Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006

RYAN WHITE HIV/AIDS TREATMENT MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - September 28, 2006)

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Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very reluctant opposition to this Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006.

I was the original sponsor of the legislation, and I have been a long-time supporter of it, but I think we find ourselves in a tragic situation today because the basis of the problem is that the population of those needing services has grown, but the funds for the Ryan White program have not grown with it. This program is chronically underfunded.

Well, that means if we want to give to some people who are very deserving, we are going to have to take it from others who are very deserving. This should not be the choice of the body in Congress today.

I recognize that a failure to pass the legislation could put many States, like my own, that have been collecting HIV data by code, at a severe risk of a loss of funding. Obviously, this is a situation in which we wish we would not find ourselves in, but if we adopt this bill we are agreeing to a long-term system that does not treat fairly States which must now begin to implement a whole new system for finding and reporting persons with HIV.

The bill favors States and cities that collected HIV data by name over those that collected it by code; and, as a result, many areas of the country will see drastic losses of funding. This is unfair.

Large and diverse code-based States, like California, would have to start from scratch, converting their approximately 40,000 code-based cases of HIV to names, and under California law, these cases cannot simply be retallied under a new names-based system. The State would have to contact 40,000 individuals. I do not think California will be able to get all of those individuals entered into the names-based system in 3 years.

So I cannot support legislation that would take critical dollars away from California simply because its data system is incomplete. We will have the same number of persons with HIV needing services. They should not lose needed services because of an unrealistic data requirement.

I wish I could support this bill. I would support it if this problem could be addressed, and I am hopeful that when this bill gets to the Senate and there are further deliberations we can get a better bill. I do not want to see no bill pass, particularly with the threat that we are hearing from the administration that they are going to penalize the code-based States, but I do not want to vote for a bill that I do not think is a good enough bill.

The Ryan White program has had a long history of broad bipartisan support. It did not pit interests of one area of the country against another. It did not ask cities and States to give up critical funds to treat people in their areas. Ultimately, we must find the will to direct the necessary dollars to this problem. The people who continue to suffer from this epidemic deserve no less.

Mr. Speaker, I have to be reluctant and vote ``no'' and hope that we can get a better bill when this legislation passes the House and there are further deliberations with the Senate.

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