Action Alert! 3/24/04 Impending US AIDS Disaster

[wiley]

On Wednesday, 3/24/2004, the Federal Budget Resolution, the
blueprint that guides federal spending for the next five
years, will be debated and voted on in the U.S. House of
Representatives. This version of the Budget Resolution
contains even more harmful cuts to essential AIDS programs
than the Senate version passed two weeks ago. Please take a
moment today and call your U.S. House Representatives and urge
them to vote NO on proposals that would: 

1. Imposes binding restrictive caps on spending for domestic
discretionary programs (including Ryan White and ADAP). 

2. Requires cuts in entitlement programs, especially the
Medicaid program. 

3. Holds lifesaving research, prevention and care programs to
a different standard than tax increases for the purposes of
deficit reduction. 

To find out who is your Representative, go to:
http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm 

The HIV Medicaid & Medicare Workgroup is a national
coalition of individuals and organizations working to
safeguard and expand Medicaid and Medicare for people living
with HIV and AIDS. 

For more detail information, please see the following sign-on
letter from the HIV Medicaid & Medicare Workgroup. 


March 23, 2004 

United States House of Representatives 
Washington, DC 

Dear Representative: 

We oppose the Budget Resolution reported out of the House
Budget Committee that calls for immediate and long-term cuts
in funding for domestic discretionary and entitlement programs
that are critical to providing care and treatment to people
living with AIDS, preventing further spread of HIV disease and
conducting research to eventually eradicate HIV disease.   It
is especially troubling that the budget plan subjects vital
health and social service program to major spending
reductions, while holding tax cuts harmless from any fiscal
restraint. 

We respectfully ask you to vote NO on any Budget Resolution
proposal that: 

Imposes binding restrictive caps on spending for domestic
discretionary programs. 

Requires cuts in entitlement programs, especially the Medicaid
program. 

Holds lifesaving research, prevention and care programs to a
different standard than tax increases for the purposes of
deficit reduction. 

The Budget Resolution adopted by the House Budget Committee
will seriously threaten advancements made in the research,
prevention, care and treatment of HIV disease over the past
two decades by disabling the array of programs supported by
the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, and the Health Resources and Services
Administration, which funds the Ryan White CARE Act Program
and its life-saving AIDS Drug Assistance Program. These
programs have worked in concert to reduce deaths due to HIV
disease in the U.S. by 60 to 80 percent.   Moreover, the
spending caps will make it virtually impossible to fully
implement the President’s Plan for Global AIDS Relief—a
program with strong bipartisan support that has brought hope
to millions in the developing world living with HIV/AIDS. 

The actions taken by the House of Representatives this week
will have consequences for vulnerable persons affected by the
HIV pandemic in the U.S. and abroad for years to come.   We
urge you to consider the interests of the millions affected
and infected by HIV/AIDS when you cast your votes for the
various budget proposals that will come before you. 

Sincerely, 

AIDS Action, Washington, DC 
AIDS Action Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families, Washington,
DC 
AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Chicago, IL 
AIDS Housing Association of Tacoma/Three Cedars, Tacoma, WA 
The AIDS Institute, Washington, DC and Tampa, FL 
AIDS Medicare Coalition Project, San Francisco, CA 
AIDS Project Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 
AIDS Survival Project, Atlanta, GA 
AIDS Treatment Data Network, New York, NY 
American Academy of HIV Medicine, Los Angeles, California 
Arkansas ADAP Working Group, Little Rock, AR 
CAEAR Coalition: Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief,
Washington, DC 
Cascade AIDS Project, Portland, OR 
Dayspring AIDS Support Services, Augusta, ME 
Florida Keys HIV Community Planning Partnership, Key West, FL 
Gay Men’s Health Crisis, New York, NY 
Georgia ADAP Task Force, Atlanta, GA 
HIV Goddesses Human Rights Project, Madison, WI 
HIV Medicine Association, Alexandria, VA 
Housing Works, New York, NY 
Infectious Diseases Society of America, Alexandria, VA 
International AIDS Empowerment, El Paso, TX 
Latino Commission on AIDS, New York, NY 
Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Seattle, WA 
Michigan Advocates Exchange, Ypsilanti, MI 
Michigan Positive Action Coalition (MI-Poz), Detroit, MI 
National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA-US),
Washington, DC 
National Association for Victims of Transfusion-Acquired AIDS,
Bethesda, MD 
National Minority AIDS Council, Washington, DC 
North Idaho AIDS Coalition, Coeur d'Alene, ID 
Persons Living with HIV Action Network of Colorado, Denver, CO

Pierce County AIDS Foundation, Tacoma, WA 
Positive Voices, Little Rock, AR 
PositiveVoice Washington, Olympia, WA 
Project Inform, San Francisco, CA 
San Francisco AIDS Foundation, San Francisco, CA 
Seattle HIV/AIDS Planning Council, Seattle, WA 
Spokane AIDS Network, Spokane, WA 
TII CANN – The Title II Community AIDS National Network,
Washington, DC 
Treatment Access Expansion Project, Boston, MA 
Treatment Action Group, New York, NY 
United Communities AIDS Network, Olympia, WA 

[oxymoron]

1. Thanks wiley.

I sent it to everyone I know! My brother has AIDS and lives with me, and this could severely impact his health. Everyone should send this out and call their representatives.