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draft 12/1/95
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON HIV AND AIDS
THE WHITE HOUSE
DECEMBER 6, 1995
(Acknowledgements: Patsy Fleming, Secretary Shalala (other
Cabinet members?], Scott Hitt, distinguished guests.]
Let me first welcome each of you to this historic White House
Conference on HIV and· AIDS.
You are the frontline faces and
voices of our national commitment to conquer the devastating
disease known as AIDS.
I welcome you and I thank you, not only
for your participation here today but for the work you do every
day to improve the lives of the people of our nation and around
the world.
I'd also like to thank Dr. Hitt and the members of the
President's Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS for their work on
this critical issue and for suggesting that we convene this
meeting.
And I want to express my appreciation to the two extraordinary
Americans who have just shared the stories of their lives with
all of us.
It is the passion, the commitment, and, yes, the
anger of people like Sean Sasser and Eileen Mitzman that remind
us all of the extraordinary courage it takes to hold on to hope
as we continue to even the odds in this struggle.
Each generation of Americans has faced an important challenge
that has, in many ways, defined their time here on earth. For my
parents' generation, World War Two was that defining moment,
unifying a nation against a common foe.
For my own generation,
the civil rights movement provided the focus and the drive of our
lives.
But for the generation of my own child and all of those
in her age group, the epidemic of HIV and AIDS may well be that
defining challenge.
My daughter and her friends are growing up in the shadow of
something we could never have imagined. They are coming of age
in world in which AIDS is a very sobering reality.
That reality has already changed the lives of all of us in this
room.
It has taken from us too many friends and too many loved
ones much too soon.
It has shaken our faith in the. future.
But
it has also brought us together and inspired a community spirit
that strengthens our values as a nation.
It is our collective responsibility to rise to this challenge and
change the future for our ourselves, for our children, and for
their children. We can do this.
In fact, we must do this.
�I want to share with you the story of just one of the people who
is here today. Just one of the human faces and human voices of
AIDS.
It's the story of a young man who grew up in a typical American
suburb as part of a typical American family. He attended college
and became politically active. His quick mind and active spirit
marked him as a "comer," and after graduating he joined the
Corporation for National Service to help start AmeriCorps.
It
was while he was working for Americorps that he found out he was
HIV-positive. He was 23 years old.
Demetri Moshoyannis took that news as a challenge. A challenge
to use his communication skills, his organizational skills, and
his leadership skills to educate and support ·his peers and help
them escape the fate that had been visited upon him.
It's that combination of heartbreak and hope that makes this
epidemic so unique. And it is what challenges all of us to
channel our energy and our talent into the fight to make AIDS a
thing of the past.
Ten days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that our nation has reached another sad milestone in the
AIDS epidemic. Half a million Americans have now been diagnosed
with AIDS and more than 300,000 men, women, and children have
already died of AIDS.
As we meet, on this day, 120 more Americans will lose their lives
to AIDS, another 220 people will be diagnosed with the disease
and nearly 140 people in this country will become infected with
HIV. And that will happen again tomorrow and the day after that
and the day after that.
It will continue to happen until we
succeed in our efforts to defeat this epidemic.
That is why this meeting is so important. It is an opportunity
for us to refocus and reenergize our national commitment to
ending this epidemic. It is a time to rally our troops for the
fight ahead and arm them with the weapons they need to win this
battle.
You and I have some important work to do.
We have a common goal -- a cure for all those who are living with
HIV and a vaccine to protect all of us from this deadly virus.
Let's be very clear on that. A cure and a vaccine are our number
one priority.
In my own lifetime, we have eliminated smallpox from our planet.
We have eliminated polio from our hemisphere. And we are within
striking distance of controlling measles. We must -- we must -find a way to rid our planet of the threat of HIV.
2
�I am proud of the work we have done in these last three years to
infuse new resources, new focus, and new leadership into our AIDS
research effort. We have increased funding for AIDS research by
more than 25 percent. We have dramatically strengthened the
Office of AIDS Research and we have focused our work on basic
science and applied research so that we can concurrently unlock
the mysteries of HIV while we pursue treatment opportunities that
extend and improve the quality of the lives of people living with
HIV.
This investment in science has already paid tremendous dividends.
Today, people with HIV live twice as long as they did just ten
years ago. AIDS-related conditions that often meant a quick and
many times painful death for people living with HIV can now be
treated and even prevented.
And we have reason to believe that there will more progress in
the near future.
New classes of AIDS drugs are being approved
for use by the FDA that will help to restore the damaged immune
systems of people with HIV.
Combination drug therapies are
showing great promise as a means for controlling the virus in the
human body.
And just last year we were able to show that the use of drug
therapy could actually block HIV transmission from.mother to
child. our scientists tell me that it is within our grasp to
virtually eliminate pediatric AIDS by the end of this decade.
This is neither science fiction nor a distant dream.
It can be
accomplished by offering all pregnant women HIV counseling and
testing and guaranteeing that they have access to the treatment
they need to protect their unborn children. If we do this, we
can have a generation of Americans born without HIV. We can do
this -- and we will.
These advances have resulted in longer and fuller lives for
people living with HIV, but are they enough? Absolutely not!
must do more.
We
I am taking three steps today that I believe will move us forward
at a faster pace.
First, I am asking the Vice President to convene a meeting of
scientists and leaders of the pharmaceutical industry to identify
ways to accelerate the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and
microbicides that can protect people from HIV and the infections
it causes. There are no guarantees in science, but the
collective will of government and industry can overcome even the
biggest obstacles.
Second, I am asking Patsy Fleming to convene an interdepartmental
task force working group to develop a coordinated plan for AIDS
3
�research, including a coordinated research· budget.
their report within 90 days.
I will expect
Third, I want to make clear my personal commitment to make every
feasible effort to find a cure and an effective vaccine or
vaccines. To that end, I am intensifying my relationship with
the Office of National AIDS Policy. We can't afford to miss any
new opportunities. We can't afford any unnecessary delays.
That's why I am asking Patsy Fleming to provide me even more
regular updates on the emerging opportunities and obstacles in
this struggle. No President can promise success in such an
effort but I need to know what needs to be done to move this
along.
Of course our work does not end in the laboratories of our great
research institutions. It continues in the clinics and the
hospitals and the doctors' offic~s around the country where
people with HIV and AIDS go for the care they need to survive, to
maintain their health, and to preserve their dignity. When we
make advances in science we must match those strides with
improvements in our delivery of health care.
