Maurice Hinchey: “this amendment is an example of the misguided moralism that is so replete in this District of Columbia appropriations…”

“this amendment is an example of the misguided moralism that is so replete in this District of Columbia appropriations bill. What is at issue here is public health. It has been clearly demonstrated that by providing sterile syringes and needles to drug addicts, we cut back dramatically on the incidence of HIV and AIDS. Fifty percent of the AIDS-positive people in the District of Columbia contracted that condition by using contaminated needles. Seventy-five percent of the women in the District of Columbia who are HIV-positive got that way as a result of contaminated needles. Seventy-five percent of the children who are HIV-positive in the District of Columbia got that way as a result of contaminated needles. This is a public health issue. My colleagues ought to poke their noses out of it. Let the District run their own business. They are condemning people to contract HIV and AIDS by proposing this amendment if it passes. More people will become HIV-positive and more people will die of AIDS as a result of this amendment if it passes. It should be defeated.”