Lynn C. Woolsey: “over 20,000 people have died from AIDS in the San Francisco-Bay Area, and AIDS continues to be the second leading cause…”

“over 20,000 people have died from AIDS in the San Francisco-Bay Area, and AIDS continues to be the second leading cause of premature death in our area. In addition, and it is because of improved treatments, because of programs like the Ryan White AIDS program, nearly 23,000 individuals are currently living with HIV/ AIDS, more than at any point in the history of the epidemic. Therefore, it is not the right time for the people in the San Francisco-Bay Area to have any cuts in their AIDS/HIV programs, because it is starting to work but it isn't working well enough, including my own county of Marin County north of San Francisco and the county of San Mateo south of San Francisco. Our communities have the third largest cumulative number of AIDS cases in the entire country. This amendment will recklessly and irresponsibly put the lives of many of our constituents at risk. The very idea truly astounds me, the very idea that these lifesaving programs would be cut, that there would even be an offer to cut them while we are spending $10 billion a month to occupy Iraq just is beyond my comprehension. I have to wonder, what are some people thinking about? What are their priorities? I can tell you my priorities are with the health and the well-being of our constituents. Treatments and support programs and systems for HIV/AIDS have come a long way.…”