For people with AIDS, the current discussions over a balanced
federal budget are not some distant political firefight.
Let me
talk for a few minutes about a subject that is very important to
me -- the future of Medicaid.
For people with AIDS, Medicaid is a lifeline of support.
Medicaid provides health care for nearly half of the 200,000
Americans who are living with AIDS including 90 percent of the
children. It provides access to doctors, hospitals, prescription
drugs, and home care that allows people with HIV and AIDS to live
their lives more fully. Medicaid pays for the drugs that keep
HIV under control for longer and longer periods of time and it
pays for the drugs that prevent the infections that often end the
lives of those with AIDS. Medicaid pays for the care that allows
families to stay together.
Yet today, Medicaid is under attack by the Republican leaders in
Congress who want to slash its spending and eliminate the thirtyyear common ground commitment we have made to the poor, the
elderly, and those with disabilities. We cannot, we must not,
and I will not allow us to destroy this vital lifeline.
Medicaid cannot do the job alone. That's why we created the Ryan
White CARE Act to plug the holes in our health care system that
left many people with HIV and AIDS out in the cold. Last year,
more than 360,000 Americans received care under the Ryan White
Act.
When I ran for President, I promised to fully fund the CARE Act
and we have.
Funding has increased by 108 percent, more than
4
�doubling the number of cities receiving funds and enabling every
state in the country to receive some level of assistance.
The CARE Act must be extended for another five years. Both
houses of Congress have approved legislation to accomplish this
but final legislation remains stalled. That's why on last
Friday, World AIDS Day, I sent a letter to the Speaker of the
House and the Senate Majority Leader, asking them to make every
effort to get me a final bill by the end of this month so that I
can sign it and we can get on with the work ahead.
I am also fighting for the funding increases that I have
requested for the CARE Act as well as housing programs for people
with AIDS and our AIDS prevention programs at CDC.
I am concerned by the continued rate of new infections in this
country.
In the 1980s, we made important progress in reducing
the number of new infections by nearly 50 percent. But for the
last five years, the estimated number of infections has hovered
between 40,000 and 60,000 per year. We also know that as many as
half of those infections occur among people under the age of 25
and half are among teenagers. Any new infection is an
unnecessary infection. I am setting a goal, today, of reducing
the number of new infections in the United States by half in the
next five years and to zero within·the next decade.
Until we have a cure and a vaccine, education and prevention are
our best hope.
For prevention to work it must be targeted and it
must be sustained. We saw that at work in the gay community in
the 1980s, when activists overcame the inertia of their
government to protect their lives.
We must pay particular attention to two populations who are at
the center of this epidemic -- young people and those who abuse
drugs.
I was pleased to see the new public service announcements
released last week by Secretary Shalala. They point young people
toward the tools they need to protect themselves.
We also need to recognize that substance abuse treatment is a
form of HIV prevention. We must ensure that those who are
receiving drug treatment also receive AIDS prevention services at
the same time. We have increased the number of drug· treatment
slots available in this country and I am working to convince the
Congress to approve our requests for money to bring that number
even higher.
I have also asked the CDC to convene a meeting of state and local
health officials and their counterparts on substance abuse to
develop an action plan to assure the integration of HIV
prevention and substance abuse prevention.
5
�We cannot afford to freeze prevention funding -- as the
Republicans in Congress have proposed -- because the epidemic
cannot be frozen.
It will just grow and grow and grow.
We also cannot forget the basic human rights of people living
with HIV and AIDS. The stories of AIDS related discrimination
break the hearts of all Americans of conscience.
Five years ago, our nation took a huge step forward toward a more
just society when we enaQted the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It offers more than 40 million Americans who are living with
physical or mental disabilities -- including those who are living
with HIV and AIDS -- protection against discrimination.
The Justice Department, the Equal Employment Opportunities
Commission, and the Department of Health and Human Services have
been vigorously enforcing the A.D.A. And we are about to launch
a new effort to ensure that health care facilities -- nursing
homes in particular -- are providing equal access to people with
HIV or AIDS.
Still, all of us can do more. We can start by cleaning our own
house.
I am asking Patsy Fleming to conduct an immediate 60-day
review of all government programs that require HIV testing as a
condition of participation in government service and government
programs. Those that do not have a strong public health
rational, must be amended or ~hey must be ended.
We must continue to examine our societal attitudes toward racial
and ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, and others for whom
fear of AIDS becomes a convenient exeuse for discrimination. We
cannot let our fear outweigh our common sense or our compassion.
If we do, all of us will lose.
As I have said before, the thing we have to remember is that
people with AIDS and those who are living with HIV are part of
our American family. Whether they are gay or straight, black,
white, Native American, Latino or Asian American, they are our
sons and daughters; our brothers and sisters; our aunts and
uncles; 9ur mothers and fathers; our grandmothers and
grandfathers. They are Americans one and all. They need our
compassion. They deserve our respect.
Finally, let me say that the fight against AIDS is international
in scope. HIV knows no geographic boundaries.
It is found on
every continent and virtually every country.
The World Health
Organization estimates that more than 18 million men, women, a~d
children are living with HIV around the world. The United States
is and will remain a full partner in the international effort to
fight the pandemic.
6
�As a world leader, we have a moral and a national responsibility
to help developing nations with prevention programs, medical
care, and other vital services. We also have much to learn from
them. And when we do find the cure and the vaccine that we seek,
it will not only be a victory for America, it will be a victory
~or the world.
When this country was in the throes of another sickness that
threatened to tear us apart -- the sickness of slavery -Frederick Douglas, the great American abolitionist,wrote:
"It is not light that is needed, but fire.
It is not
the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the
whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the
nation must be quickened. The conscience of the nation
must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be
startled."
Each of you have been the thunder and the lightening. Each of you
is helping to awaken the conscience of our nation. Our challenge
is to draw more of our citizens into our circle of hope.
Together, I am certain, we can change our future for the better.
Thank you and God bless you all.
7
�draft 12/1/95
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON HIV AND AIDS
THE WHITE HOUSE
DECEMBER 6, 1995
[Acknowledgements: Patsy Fleming, Secretary Shalala [other
Cabinet members?], Scott Hitt, distinguished guests.]
Let me first welcome each of you to this historic White House
Conference on HIV and AIDS. You are the frontline faces and
voices of our national commitment to conquer the devastating
disease known as AIDS.
