Jon L. Christensen: “I rise to tell just part of the Herculean and steadfast efforts, the story of the CBC to control HIV/ AIDS and reverse…”

“I rise to tell just part of the Herculean and steadfast efforts, the story of the CBC to control HIV/ AIDS and reverse its tragic toll in our communities. I came here 10 years ago and cut my congressional teeth working with and learning from Maxine Waters and Lou Stokes as we created the Minority AIDS Initiative. In 1998, the Clinton administration responded to our call for a state of emergency with an investment of $158 million, which grew to $400 million. Despite our repeated calls to action under this administration, funding has been stagnant; capacity-building in communities of color, the hardest hit, has been lost; and we have been burdened by political and ideological policies that caused lives to be destroyed or lost. So today African Americans are more than 50 percent of new HIV and AIDS cases, and our death rate is almost three times that of whites. We are again in crisis. We need a state of emergency for our health. Each and every CBC member has always and will continue to do their part here in our districts and, with Barbara Lee, across the world. We call on Congress and the President to respond.”