David Weldon: “my amendment shifts $60 million from title II of the Ryan White CARE Act to title I of the Ryan White CARE Act. What my…”

“my amendment shifts $60 million from title II of the Ryan White CARE Act to title I of the Ryan White CARE Act. What my amendment does is to recognize that fully funding of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, or ADAP, should receive highest priority. This is a question of life-sustaining drugs versus programs and other services for those with AIDS. One thing we do know, programs and services are of little use if AIDS patients do not have access to life-sustaining drugs. We have all been visited by those who run the ADAP programs in our States expressing concerns about the shortfall in funding for this critical program. We know that last year hundreds of AIDS patients were unable to access basic lifesaving medication not in Africa, but here in the United States. As I have shared on this floor before, as a practicing physician prior to coming to Congress in 1995, I provided medical care to hundreds of HIV/AIDS patients. I was one of only two physicians in my community that took care of more than 400,000 people who provided care for AIDS patients, and I know how critical access to life-sustaining drugs can be. After Medicaid, ADAP is the single most important Federal program for Americans living with AIDS and HIV.”