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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1039 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1039
Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2026
Ms. Waters (for herself, Mr. Pocan, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Garcia of
California, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Norton, Ms. Williams
of Georgia, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Carson,
Ms. Simon, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Barragan,
Mrs. McIver, Ms. Sewell, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. McClellan, Mr. Cleaver, Ms.
Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Bell, Ms. Wilson of
Florida, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Thanedar, Mrs. Grijalva, Ms. Friedman,
and Mr. Takano) submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day''.
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this preamble
referred to as CDC) estimated that in the United States, more than
1,200,000 people are living with human immunodeficiency virus (in this
preamble referred to as HIV), and 13 percent do not know they are
infected;
Whereas, in the United States, more than 700,000 people with HIV/AIDS have died
since the beginning of the epidemic;
Whereas, in 2022, there were an estimated 31,800 new HIV infections in the
United States, including about 11,900 African-Americans;
Whereas, since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States,
African-Americans have been disproportionately affected by the disease;
Whereas Black Americans affected by HIV/AIDS are confronted with greater
barriers in accessing care and treatment and face higher morbidity and
mortality outcomes than whites;
Whereas Black Americans represent only 12 percent of the population of the
United States, but they account for 39 percent of new HIV diagnoses, 40
percent of people living with HIV/AIDS, and 43 percent of deaths among
people with HIV/AIDS;
Whereas the rate of new HIV diagnoses among Black Americans is about 8 times
that of whites;
Whereas Black women account for about half of new HIV diagnoses among women;
Whereas Black young people account for about half of new HIV diagnoses among
young people ages 13 to 24;
Whereas, in 2021, HIV was the eighth-leading cause of death for Black men and
for Black women ages 25 to 34;
Whereas Black gay and bisexual men have been disproportionately impacted by HIV/
AIDS in the United States;
Whereas Black gay and bisexual men account for 49 percent of all Black people
living with HIV and 30 percent of all gay and bisexual men living with
HIV;
Whereas homophobia, stigma, religious trauma, and discrimination pose major
obstacles to HIV testing, treatment, and prevention services for gay and
bisexual Black American men;
Whereas the disproportionate incarceration rates of Black men may contribute to
the disproportionate rates of HIV transmissions among Black men and
Black women;
Whereas transgender women, including Black transgender women, in the United
States are at high risk for HIV;
Whereas socioeconomic issues impact the rates of HIV transmission among African-
Americans throughout the United States;
Whereas socioeconomic factors like income inequality, poverty, and lack of
access to HIV prevention education and basic health services, and
cultural factors like homophobia, transphobia, and racism all pose
significant challenges to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic;
Whereas the epidemic of community and interpersonal violence that communities
most impacted by HIV experience disproportionately fuels the HIV
epidemic;
Whereas the United States is seeing signs of progress in combating the HIV/AIDS
epidemic;
Whereas, between 2010 and 2022, there has been a 12-percent decline in the
number of new HIV diagnoses in the United States overall and a 22-
percent decline in the number of new HIV diagnoses among Black
Americans;
Whereas culturally competent outreach, testing, education, counseling, and harm
reduction practices are all critical to prevent HIV;
Whereas lifesaving treatment is also a proven prevention tool, and research
shows that antiretroviral drugs can reduce the amount of virus to
undetectable levels (also known as viral suppression), effectively
resulting in no risk of transmission of HIV;
Whereas, in 2012, the Food and Drug Administration approved preexposure
prophylaxis (PrEP) as prevention for people who are HIV-negative;
Whereas PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV transmission for HIV-negative people by
up to 99 percent;
Whereas, in 1998, Congress and the Clinton administration created the Minority
AIDS Initiative to help coordinate funding, build capacity, and provide
prevention, care, and treatment services within the African-American,
Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American communities;
Whereas the Minority AIDS Initiative assists with leadership development of
community-based organizations (CBOs), builds community prevention
infrastructure, promotes technical assistance among CBOs, and raises
awareness among minority communities;
Whereas 2025 marks the 27th year of the Minority AIDS Initiative, which has
successfully established lifesaving services and programs to address the
needs of minority communities, families, and individuals most impacted
and burdened by HIV;
Whereas studies show that diversity in health care leadership can enhance
quality of care, quality of life in the workplace, community relations,
health communication, and the ability to positively affect community
