Congresswoman Maxine Waters Fights to Stop Republicans from Cutting HIV/AIDS by $767 Million

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee and a congressional leader on HIV/AIDS issues, leading a bipartisan group of 60 Members of Congress, called for robust funding for domestic HIV/AIDS programs in a letter to House Appropriations Committee leaders. The letter was a response to House Republicans’ proposal to cut $767 million from domestic HIV/AIDS programs, including the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, and the Minority AIDS Initiative, which was established under Congresswoman Waters’ leadership in 1998.

“These drastic cuts will needlessly endanger our nation’s progress towards the eradication of HIV,” said the Congresswoman in her letter. “Slashing funds for the Minority AIDS Initiative will exacerbate racial disparities, and the elimination of the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative could leave thousands of people without comprehensive care for HIV and tens of thousands of people without access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which is critical to prevent new infections.”

Full list of signers: Representatives Alma Adams, Nanette Barragán, Joyce Beatty, Julia Brownley, Cori Bush, Tony Cárdenas, André Carson, Troy Carter, Yvette Clarke, Steve Cohen, Gerald Connolly, Danny Davis, Christopher Deluzio, Veronica Escobar, Dwight Evans, Lizzie Fletcher, Maxwell Frost, John Garamendi, Jesús García, Robert Garcia, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Jenniffer González-Colón, Al Green, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sara Jacobs, Henry Johnson, Robin Kelly, Andy Kim, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Barbara Lee, Stephen Lynch, James McGovern, Gregory Meeks, Gwen Moore, Seth Moulton, Kevin Mullin, Jerrold Nadler, Eleanor Norton, Bill Pascrell, Donald Payne, Stacey Plaskett, Katie Porter, Delia Ramirez, Raul Ruiz, Patrick Ryan, Mary Scanlon, Janice Schakowsky, Adam Schiff, Terri Sewell, Mark Takano, Shri Thanedar, Bennie Thompson, Rashida Tlaib, Ritchie Torres, Nydia Velázquez, Maxine Waters, Nikema Williams, and Frederica Wilson.

The full text of the letter follows:

Dear Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member DeLauro:

We appreciate your commitment to addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, and we urge you to provide robust funding for domestic HIV/AIDS programs as you continue to negotiate legislation to fund the Federal government in Fiscal Year 2024.

Robust funding in these programs is urgently needed in order to achieve the goals of the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, an initiative that has enjoyed bipartisan support since its inception in 2019. Enhanced investment in HIV/AIDS prevention, screening, and treatment is essential to reduce the rate of new HIV infections, improve treatment outcomes, reduce hospital and emergency room costs, eliminate disparities, and make progress towards the eradication of HIV. 

We are deeply concerned about the proposed $767 million in cuts to domestic HIV/AIDS programs that were included in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations bill for FY 2024. 

Specifically, this bill severely cuts or eliminates the following programs:

• Eliminates funding for the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (-$220 million), the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (-$165 million), and the Community Health Centers Program (-$157 million).

• Eliminates funding for Part F of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which includes:
  • Dental Programs (-$13.6 million),
  • AIDS Education and Training Centers (-$34.9 million), and
  • Special Projects of National Significance (-$25 million).
• Eliminates funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative activities within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (-$119.3 million).
• Cuts funding for the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund by 53% (-$32 million).

These drastic cuts will needlessly endanger our nation’s progress towards the eradication of HIV. Slashing funds for the Minority AIDS Initiative will exacerbate racial disparities, and the elimination of the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative could leave thousands of people without comprehensive care for HIV and tens of thousands of people without access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which is critical to prevent new infections.

Indeed, funding for each of these critical programs should be increased significantly in order to effectively end the impact of HIV in communities throughout the United States. According to the CDC, more than 36,000 people were newly diagnosed with HIV, and there were more than 19,600 deaths among people with HIV in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. Furthermore, there are an estimated 1.2 million Americans living with HIV. Meanwhile, HIV disparities are persistent, and the impacts upon African Americans are especially severe. Black Americans now account for 40% of new HIV diagnoses, and Latinos account for 25%. Asian Americans, Native Americans, and persons of multiple races account for an additional 6%. Minorities now represent the majority of new HIV diagnoses, people living with HIV/AIDS, and deaths among people with HIV/AIDS.

Regardless of the statistics, every person living with HIV needs to be screened, retained in medical care, and virally suppressed.  Moreover, because effective HIV treatment prevents HIV transmission, comprehensive care for people living with HIV is vital to our nation’s public health and has the potential to dramatically decrease new HIV infections.

Increasing our nation’s investment in domestic HIV/AIDS programs will ensure that we can make progress towards eliminating new infections while providing life-prolonging care and treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS.

We cannot afford to retreat in our battle against HIV and AIDS. Again, we thank you for your continued leadership and support for these critical HIV/AIDS programs, and we look forward to working with you to ensure that they continue to receive robust funding in FY 2024 and beyond.