Mark Souder: “as the nation's largest AIDS-specific care program, the Ryan White CARE Act plays a critical role in providing HIV/AIDS…”

“as the nation's largest AIDS-specific care program, the Ryan White CARE Act plays a critical role in providing HIV/AIDS treatment and support equally to all U.S. citizens needing such medical care. Ryan White, as many of you know, was a fellow Hoosier and a heroic young man and this program that so many depend upon to stay health and alive is a great tribute to him. Currently, the federal government is funding wasteful and unnecessary programs that would otherwise be held in check if this reauthorization had already been law. This bill would require that 75 percent of CARE Act funds be spent on primary medical care and medication. This is important because in the past, funds were misspent on unnecessary and dubious programs while thousands living with HIV were on waiting lists for AIDS medications. Let me give a recent example of government waste that would have been better spent treating those with HIV but without access to treatment. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, $405,000 in federal funds was provided this month to the National Minority AIDS Council for its annual U.S. Conference on AIDS.”