Political Quotes

“I just want to add that in my district and in my State, sexually-transmitted diseases are also on the rise. I certainly share the gentlewoman's comments. Syphilis, gonorrhea, all those diseases that we thought had been abolished, eliminated, they are on the rise, and primarily because information is not getting out to the people. Information is not getting out to them in the way that they communicate. There is no popular ad campaign dealing with this issue. We can see advertisements all across the television and the radio about every other thing except how to prevent HIV/AIDS. This is a real serious epidemic, pandemic, as the gentlewoman indicated, across the world, but it is an epidemic, and almost a pandemic in certain communities here in this Nation. And the awareness is not there. The commitment is not there. I believe that the President needs to be reminded that he is sending two different types of messages here. They are contradictory. If the Secretary of HHS and the Secretary of State are developing a Marshall Plan for AIDS internationally, and at the same time he is withdrawing resources, vitally needed resources, dollars from the Ryan White program here in America, well, then, that sends a contradictory message. And he has to be clear. We need one voice, one approach to dealing not only with AIDS internationally but also to deal with the epidemic of AIDS right here at home.”