WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Robin Kelly (IL-02), along with Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), led a bicameral letter with 97 of their colleagues to President Trump urging him to maintain CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention. If the Division is shuttered, the United States can expect to see thousands of new cases of HIV, billions of dollars of government spending on lifetime HIV-related healthcare, and unnecessary deaths nationwide from this preventable condition. In his first Administration, President Trump declared an ambitious and commendable goal of ending the HIV epidemic in the United States, and over the last eight years, the US has reduced HIV incidence.
“On February 5, 2019, you declared a commendable and ambitious goal of ending the HIV epidemic (EHE) in the United States,” the Members wrote. “One of the pillars of your initiative, as shown on CDC’s website, is prevention. It is imperative that you uphold this commitment. As CDC has currently identified, we must prevent new HIV transmissions through proven interventions, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), if we are to achieve a 90 percent reduction in new infections by 2030.”
“Prevention provides a large return on investment for the federal government – adjusted for inflation, a lifetime of medical costs for a person with HIV can be over $500,000,” the Members continued. “Losing the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention would be an enormous loss to HIV providers.”
“As Members who serve the public, it is our duty to not only protect Americans from avoidable disease and early death, but to also avoid unnecessarily spending billions in taxpayer dollars down the line when HIV rates eventually skyrocket due to this potential action,” the Members concluded. “Just last week, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution, which continues funding levels from Fiscal Year 2024, that appropriated funding to CDC for carrying out HIV/AIDS programs. Accordingly, we expect CDC will continue to carry out those programs.”
A full copy of the letter can be found here.
The list of signers includes: Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02), Robin Kelly (IL-02) and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Jeff Merkley (OR)
Senators Tammy Baldwin (WI), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Cory Booker (NJ), Chris Coons (DE), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Dick Durbin (IL), Ben Ray Lujan (NM), Chuck Schumer (NY), Raphael Warnock (GA), Ron Wyden (OR)
Representatives Alma Adams (NC-12), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT-At Large), Nanette Barragan (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Troy Carter (LA-02), Sean Casten (IL-06), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Jim Costa (CA-21), Angie Craig (MN-02), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Jason Crow (CO-06), Danny Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Shomari Figures (AL-02), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Bill Foster (IL-11), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Laura Friedman (CA-30), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Hank Johnson (GA-04), William Keating (MA-09), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Greg Landsman (OH-01), George Latimer (NY-16), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Grace Meng (NY-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Scott Peters (CA-50), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Janice Schakowsky (IL-09), Brad Schneider (IL-10), Bobby Scott (VA-03), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Eric Sorensen (IL-17), Darren Soto (FL-09), Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Nydia Velazquez (NY-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Frederica Wilson (FL-24)
Endorsing organizations include: AIDS Institute, AIDS United, American Academy of HIV Medicine, amfAR, AVAC, Fast-Track Cities Institute, Heptatitis B Foundation, Hep B United, HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, HIV Medicine Association, Human Rights Campaign, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, NASTAD, NMAC, Positive Women’s Network – USA, PrEP4All, SAGE, Treatment Action Group, Vivent Health, Equality California, Silver State Equality, AIDS Foundation Chicago
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