Bill Clinton: “First of all, it's not true that I have made no major speeches about AIDS. I appointed the first AIDS czar the country…”

“First of all, it's not true that I have made no major speeches about AIDS. I appointed the first AIDS czar the country ever had. I got the Ryan White Act fully funded. We increased funding for AIDS research and AIDS care by 3 times or more the amount that the rest of the budget was going up, and then we did it--when we were cutting almost everything else, we were spending much more money on AIDS. This administration has done far more on research and care and raising the visibility of the issue than anyone ever has. I don't mind you being frustrated, because it's frustrating until we find a cure. We are finding ways, by the way, to keep people alive more and more, and we're also finding ways that children who are born HIV- positive can get through it in a hurry and maybe even have totally normal life expectancy. All I can tell you is what my commitment is. My commitment is, during these budget wars, to see that medical research in general and AIDS research in particular are continued to be increased--it's a very small part of the overall budget, but it's a big part of our future--and to try to make sure that we have adequate levels of care. Now, let me say one final thing. The health care reforms that I proposed last year did not pass. But there are two things that I think we ought to do that would make a huge difference to people with HIV and all of their family members and friends. The most important is to try to provide some alternatives to either no care or nursing home care in the home or in boarding homes, some other options for long-term care for families. That's also a big deal for people with disabled relatives and people with parents that maybe don't need to be in a nursing home but need some help. I believe that that ought to be part of all these arguments about cutting Medicare and Medicaid. It ought to be done in the context of health care reform, and we ought to push for that again. And I will do that. The other thing I think we have to do is to make it possible for more Americans to buy into health insurance pools that they can afford. So I am going to work on that with this Congress and, believe it or not, in spite of all the things you hear now, I think we've got a reasonable chance to achieve both of those goals. And I think if you and people like you will lobby on the care issue, the Ryan White issue, I think we have a chance to get that carved out from the cuts. And I hope you will do that. I can tell you, too--I've said this elsewhere--it would be a lot easier if they didn't have just an arbitrary date for balancing the budget and then have to churn everything else in there. If you'd say, ``What do we have to do? How much does it cost to do it? How are we going to cut? How long will it take to do it?'' it would lead you to a conclusion that you could do it but you'd have to take a few more years. Prisons [A participant questioned increased spending for prisons and suggested changes in the Federal sentencing guidelines for nonviolent offenders.]”