National 
AIDS Strategy and its goals to reduce new HIV in-
fections, increase access to care and improve health 
outcomes for people living with HIV, reduce HIV-re-
lated disparities and health inequities, and achieve a 
more coordinated national response to the HIV epi-
demic; 
(6) supports the strengthening of stable Afri-
can-American communities; 
(7) supports reducing the impact of incarcer-
ation as a driver of new HIV infections within the 
African-American community; 
(8) supports reducing the number of HIV infec-
tions in the African-American community resulting 
from intravenous drug use; 
(9) supports effective and comprehensive HIV 
prevention education programs to promote the early 
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•HRES 51 IH 
identification of HIV through voluntary routine test-
ing, and to connect those in need to treatment and 
care as early as possible; and 
(10) supports appropriate funding for HIV/ 
AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and housing. 
Æ 
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