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World AIDS Day

Floor Speech

Date: Dec. 1, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health and Health Care Arts, Entertainment, and History

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in commemoration of World AIDS Day and to honor those who labor to end its spread.

Today is the day to raise our awareness of HIV/AIDS and our unwavering fight against it. New infections worldwide are down 35 percent since 2000, and AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 42 percent since 2004.

Though HIV and AIDS are now considered chronic illnesses, like with any chronic illness, first you must know that you have it in order to treat it.

We know that 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS globally, and that is unacceptable. My own district, the Ninth District of Brooklyn, New York, has been particularly hard hit over the past three decades by HIV/AIDS.

Nearly 29,000 Brooklyn residents were living with HIV/AIDS since June of 2014. Over 30 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the first half of 2014 were made concurrent with AIDS diagnoses and years after infection. Surveys suggest that 40 percent of Brooklyn adults have yet to receive an HIV screening.

Mr. Speaker, in the first half of 2014, Brooklyn had the highest percentages of HIV/AIDS, so now is the time for us to act. Let us end HIV/AIDS. Help stop the spread today.

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