health status;
Whereas greater cultural competency of health care providers is associated with
increased quality and equity of HIV care;
Whereas AIDS service organizations have played a vital role in responding to the
HIV epidemic, yet many are plagued by an underrepresentation of racial
and ethnic minorities in leadership positions;
Whereas research on community empowerment suggests that health outcomes are
improved when individuals are engaged in advancing the health of their
own communities and working with their peers and partners in health
promotion and services;
Whereas a focus on equity in the provision of services suggests a diverse public
health workforce can help sustain much-needed attention to community-
identified priorities and raise the responsiveness of the health care
system to diverse populations;
Whereas, in 2010, the Obama administration unveiled the first National HIV/AIDS
Strategy, which identified a set of priorities and strategic action
steps tied to measurable outcomes for moving the Nation forward in
addressing the domestic HIV epidemic;
Whereas, in 2021, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States (2022-
2025) was released and included actions and goals in order to reduce
HIV-related disparities and inequalities;
Whereas when people living with HIV are on treatment and have an undetectable
viral load, they protect their own health, they cannot transmit HIV to
their sexual partners, and their HIV is untransmittable;
Whereas the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid and reforms to the
individual insurance market have helped lower the uninsured rates for
nonelderly African-Americans, leading to better health outcomes for
African-Americans living with or at risk of HIV;
Whereas ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day'' was founded to raise awareness
about HIV/AIDS among Black Americans and provide capacity-building
assistance to Black communities and organizations; and
Whereas, each year on February 7, individuals, organizations, and policymakers
across the Nation participate in ``National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day'' to promote HIV education, testing, community involvement, and
treatment in Black communities: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the goals and ideals of ``National Black HIV/
AIDS Awareness Day'';
(2) encourages State and local governments, including their
public health agencies, and media organizations to recognize
and support such day, to publicize its importance among their
communities, and to encourage individuals, especially African-
Americans, to get tested for HIV;
(3) commends the work of AIDS service organizations,
community-based organizations, faith-based organizations,
health care providers, community health centers, and health
departments that are providing effective, culturally competent,
evidence-based prevention, treatment, care, and support
services to people living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS;
(4) supports the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS
Strategy and its goals to reduce new HIV cases, increase access
to care and treatment, and improve health outcomes for people
living with HIV, reduce HIV-related disparities and health
inequities, and achieve a more coordinated national response to
the HIV/AIDS epidemic;
(5) requests the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
prioritize the distribution of Minority AIDS Initiative grants
to HIV-based agencies that are minority led with preference
given to organizations led by people who identify as African-
American/Black, Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian-
American, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander;
(6) supports reducing the impact of incarceration as a
driver of new HIV transmission rates within the African-
American community;
(7) supports reducing the number of HIV transmissions in
the African-American community resulting from intravenous drug
use;
(8) supports effective and comprehensive HIV prevention
education programs in order to promote the early identification
of HIV through voluntary routine testing and to connect those
in need to clinically and culturally appropriate care and
treatment as early as possible;
(9) encourages State and local governments, including their
public health agencies, and community-based organizations to
share and disseminate that when people living with HIV are on
treatment and have an undetectable viral load, they protect
their own health and they cannot transmit HIV to their sexual
partners;
(10) supports appropriate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention,
care, treatment, research, and housing, including community-
based approaches to fight stigma, discrimination, racism,
sexism, homophobia, and transphobia;
(11) encourages comprehensive prevention, treatment, and
care strategies that empower public health workers, educators,
faith leaders, and other stakeholders to engage their
communities to help decrease violence, discrimination, and
stigma toward individuals who disclose their sexual
orientation, gender identity, or HIV status; and
(12) encourages State, local, and Federal agencies to
consistently partner and formally engage with network leaders
comprised of subject matter experts with lived experience to
uphold the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV as
laid out in the Denver Principles of 1983.
<all>
Submitted in House
Submitted in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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