Ryan White CARE Act Undergoes House-Senate Conference Debate

The Ryan White CARE Act is now undergoing scrutiny by the committee of senators and representatives who are working to resolve differences between the reauthorizing legislation passed by the House and the Senate (conference committee). The conferees are expected to be Senators Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS), James Jeffords (R-VT), Bill Frist (R-TN), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Reps. Thomas Bliley (R-VA), Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Tom Coburn (R-OK), John Dingell (D-MI) and Henry Waxman (D-CA).

The committee is weighing a range of technical issues. These issues speak to specific aspects of the legislation. A number of these issues reflect concerns upon which everyone in the AIDS community can agree. AIDS Action will share its response in its advocacy efforts. Among these are some priority concerns :

If your legislator is a member of the conference committee, please contact him or her and voice the community's perspective.

If your legislator is not on the conference committee, please contact the committee chairs, and if your own senators and representative are "friendly," let them know what they should be communicating to the conference committee.

COBURN/WAXMAN HIV TESTING AMENDMENT

Reps. Coburn and Waxman agreed on a resolution that calls for phased-in mandatory testing of newborns. The amendment requires that states must demonstrate knowledge of the HIV status of 95 percent of newborn infants within two years. If they fail to demonstrate this they must implement mandatory HIV testing programs for pregnant women and newborns in order to receive CARE Act Title II funds. We oppose any provision that contains mandatory HIV testing and any condition being placed on the disbursal of CARE Act funds. A separate, less onerous provision was put forward by Senators Kennedy and Kassebaum which would require the implementation of voluntary HIV counseling and testing guidelines for pregnant women in the 11 states where 80 percent of the cases of perinatal HIV transmission occur.

AIDS Action:

Urge the conferees to oppose the House bill's Coburn/Waxman amendment and support the Senate's Kassebaum/Kennedy amendment.

SET-ASIDES

The Title I and Title II set-asides for women, infants and children contained in the House version may act as caps effectively limiting services to these populations. The House bill provides set asides of 15 percent or the ratio of AIDS cases in women, infant and children to the ratio of AIDS in the general population, whichever is less. Any set-aside should provide the highest appropriate minimum. Worse still, the substantive "priority" for use of these funds is for "measures to prevent perinatal transmission" (provision of AZT to pregnant women). Such a priority is entirely inappropriate given the broad population that must receive services through this set-aside. The set-asides should promote the provision of comprehensive care to all women and children and should not involve artificial caps on such service provision.

AIDS Action:

Urge conferees to reject the House language on Title I and II set-asides for all women, infants and children as currently written.

HELMS AMENDMENT ON THE PROMOTION OF HOMOSEXUALITY AND DRUG USE

Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) sponsored an amendment prohibiting CARE Act funds from being used to "promote" homosexuality or intravenous drug use. A Kassebaum amendment prevents funds from beng used to promote any sexual activity but without restricting medical treatment and support services.

AIDS Action:

Please tell the conference committee to drop the Helms amendment because it severely restricts vital services and singles out homosexual behavior, suggesting a blatant anti-gay agenda. The Kassebaum amendment would make the Helms amendment unnecessary.

TITLE IV

Title IV serves hard-to-reach women, children, youth and families from low-income communities of color who are disproportionately affected by the AIDS epidemic. Both the Senate and the House have acknowledged the success of the program. We are strongly committed to the Senate bill's emphasis on comprehensive care and facilitating voluntary participation in research protocols. The House bill does not contain such emphasis.

AIDS ACTION:

Urge conferees to include the Senate bill's comprehensive care requirements for Title IV.

All Senators can be reached at 202-224-3121. E-mail addresses for your Representatives and Senators can be found posted in HandsNet at Resources/Congressional Contacts.

* Data in this summary was compiled by AIDS Action Council and National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. Epidemiological data was provided by the state health department. Funding amounts were provided by the appropriate federal agency, and are from the most current fiscal year that state-by-state data is available. May, 1995.

For more information, contact
AIDS Action Council
1875 Connecticut Avenue NW #700
Washington DC 20009
202-986-1300
202-986-1345 (fax)
202-332-9614 (tty)
E-Mail: aidsaction@aidsaction.org

AIDS HIV Issues/AIDS Alerts
9/22/95--HandsNet Public Forums--HN3384