I welcome you and I thank you, not only
for your participation here today but for the work you do every
day to improve the lives of the people of our nation and around
the world.
I'd also like to thank Dr. Hitt and the members of the
President's Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS for their work on
this critical issue and for suggesting that we convene this
meeting.
And I want to express my appreciation to the two extraordinary
Americans who have just shared the stories of their lives with
all of us.
It is the passion, the commitment, and, yes, the
anger of people like Sean Sasser and Eileen Mitzman that remind
us all of the extraordinary courage it takes to hold on to hope
as we continue to even the odds in this struggle.
Each generation of Americans has faced an important challenge
that has, in many ways, defined their time here on earth. For my
parents' generation, World War Two was that defining moment,
unifying a nation against a common foe.
For my own generation,
the civil rights movement provided the focus and the drive of our
lives. But for the generation of my own child and all of those
in her age group, the epidemic of HIV and AIDS may well be that
defining challenge.
My daughter and her friends are growing up in the shadow of
something we could never have imagined. They are coming of age
in world in which AIDS is a very sobering reality.
That reality has already changed the lives of all of us in this
room.
It has taken from us too many friends and too many loved
ones much too soon.
It has shaken our faith in the future.
But
it has also brought us together and inspired a community spirit
that strengthens our values as a nation.
It is our collective responsibility to rise to this challenge and
change the future for our ourselves, for our children, and for
their children. We can do this.
In fact, we must do this.
�r want to share with you the story of just one of the people who
is here today.
AIDS.
Just one of the human faces and human voices of
It's the story of a young man who grew up in a typical American
suburb as part of a typical American family. He attended college
and became politically active. His quick mind and active spirit
marked him as a "comer," and after graduating he joined the
Corporation for National Service to help start Americorps.
It
was while he was working for Americorps that he found out he was
HIV-positive. He was 23 years old.
Demetri Moshoyannis took that news as a challenge. A challenge
to use his communication skills, his organizational skills, and
his leadership skills to educate and support his peers and help
them escape the fate that had been visited upon him.
It's that combination of heartbreak and hope that makes this
epidemic so unique. And it is what challenges all of us to
channel our energy and our talent into the fight to make AIDS a
thing of the past.
Ten days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that our nation has reached another sad milestone in the
AIDS epidemic. Half a million Americans have now been diagnosed
with AIDS and more than 300,000 men, women, and children have
already died of AIDS.
As we meet, on this day, 120 more Americans will lose their lives
to AIDS, another 220 people will be diagnosed with the disease
and nearly 140 people in this country will become infected with
HIV. And that will happen again tomorrow and the day after that
and the day after that.
It will continue to happen until we
succeed in our efforts to defeat this epidemic.
That is why this meeting is so important. It is an opportunity
for us to refocus and reenergize our national commitment to
ending this epidemic. It is a time to rally our troops for the
fight ahead and arm them with the weapons they need to win this
battle. You and I have some important work to do.
We have a common goal -- a cure for all those who are living with
HIV and a vaccine to protect all of us from this deadly virus.
Let's be very clear on that. A cure and a vaccine are our number
one priority.
In my own lifetime, we have eliminated smallpox from our planet.
We have eli~inated polio from our hemisphere. And we are within
striking distance of controlling measles. We must -- we must -find a way to rid our planet of the threat of HIV.
2
�I am proud of the work we have done in these last three years to
infuse new resources, new focus, and new leadership into our AIDS
research effort. We have increased funding for AIDS research by
more than 25 percent. We have dramatically strengthened the
Office of AIDS Research and we have focused our work on basic
science and applied research so that we can concurrently unlock
the mysteries of HIV while we pursue treatment opportunities that
extend and improve the quality of the lives of people living with
HIV.
This investment in science has already paid tremendous dividends.
Today, people with HIV live twice as long as they did just ten
years ago. AIDS-related conditions that often meant a quick and
many times painful death for people living with HIV can now be
treated and even prevented.
And we have reason to believe that there will more progress in
the near future. New classes of AIDS drugs are being approved
for use by the FDA that will help to restore the damaged immune
systems of people with HIV. Combination drug therapies are
showing great promise as a means for controlling the virus in the
human body.
And just last year we were able to show that the use of drug
therapy could actually block HIV transmission from mother to
child. Our scientists tell me that it is within our grasp to
virtually eliminate pediatric AIDS by the end of this decade.
This is neither science fiction nor a distant dream. It can be
accomplished by offering all pregnant women HIV counseling and
testing and guaranteeing that they have access to the treatment
they need to protect their unborn children. If we do this, we
can have a generation of Americans born without HIV. We can do
this -- and we will.
These advances have resulted in longer and fuller lives for
people living with HIV, but are they enough? Absolutely not!
must do more.
We
I am taking three steps today that I believe will move us forward
at a faster pace.
First, I am asking the Vice President to convene a meeting of
scientists and leaders of the pharmaceutical industry to identify
ways to accelerate the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and
microbicides that can protect people from HIV and the infections
it causes. There are no guarantees in science, but the
collective will of government and industry can overcome even the
biggest obstacles.
Second, I am asking Patsy Fleming to convene an interdepartmental
task force working group to develop a coordinated plan for AIDS
3
�research, including a coordinated research budget.
their report within 90 days.
I will expect
Third, I want to make clear my personal commitment to make every
feasible effo~t to find a cure and an effective vaccine or
vaccines. To that end, I am intensifying my relationship with
the Office of National AIDS Policy. We can't afford to miss any
new opportunities. We can't afford any unnecessary delays.
That's why I am asking Patsy Fleming to provide me even more
regular updates on the emerging opportunities and obstacles in
this struggle. No President can promise success in such an
effort but I need to know what needs to be done to move this
along.
Of course our work does not end in the laboratories of our great
research institutions. It continues in the clinics and the
hospitals and the doctors' offices around the country where
people with HIV and AIDS go for the care t.hey need to survive, to
maintain their health, and to preserve their dignity. When we
make advances in science we must match those strides with
improvements in our delivery of health care.
For people with AIDS, the current discussions over a balanced
federal budget are not some distant political firefight.
Let me
talk for a few minutes about a subject that is very important to
me -- the future of Medicaid.
For people with AIDS, Medicaid is a lifeline of support.
