Political Quotes

“I want to join with my African American colleagues in asking and appealing to the American people to understand that HIV/AIDS is devastating to the African-American community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated that of all Americans living with HIV/AIDS, African Americans represent 42 percent of those cases. The same is true in my State of Ohio, but the rate for blacks in Cleveland is even higher, 56 percent. We have to attack the stigmatization of the disease among African Americans. We must start by focusing on prevention, which is consistent with CDC guidelines, emphasizing and identifying HIV positives, and we must push for a comprehensive prevention policy that includes condoms and does not ignore science at the expense of ideology. We must commit to increasing funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative to at least $610 million, while increasing overall budget for the Ryan White CARE Act to fully cover treatment and eliminate waiting lists for antiretroviral drugs. We must increase funding for the Ryan White CARE Act by $513 million. We have a moral imperative to fight AIDS. We have a moral imperative to join with the African-American community in doing so.”