Eva M. Clayton: “I would like first to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) for asking us to really speak out on this…”

“I would like first to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) for asking us to really speak out on this worldwide issue. In fact, we have an opportunity to speak out on this issue 2 days before what we call World AIDS Day. As this day approaches, we are faced with the grim statistics about the spread of HIV/AIDS. From the rural South in my area of North Carolina to South Africa, greater efforts have to be made to fight the spread of AIDS. We hear these statistics. They do not even prick our consciousness. We have got to find a way to make sure that these statistics do not become just sheer rhetoric. A recent story on the AP wire reports that the AIDS epidemic is spreading across eastern Europe, with HIV infection rates rising faster in the Soviet Union than anywhere else in the world. I would like to submit this article for the Record. There has been more than 75,000 new cases of HIV in Russia as compared to 56,000 cases last year. Here in the United States, HIV infections among U.S. women have increased significantly over the last decade, especially in communities of color. We must do more. We have an opportunity to do more. The United States must provide more resources for the global AIDS fund of the United Nations. We can do this by providing the resources and being a leader. We must develop long-term strategies to make sure that we rid the world of HIV infections.”