Medicaid provides health care for nearly half of the 200,000
Americans who are ~iving with AIDS including 90 percent qf the
children. It provides access to doctors, hospitals, prescription
drugs, and home care that allows people with HIV and AIDS to live
their lives more fully. Medicaid pays for the drugs that keep
HIV under control for longer and longer periods of time and it
pays for the drugs that prevent the infections that often end the
lives of those with AIDS. Medicaid pays for the care that allows
families to stay together.
Yet today, Medicaid is under attack by the Republican leaders in
Congress who want to slash its spending and eliminate the thirtyyear common ground commitment we have made to the poor, the
elderly, and those with disabilities. We cannot, we must not,
and I will not allow us to destroy this vital lifeline.
Medicaid cannot do the job alone. That's why we created the Ryan
White CARE Act to plug the holes in our health care system that
left many people with HIV and AIDS out in the cold. Last year,
more than 360,000 Americans received care under the Ryan White
Act.
When I ran for President, I promised to fully fund the CARE Act
and we have.
Funding has increased by 108 percent, more than
4
�doubling the number of cities receiving funds and enabling every
state in the country to receive some level of assistance.
The CARE Act must be extended for another five years. Both
houses of Congress have approved legislation to accomplish this
but final legislation remains stalled. That's why on last
Friday, World AIDS Day, I sent a letter to the Speaker of the
House and the Senate Majority Leader, asking them to make every
effort to get me a final bill by the end of this month so that I
·can sign it and we can get on with the work ahead.
I am also fighting for the funding increases that I have
requested for the CARE Act as well as housing programs for people
with AIDS and our AIDS prevention programs at CDC.
I am concerned by the continued rate of new infections in this
country.
In the 1980s, we made important progress in reducing
the number of new infections by nearly 50 percent. But for the
last five years, the estimated number of infections has hovered
between 40,000 and 60,000 per year. We also know that as many as
half of those infections occur among people under the age of 25
and half are among teenagers. Any new infection is an
unnecessary infection. I am setting a goal, today, of reducing
the number of new infections in the United States by half in the
next five years and to zero within the next decade.
Until we have a cure and a vaccine, education and prevention are
our best hope.
For prevention to work it must be targeted and it
must be sustained. We saw that at work in the gay community in
the 1980s, when activists overcame the inertia of their
government to protect their lives.
We must pay particular attention to two populations who are at
the center of this epidemic -- young people and those who abuse
drugs.
I was pleased to see the new public service announcements
released last week by Secretary Shalala. They point young people
toward the tools they need to protect themselves.
We also need to recognize that substance abuse treatment is a
form of HIV prevention. We must ensure that those who are
receiving drug treatment also receive AIDS prevention services at
the same time. We have increased the number of drug· treatment
slots available in this country and I am working to convince the
Congress to approve our requests for money to bring that number
even higher.
I have also asked the CDC to convene a meeting of state and local
health officials and their counterparts on substance abuse to
develop an action plan to assure the integration of HIV
prevention and substance abuse prevention.
5
�We cannot afford to freeze prevention funding -- as the
Republicans in Congress have proposed -- because the epidemic
cannot be frozen. It will just grow and'grow and grow.
We also cannot forget the basic human rights of people living
with HIV and AIDS. The stories of AIDS related discrimination
break the hearts of all Americans of conscience.
Five years ago, our nation took a huge step forward toward a more
just society when we enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It offers more than 40 million Americans who are living with
physical or mental disabilities -- including those who are living
with HIV and AIDS -- protection against discrimination.
The Justice Department, the Equal Employment Opportunities
Commission, and the Department of Health and Human Services have
been vigorously enforcing the A.D.A. And we are about to launch
a new effort to ensure that health care facilities -- nursing
homes in particular
are providing equal access to people with
HIV or AIDS.
still, all of us can do more. We can start by cleaning our own
house.
I am asking Patsy Fleming to conduct an immediate 60-day
review of all government programs that require HIV testing as a
condition of participation in government service and government
programs. Those that do not have a strong public health
rational, 'must be amended or ~hey must be ended.
We must continue to examine our societal attitudes toward racial
and ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, and others for whom
fear of AIDS becomes a convenient excuse for discrimination. We
cannot let our fear outweigh our common sense or our compassion.
If we do, all of us will lose.
As I have said before, the thing we have to remember is that
people with AIDS and those who are living with HIV are part of
our American family. Whether they are gay or straight, black,
white, Native American, Latino or Asian American, they are our
sons and daughters; our brothers and sisters; our aunts and
uncles; our mothers and fathers; our grandmothers and
grandfathers. They are Americans one and all. They need our
compassion. They deserve our respect.
Finally, let me say that the fight against AIDS is international
in scope. HIV knows no geographic boundaries.
It is found on
every continent and virtually every country. The World Health
organization estimates that more than 18 million men, women, and
children are living with HIV around the world. The United States
is and will remain a full partner in the international effort to
fight the pandemic.
6
�As a world leader, we have a moral and a national responsibility
to help developing nations with prevention programs, medical
care, and other vital services. We also have much to learn from
them. And when we do find the cure and the vaccine that we seek,
it will not only be a victory for America, it will be a victory
for the world.
When this country was in the throes of another sickness that
threatened to tear us apart -- the sickness of slavery -Frederick Douglas, the great American abolitionist,wrote:
"It is i10t light that is needed, but fire. It is not
the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the
whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the
nation must be quickened. The conscience of the nation
must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be
startled."
Each of you have been the thunder and the lightening. Each of you
is helping to awaken the conscience of our nation. Our challenge
is to draw more of our citizens into our circle of hope.
Together, I am certain, we can change our future for the better.
Thank you and God bless you all.
7
�..-
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. w ')
~(_ .December JPig95 "{(
....._
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•..
5
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V\o
~~
-~-"'\GL__ ~
Health Division ~; c-J >< ·
Office of Management and Budget
Executive Office of the President
Wash· ton, DC 20503
Please route to:
Richard Turman
Barry Cle_ndenin ~
Nancy-Ann Min
Cl~c~.f-f
·
,
NUt./V\.
1d----
Decision needed
Please sign
·Per your request
Please comment
For your information
With informational copies for:
Subject:
Suggestions on the Draft Presidential Speech
on AIDS
G-J
From:
Greg White and Gordon
HD Chron, HPS Chron
I
t\P5> 1 ""'~'~.,.,.._
.
Agr~
Phone:
Fax:
Room:
202/395-4926
2021395-3910
#7026 .
