Political Quotes

“H.R. 2070, introduced by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon), is designed to give an added measure of protection to those Federal employees who work with or near prison inmates. This bill requires the testing of all inmates in the Federal prison system for the HIV virus upon their arrival in the system. It also requires the testing of any inmate in the Federal prison system when there is reason to believe that an inmate or a person ordered detained pending trial may have intentionally or unintentionally transmitted the HIV virus to any government employee or to any person lawfully present in a Federal correctional facility. The bill allows Federal employees, should they be involved in the type of incident with an inmate or detained person in which the HIV virus could have been transmitted, to request that the inmate or detained person be tested for the virus. The bill then requires the government to test the person and report the test results to the employee requesting the test, the person tested and the warden of the facility in which the person is incarcerated or detained. The need for this legislation is simple: Drugs have now been developed which can prevent the transmission of the HIV virus after exposure to someone who carries the virus. The drugs are effective in preventing transmission approximately 80 percent of the time. However, the drugs must be administered within 2 to 24 hours after exposure, and have extremely unpleasant side effects.”