Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004-Continued

DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004—CONTINUED

AMENDMENT NO. 1598 TO AMENDMENT NO. 1542

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise to offer an amendment to increase the funding levels in the Ryan White CARE Act.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendment is set aside. The clerk will report the amendment.

The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

The Senator from New York [Mr. SCHUMER], for himself, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Lautenberg, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Bingaman, and Ms. Cantwell, proposes an amendment numbered 1598 to amendment No. 1542.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To provide additional funding for programs under the Ryan White Care Act)

On page 61, between lines 14 and 15, insert the following:

SEC. __. In addition to amounts otherwise appropriated under this Act to carry out programs and activities under title XXVI of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300ff-11 et seq.), there are appropriated an additional—

(1) $74,010,000 to carry out part A of such title XXVI (42 U.S.C. 300ff-11 et seq.);

(2) $50,000,000 to carry out part B of such title XXVI (42 U.S.C. 300ff-21 et seq.);

(3) $214,800,000 to carry out State AIDS Drug Assistance Programs under section 2616 of such title XXVI (42 U.S.C. 300ff-26);

(4) $21,130,000 to carry out part C of such title XXVI (42 U.S.C. 300ff-51 et seq.);

(5) $25,450,000 to carry out part D of such title XXVI (42 U.S.C. 300ff-71 et seq.);

(6) $10,450,000 to carry out section 2692(a) of such title XXVI (42 U.S.C. 300ff-111(a)); and

(7) $5,590,000 to carry out section 2692(b) of such title XXVI (42 U.S.C. 300ff-111(b)).

Provided, That of the funds appropriated under this Act for the National Institutes of Health, $750,000,000 shall not be available for obligation until September 30, 2004: Provided further, That the amount $6,895,199,000 in section 305(a)(1) of this Act shall be deemed to be $7,296,629,000: Provided further, That the amount $6,783,301,000 in section 305(a)(2) of this Act shall be deemed to be $6,381,871,000.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I will be brief because I know we have a lot to do to finish this bill tomorrow.

This amendment increases the funding levels of all titles contained in the Ryan White CARE Act by a total of $401 million, with $214 million specifically going toward the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, commonly referred to as ADAP.

The CDC estimates that nearly 900,000 people are living with HIV in the United States, and among those are 362,000 who are living with AIDS.

Forty percent of the new estimated HIV infections each year occur in the New York City metropolitan area. So obviously this has great importance to us.

Adolescents, women, and minority communities are particularly hard hit by this epidemic. Over 80 percent of the new estimated HIV infections in women occur among African-American and Latino populations.

In the last 10 years alone, the number of AIDS cases among women has more than tripled, and every hour in this country two people under the age of 25 become infected with HIV.

Now the interesting thing here is, this is not just limited to New York. Cleveland, OH, and Atlanta, GA, have been named as two hot spots for this growing trend in the increase in AIDS and HIV, particularly among women.

In his fiscal year budget of 2004, President Bush stated his goal to help reduce the number of HIV infections in the United States by 50 percent by 2005. However, the President's budget provides no new domestic prevention funding for CDC to meet this goal.

The Ryan White CARE Act provides resources to State and local health departments and community-based organizations for primary medical care, drug treatments, and supportive services for low-income, uninsured people living with HIV and AIDS.

The ADAP program provides access to vital but costly new drug treatments that have enabled many people to live longer, more productive lives.

Since 1996, the number of people served by ADAP alone has more than doubled, expenditures have quadrupled, and the need for services still outpaces available services. If we do not provide full funding for ADAPs, we will accumulate as many as 21,000 Americans on waiting lists in the next 20 months.

With no access to lifesaving drugs, they will experience HIV disease progression, they will end up in hospital emergency rooms and intensive care units, and they will incur very significant, avoidable costs to local health care systems.

Currently, Oregon, Kentucky, and Alabama have the longest waiting lists. Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Washington, and West Virginia all currently have severe access limitations due to the lack of funding and will have to close enrollment sooner than they planned.

To effectively fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States, America's leading organizations committed to fighting this epidemic have called for an increase of $400 million for domestic prevention activities at CDC. My amendment attempts to fill in these gaps.

As increasing numbers of people with HIV/AIDS live longer, the cost of their care and treatment places greater financial demands on State and local governments and community-based organizations. We can provide funding for these needed services through the Ryan White CARE Act.

I urge my colleagues to adopt this much-needed amendment.