We have reviewed the attached draft of the President's speech for the White House Conference
on AIDS, comparing the figures in it with those available to us in journal articles. and CDC
surveillance materials; We have made several edits in the speech to improve its accuracy. We
consulted with HFB staff on the Medicaid references in the speech.
On page 5, the speech commits the President to the goal of reducing new HIV infections to zero
within a decade. While this. goal addresses the right problem, meeting it is probably impossible,
and advancing it would require substantial improvements in HIV data and prevention programs. ·
We suggest a more feasible goal would be to reduce newHIV infections in each successive year
until the number of new infections is zero. This would focus government programs on the right
problem, motivate them, and could feasibly be met.
On page 6, the speech says "We cannot afford to freeze prevention funding ... "-- we note the
. RMO recommendation for FY 1997 currently straightlines prevention funding from the Likely
FY 1996 Level.
Attachment
�DEC 01'95
ID:
~·
17=24 No.001
'
12/l/9S
12: :JO pm
.the !'resi"'cnt; 9 . r~tnii r K.::; to the· White Rouse.
US··~'pfe'e r~vi.cw· and send CUI1\lll~l1t.R to
Conference on HIV
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Ter:r.y J<:dmonds
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00 Mon
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Michael Waldman
Nancy Min
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Jeremy Ben-l\mi
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~.01
�ID:
.:
DEC 01'95
17:24 No.001 P.02
.
d:a;-aft 12/1/95
~~~~KS
BY PRES~DENT WILLlnM JEFFERSON CLXNTON
THE WHITE BOUSE CON~KRENCE ON nxv hND hXDS
THB limiTE HOUSE
DECEMBER 11, 1t95
tAclCnowledgements: 'PHtf.:y ~leming, Secretary Shalaln (other
Co.binet mcrobors7], Scott Uitt, distinguish~d guests.]
Let me first welcome each of you to this historic
Whil~
House
Conference on lliV and AIDO. You arc the frontline faces anei
voiCQSJ of our national r.ommitment to c.:um.,tuer the devastating
disease known ns AIDS. 1 welcome you and r .thank you, not only
tor your partlr.jpation herH toutty but for the ~ark you do every
day to improve the lives o! the pQoplQ of our nation and around
the world.
·
T.'d ttlt:!o like to thank Dr. llitt and the rnemboro of the
President's Advisory council on HIV and ATns for LhHir work. on
this critical issue and for suggesting that we convene this
l\\eating.
·
.
.
~·
~"'
And l "'ant 'to exprP-RS my apprHclation to the two extraordinaJ:"Y .
( , ). , .
Americans who have juGt chared the stoJ:"ios of their l.ives with
· .. 15J..'' ,_.
e.l.1 or uR. Tt is UtH passion, the commitment, nnd, yes, the
~p
·i
·
anger of people like Sean sascs:ar and Ei.l.e~n Mitzm<'lri thAt remind
~~
.· .
us aJ 1 ot> th~ ~xtraordinary courage it tt1kes to nold on to hope
j
.
ns we continue to eVBn the odds in this ~;t.ntggl e.
· · ·
.
Each gBn&rat.ion of American,; hFH> faced an ilupot:tant challenge
· '
that has, in rnnny wayo, dcfinad. their timB horo on earth. For my
paren'ts' ganP.ration, Wur-=hl War 'I'wo WAS\ that de£ininq moment, . :.. ·--, ~~._."'
unifying a nation against a common toe. For my n"m yeneration,
,'
thP. r:~vement provided the .focus and the drive ot our i
livcc. But. tor thG generation of my llw'r, ddlt'l and all of those J·
j n l~tn: aQe qroup, the epidemic of HIV and 1\IDS may well be that
,.,
dc~ining challGnge.
·
't
f·rientl~ an:! yr·bwing up in the shadow of
!:>umething we could never hilve imagined. 'l'hey are coming of age
in~orl.d in which .A:ms j ~ n ve.ry sobering reality,
My daughtor and her
'.1'hat reality has al.n-!atly changed the live$ of all of ue in thio
room. It has tt1ken from uc too many fr1Qnds and too many loved
ones much l.on Aoon •. I t has shaken our faith in the future •. But
it hna nlso brought us togetbQr anc.'l inspired a c.:ommun:i ty spirit
that. Hl.nmgthens our values o.a o n\ltion.
Tt is our collective regponoibility to risB to this challenge ~n<1
ohange tha future tor our um:HI'!lves, for our children, ond for
their children. We oan do this.
In tact, 'WQ 11\Ufl.t rlo th:i s.
'
·
�ID:
DEC 01'95
17:25 No . 001 P... 03
I wnnt to.snare with you the ~tory of jus:t one ot the people who
1!:' ltHl'H today. Just one of the humnn fo.ce3 'md hum:1n · voioeo of
AIDS.
It' c tha story of a young man who grew up in a typ:ic!l11 ~medcan
suburb as part of n typico.l American family. Ha attendAdcollaga
and becamo politically active. Hl!:' r.J\liclc mind and active. spirit
marked him DB a 11 comcr,n and after graduating hA joined .the
corporation- ~or Nation~l :"Hndt::f! to help start Americorps. It
wo.e while he wac working for Amaricorp~ that h9 found out. he w~~
HIV-pusil.ivH. He was 23 years old.
Deinetri Moshoyannia took tho.t ncwG ac.a challenge. A challongo
to use his commun!cRtion skills, hlt:J ul:qanizational skills, .and
his leadership ckillc to educate and s:upport his peers and help
t:hem P.5GRpe the fal.e Lhat had been visited upon him.
·
Tt.'R thal combination of heartbreak and hope tho.t makcc thic
epidemic so uniqua. And it is what. ch~llenges all uf us Lu
channel ouJ: energy and our ~nlent into the fight to make AIDS a·
thing ot the .past.
'th~ C~nters for Olseat:H~ Cuulnal and Prevention
reported thnt our nation hac reacheQ another gad mil~stong in 'th9
AIDS ~pi~P.m1c. Half a millionAmerican5 have now been dinqnose.d
with AIDS and mora than JOO, ooo men, women, and children hl'lve
"1 ready dleu or AIDS.
\ Ct 0 ·
.
Ton· day& ago 1
we meet, on this day, 120 inore Amcricanc will lose their lives
to AIDS, another '
peoplP.: w:\11 be diagno::ted with the disease
.and neo.rly 140 peop e in thio country will becom9 infoctad with
HIV.
