Call your Representative to say “Thank You!”
In the past couple of weeks, U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) have been circulating a dear-colleague letter in the House, inviting members of Congress to support them in requesting an official, unbiased estimate from the Congressional Budget Office of the needed investments and corresponding savings of a fully implemented National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
Thanks to your efforts, 40 cosigners have joined the letter! You can view the letter here to see if your Representative signed on. If so, call him or her to say "Thank you for signing on to the Quigley/Lee letter requesting a cost/savings estimate for implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy."
National AIDS Strategy call to action issued at National Equality March
Ronald Johnson, Deputy Executive Director of AIDS Action Council, delivered a rousing speech at the HIV/AIDS Rally & Vigil at the National Equality March (held over the weekend of October 10-11, 2009). The march marked the first time in nearly ten years that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Americans and their allies converged on our nation's capital from around the country to advocate for their rights.
Amidst calls for pro-equality measures long left sitting on Congress's shelves, Johnson's speech highlighted a recent success of HIV/AIDS activists, including many LGBT activists: President Obama's commitment to creating a National AIDS Strategy through the Office of National AIDS Policy.
The call to action now, Johnson said, is ensuring that the process for creating the strategy meets to goals of the framework hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals contributed to creating through the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy.
Click below to read his speech in full.
Coalition issues letter to President Obama: Remove ban on syringe exchange funding
As Congress continues to consider legislation to remove the federal ban on syringe exchange funding, the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy called on President Obama to take a leadership role, pushing Congress to send him a bill this year.
The letter was delivered to the President on October 9, 2009. The full text is below:
Dear Mr. President,
Thank you for your commitment to developing and implementing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) for the United States. We are among the 500 organizations and 2,400 individuals who signed the Call to Action for a NHAS and who, for the past several years, have been advocating for a more coordinated, accountable and outcomes-oriented approach to HIV/AIDS in the United States through a NHAS.
As organizations and individuals committed to an evidence-based, effective HIV prevention effort, we also understand the urgency of removing the ban on federal funds for syringe exchange programs (SEPs). As you know, numerous federally funded studies have found that SEPs reduce HIV and hepatitis C incidence without increasing drug use or crime. Yet lack of resources makes it impossible for SEPs around the country to meet communities’ needs for the essential prevention, treatment and other services these programs provide. The challenge is particularly acute as states across the country grapple with fiscal shortfalls by reducing state funding for vital HIV/AIDS prevention programming, including SEPs.
Earlier this year, you reaffirmed your support for removing the ban on federal funding for SEPs and indicated you want to eliminate the ban as part of the NHAS process. We are writing to let you know that efforts to remove the SEPs ban cannot wait until completion of your Administration’s NHAS.
(Click below to read the rest.)