Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, the Congress has banned the use of Federal funds for needle exchange programs and left local jurisdictions to decide for themselves how to handle the AIDS epidemic. I ask you not to read the District out of our federalist democracy by imposing the Congressional will on this life or death issue. Let us be clear who we are talking about. The District is in the throes of an AIDS epidemic that is totally out of control. It ranks first in the Nation in HIV-AIDS. The majority of District residents are African-Americans. Nationally, AIDS is the leading killer of African-American men and women 25-34, and half of these deaths are needle-related. New infections in young men and women age 13 to 24 are rising so rapidly they have become the focus of special concern. Two-thirds of AIDS in women and 50 percent of AIDS in children can be traced to the needle chain of transmission. All of the world class investigators that Congress asked to look at this issue have come to the same conclusion. The entire medical and scientific establishment, among them six federally funded investigations, have found that these programs reduce infections markedly and do not promote drug use. The Vancouver study has been, according to its authors, misinterpreted. They have said so in an article in the New York Times. The use of that research on this floor is bogus.”