And that: will happen ag'a in Lumul:l:ow and the day after that
and the day after that. It ~ill continue to happon ~ntil we
. Sl~cceed in our P.tforts tu defeaL this epidemic.
1\s
'l'ha't is why this mset.lng is so il\1poJ:to.nt. It il! nn opportunity
for \13 to refocus and r9onorgize our natlonnl r.nmmil.mP..nt to
enning thls epidemic. It ie a time to rally o~r troope: ror the
fight ahead ano. arm them with 1:-lt~ wH .. pons they need to win this
baLLl~.
You o.nd I have aome important work to do.
l~e
have a c~mmon goal -- a cure for all those who are living w.l Lh
H:IV and a vetc:c:lne to protec~ all of ua from thio deadly virus.
Let's be v~ry clear on·· -chat. A cure and a vacclnF.! <1 rt-! uut· number
one pr lc.'lr il.y.
In my nwn lifetime, we. have eliminated omallpox from our planet.
We h;lVC eliminated polio !rom our heml:-;:phHr'H. And we are within
~l.dking distance of controlling mcaolce:.
Wa must -- wo mu!;t -find a way to rid our planet of th~ Uu·H,.1~ of HIV.
�,,
17:25 No.001
DEC 01'95
ID:
am vrou<i ot th!;l wm·k ~~ hav& done in thei!>e l.aet three. yc<lra to
infuse new resources, new ·focus, and nE'!w le.,darship lnlu our AIDS.
rt?~~l'f:r-f:h a~rt. We have increo.sed fu.nding for AIDS rocoaroh by
more than_
percent. we havP. dramatically stt·engthened the
Office of
D Resenroh and w~ have focused our wor~ on basic
,
science an~ appliar1 research tW that we can concurrently unlock
the mysteries of HIV while we pursua treatment opport.unjtias that
ext~n~ an~ :improve t:.h~ quality of the lives of people livinq with
IIIV.
Th.is invcotmcnt in soiGnee has already paid trP.mendous div'idends.
Tod~y, peopl6 with HIV live twice as long .as they did just ten
ycaro aqo. ' AIDS-rolated conditions t.'tu1t often meanL El' quick emd
many. Limes painful death for people living with HIV can. now bo .·
treated anct even pr~vent~~.
1
And we lH.\Ve rf.'!<'IROn to bttll~ve that thei.·e will more progreso in
the near future. New olasses ot AIDS drugs are bP.:\ng Bpproved~
for URP. hy tl1e FDA tl1at will help to ·reatorc tho damaged. immuno
systcmG of people wi~h HlV.. combini'\t.ion drug therapies are
showlniJ y:r:eat promise as a means for oantrolliJ19, ~ho virus in th~
human body.
·
·
·
And ju~t last year we were able to show that the uae of drug
therapy could actuallY block H.LV trangmiGsion from mnt.hP-r to
chiHL our ,;r.i entisL~ tell me that it is within our grae::p to
virtually eliminate pediatric AJ:DS by th"' Hml or this decade~
This is neither: science fiction nor n distant dream. lt can be
occompliched by offering all pre!Jni1nL women HIV counsel.inq.nnd
testinrJ and 9uaranteeinq that they have access ~o the t:reatment
they nG~d to pro:tect. Uu:~h· unborn children. If we do thic, we
can have a qenerntion of 1\n\oricans born without HIV. l'VA can do
this:-- and.we w·ill.
These advam:~~ have resulted in longer and fuller lives rcr
· people living with HIV, but area they enour:Jh? 1\bF;olutely notl
rnus:t do mor.·P-.
tetk..l.tlg three stepe today that I believe will move
at a f~eter paoc.
l
am
UG
We
forward
First, I am askin9 the viet' P.n-!t·d tlemt- to convene o. meeting of
scientil5ts and leadore of the pharmaceutical inc1u,;try to ltltmtiry
. ways to acceleratE-~. t.ha development of va.ccincc;, therapeutic~ 1 and
rniC:robicidcc that can protect·people·from HIV, and the infections
it caus.~!-'· There are no 9unr~ntcco in science, t>14t the
oollcotive will of government and industry can overcome even the
blygast obstacles.
Second, I am naldng Patey( Fleming to convene an tnt.P.rdepartmenLal
1
task forcE'! wnrki ng gruup to develop a coordinated plan for AIDS
3
~.04
�ID:
_>
DEC 01'95
reeeurch, including a coordinatad research budget,
17:26 No.001 P.OS
I will expr::H.:t.
th!:'Jr r·P.pm:t within 9 0 days.
-rh:lrd, I want to ma)te cleo.r my pcraonaloommitment to make every
roasibla affort to find a (JUre l:'ncl ~n arrecthra vaccine or
vaccines. .To that end, I am intensifyin~ my relationship with
the ott:ice of N~Uonal AIDS Policy. We can't afford to mice: any
new opportunitios. We can't afford any unnecessary del11ys.
ThAt.' s why I am al!lking 'J:'ntay Flcmin~ to provide 11\G ovon more
ragula.r updat:es on. th~ emerging oppuJ:tunities and obstacles in
this 8truggle. No Precidcnt can promi~o success in such an
effort but I neecJ to knuw what needs to be done to move this
along.
·
.
Of cour~e our work does not end in thll labor~.t.ori es of our gre~t
researcll ;institutions. It continues in the clini.os and the
hoapitalc and the doctor~· offices nrounr'l 't.he country where
- people wit.h HIV and AIDS go -for the co.re they nood to surviva, to
tnl!intain their health, and 'to prP.RP.rve their diyuit.y; When 'lfe
1nake advances in e:cience we must match those stridos with
improvements 1n·our ~P.1ivery of health cara.
·
~·or p~op1 P. with AIDS, the C:U'L"l.·ent discussion!! over o. bnlnnoed
_federnl budget are not somQ distant .pol!t.1cal t'.1 rP.'fj ght. Let: me
t~lk for a few minutes about a subiect thnt ia very important to
me -- t}1e futurg of Medicaid.
For peopl9 with AlPS, Med.1m'lid .is .a llf~line oC support.
Medicaid provides heulth c~re for n~arly b.aU ot the ~
Alllaricans wllo are llving w.1Lh AIDS ~ncluding 90 percent of the
children. It providec accesa to doctors, hospit.al~', prescription
drugs, anr1 home care that allow5.people with HIV and hiDS to live
their l i vee more tullY. Medicaid pi1YH ftw tlle druqs that keep
HTV under control for longer and longer periods of timG and it
payc t:or thQ drugs that pr~venl. Lhli! infections. that often end tho
1ives of those with AIDO. Medicaid pays tor thQ care that allows
familiae to latay tog13t.hRr.
)
\
q0 ) 0 0 ()
'iet "today, Medieahl is under attack hy the Republican loaders in
Congre!Se: who wa.nt to clach its sponding and elimin~t~ 1·.he thi.rtyylilar common IJr.ouucl commitment we ho.ve mo.dc to the' poor, tha
elderly, a.ndtboGc with di,sabilitie9. We.cnnuot., we must not,
and I will nat allow us .to destroy thia vital lifelino.
That' c why. WQ created the ~yan ·
Nhite CARE hot to p1u9 the ho_1es in t1ur· lu~alth cnre syetem thnt l~ft~ many people with HIV and 1\IDS out in tha cold.
liast:' Yt;-~r.
~~···
more "than :JbO,OOO Americans··:Hc~:lved care under t e Rynn WhJ.tc ~
Act.
- / '" 2. I. . .tl . . :-!}
i_
j
· ~-U "f f/1-<- -/ ~
. )", f;\ \
Medicaic1 t":nnnot do the job n.lorie.
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�ID:
.•·
DEC 01'95
17:26 No.001
P~06
doubling the number of cit h~t( Tl:!t.:~1 v .lfiCJ rurulK nnd enablinq every
sto.te in the country to reoeiva soma level of asiJSili~tance.
Tho Cl\RE .2\ot must be a"tendod for another five y(;lars. "8oth
hutH:I~K nf Congress have approved legislation to o.ccomplir:;h thic
but final 1agis:lation remains stallelld. Th<'lt.' R why on last.
Friday 1 Wol·ld AIDS Day, l eent n letter to the Spoaker of the
Houso and the l:>enate Majority J,eRder, asking them to make every
effort to qet me a finul hill by the end of this month ~o that r
can sign it etnd We CRn get on with the 'Wut·k ahead.
l am also f~ ghti ng for Uae umlin9 increases that I ha¥e
requested for the CARE Act-as: well as housin~ pr.ogr~mR ~nr people
with .AIDS and our 1\IDS prevention programs otcoc.
I ~m concerned by the continued rate of new infections: in this
country. In t:'he 19ROs, we m~clti llllportallt progres5 in reducinq
the number of no~ infections by nearly ~o percent. But. for t'he
}R!;t. ~ive yeaL·o, . the estimated number of infections ho.3 hovered
' I
between: 4o,ooo.and 60,000 per year. WG also knnw that .as many tts Of\le_ c... 1 V(A( -;·~ {
-mrtr ur those l.nfections occur among people ut;'der .the age of -iJ6. ..21.,
-V
·
-ilona -balf ar~ amoJl9-t"e~~~JllEI.. Any new :\nf'ect1on .1.s an
·
unnecessary infection. I am aetting a goal, today 1 of roducing
£;:.-,SR/ bn/s
the numbQr of new infeo_ti'ons ln 1:hR United StiStes w-n~eJ..P
n~f1ve years and to=~-~ro within-:-thc-;:next-::::a-e-cad~
V# r..CL
;/;.,r~E /.:{££
•
•
•
/?J.
Until we haven cure o.nd a vaooine, education andprevention are.
our b~s't nopP... For preveuLiuu Leo work it mul5t be tnrqeted ond it
must be sustoincd. we saw that at work in the gay coinmunit:y in
t'.h~ 1 C!aOs 1 when activists overcame the inertin of their
government to protoct their 1lves.
l'IG
must pay particular .nt:t·.HnLion to two populnticins who ore nt
t.he center of this epidemic -- young people and thosa who abuse
drugs:.
I was pli?<:H:U·!Il l.u ,;,;ee the new public l!!ervice onnounocmentc
released last week by Score~ary Shala1a. They point yoting peoplE'!
~owar<\ theo t.r.mJ ..- t:hey need to protect themeel ve::J.
We ahm Heecl to recognize that aubstnnco abuee treatment is a
form of HIV prevention~ We 1'\\U~t ensure> t.lHtl. Ual"Jf,;f! who are
receivinq druq treatment nl~o receive AlDS prav~ntion services
the sa me ~ime. We have i m:nHt f.;e(] the.LfH:Hnb1er-or£--d1:"U1:rtr-e<l~l\e-,l~c
~in thic country and I am working to conv:l nr.P.. t-.he
t:ongress to approv~ (1111 rt'!quests for money to bring thot number
even higher.;
I have alco acked the CDC to convene a mr:>PtJng of stat.e all<l local
health offhd.iilf; and their counterparts on oubctanoe abuse to
develop an action plan to assure t.he integration or lUV
prevr.~ut.;i 1111 and subs'tance abuse prevention.
5
/?""£ ,/;-
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�ID:
t'
,-
~
DEC 01'95
------~~----------
We canrwt arrord to freeza prevention funding -- na the
, ·Republicans in con~as:sz have proposed -- bemmt:;e t:hP.. epidemic
~nnot be. frozen. 'Ej:t •-rill juat qrsv a.nd qrow and grow
:S
·
·'
we also cannot forget the haoic human rights of p~oplo living
'With HIV 21nf1 ATDS. The sturiet; of: AIDS related discrimination
hren1t the hcartc of all Americans::· of" conscience.
Five years ago, our nation took a hug~ st~p forwArd toward a
just. society when we enacted the Alnericnne with DiGabiliti~e:
It offers mora than 4Q tnillion Amer~r.;<tnR who are livlny with
pllysi.oal or mental dhabilities -- including those_ who ara livin9
with HXV and AIUS -- proter.t.1on agalnst ditscrhlination.
'J."h~ Jusi:ic~ OR[lltrtment, the Eyu11l E1Uployrnent Opportunities
Commission, and the Department ot HQalth and HUman s~rvices have
been vigorously euforc!nq the A.D.A. And we are about to launch
a new effort to ensuro that health car~ faolliti.I:!R -- nursing
homes in particula1· .;._ are providinq equ~l acccoo to people with
HIV or AIDS.
.
:;>till, a11 9! us C"-"n do more. We can start by cl-eaning our own
houee.
I am aGldrig Patsy 1-·1eming to conduct an immeodie~.tt:! f.iO-cll!y
rev1 P.W of' all ~overnment p1·ograms that require UIV testing ao a
condition ot partlcipation in_ goveornm~nt: 1-a~ndce anc:l governro.ent
progran1s. Those that do not hc.ve " otrong publ.io health
rational, must b~ aml;lnd~d nr l.hey must be ended.
We must cont.inu~:t t..~> exl\m~ne our societal attitudes toward racial
· and ethnic minorities, gayc and lesbians, and: others t'or whom
fear of AIDS 'ber:mnes a convenient excuse for discrimination.
lore.
cannot let 0\lr fear OUtWeigh OUr COmmon Sense or OUr (.~011\{-lC.HH.ltllt.
If we do, ~11 or us will lose.
AH T have said before, the thing wo have to remember is that
peop.Lc with AJ.US anO those who are? llvlfiiJ wH:h HIV ars ,.part of
our American family.
Whether they are gay or straight, blacK,
white, t-lat:.iva ~merican, LC\lirm or Asian American, they are our
son:! nnd daughterGr our_brothers anO ~iszte:r:s; our aunts anc'J
unc:las; our mothgrg ZtJnl fathar6; our grondrnothera o.nd
gretndfathera. · They arQ Amo.ricans one and all. 'rhP.y nesd our
cornpasslt.IJI. They deserve our re~pect.
Fln<1lly, let me say that the fight againot AIDS is intarnationai
in scopa. H~V kno•As no CJP.O<;JrRphtc boundaries. It ic found on
~very continent o.nd vlrtunlly every country.
The_ world H&?alt"h
or'lanization estJmRtes that mo:r:e than lB million rnen, -women, nnd
ch~ldren nrc livinq withHIV around the world.
ThP. llnited States
is and wt 1 l remain .1:1 full pai-tner in the international effort to
fight the pandemic.
6
�DEC 01'95
ID:
17:27 No.001 P.08
.• 1
...
Aa o wor1d ~cader, WQ have a moral and. a national reKpnr,.,. \ h'l l I t~y
to help developing natione with prevention programs, medica!
care, and o~her vital-servl~~t-'1. WH nlHCJ have much to learn from·
them. And when we do find the cure and ~he vaccine that w~ seek,
1~ will not only h~,. vt~tory for Aluerica, it will he il victory·
for the world.
When this country was in the. throes or tmnt.har si.ckn~IHi Lhttt
tlJrt,!t1t:ened to tear us apart -- the :Jickncaa of elavery -Frederick Douglas, th~ qre~t 11-mP.r:ican 11bulitionist,wrote;
but fi1.--e. It is not
We iu?ea th~ s:torm, t:JJA
wh.lrlwlr~cl, ana the edrthqullke. .The feelinq oi the ·
nation must: be quickenea. Th~ con,;r.t enca ot: tlJe naLiurr
must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be
startled."
Each ot you nave b~en t.hP. t.hundQr. i:!nd Lh~ liQhtening. Each of you
is helping to awaken the con:Jcioncc of our nation. our challenqe
is ~o draw 1\\0re o:! our nJ t. i :r.ens lnlu om: circle of hope.
Together, I am certain, we can ohange our :ruturG for the better.
•It: :f.r:; not J:lght: .tl1aL Ls w:11"ded,
the gent!o
t:]lOWer, bUt thUnder.
Thank you Qnd God blccc you all~
7
�.,,
.-
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~
•.
:~ Cs
~ ·tJ11L1g-
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')0, VI)
December 1,'1995
T
VlQ
~~
~-~0-_ ~
Health Division --~~'. ~!_ ,Y-
Office of Management and Budget
Executive Office of the President
Wash" on,DC20503
Please route to:
·Richard Turman
Barry Cle_ndenin 02Nancy-Ann Min
0 ~.......
·
1
N~
~
Decision needed
Please sign
·Per your request
Please comment
For your information
With informational copies for:
Subject:
Suggestions on the. Draft Presidential Speech
on AIDS
From:
Greg White and Gordon Agre/ . ,
.
G~
.
ess~
HD Chron, HPS Chron
Phone:
Fax:
Room:
I
t\ P ..>, ""'~ 1 w.. ,.,.._
202/395-4926
202/395-3910
#7026
We have reviewed the attached draft of the President's speech for the White House Conference
on AIDS, comparing the figures in it with those available to us in journal articles and CDC
surveillance materials. We have made several edits in the speech to improve its accuracy. We
consulted with HFB staff on the Medicaid references in the speech.
On page 5, the speech·commits the President to the goal ofreducing·newHIV infections to zero
within a decade. While this goal addresses the right problem, meeting it is probably impossible,
and advancing it would require substantial improvements in HIV data and prevention programs.
We suggest a more feasible goal would be to reduce new HIV infections in each successive year
until the number of new infections is zero. This would focus government programs on the right
problem, motivate them, and could feasibly be met.
On page 6, the speech says "We cannot afford to freeze prevention funding ... "-- we note the
RMO recommendation for FY 1997 currently straightlines prevention funding from the Likely
FY 1996 Level.
Attachment
,
�·
{
DEC 01'95
ID:
..
17:24 No.001
\
12/l/95
l:.Z::JO pm
rPtni-irks to the· White House
Here iR rl dL'aft of. the Pre_a,J.r5lcl.-~,t;s r~vi.cw and send cumuu-:mt.s to
. .
conference
on HlV
/· us.
d P e e
Ter:ry F:dmonds
!>; 00 Mon ay. .
.
.
., ..... ;:·..
cc:
Marsha
s
~""""
;,.,.....
Michael Wnldman
Nancy Min
.··.
Jeremy Bcn-1\m1
uc; {LT
~
)
-
lao {C
)
o lc fu
·.~
(0---r
___·.- . . . . .
~.01
�DEC 01'95
ID:
17:24 No.001 P.02
:.
d:a:-cft 12/1/95
RF.~RKS
BY PRES~DENT WILLI~ JEFFERSON CLXNTON
THE WHXTE 20VSE CON~~kENCE ON UIV hND hXDS
THB WBI~E HOUSE
l>ECEMBER II, 19 !J 5
tAcJcnowledgements: :P~tt.sy.Fleming, secretary Shalaln [other
Cn):)inet mctnbcrs7], Scott Hitt, distinguished guests.)
Let. me first welcome each of you to thts historic Whilt:: House
Conference on lliV and AIDO. You arc the frontline faces anct
voice~ of our national r.ommltment to cuuyuer the devastating
disease known as AIDS. I welcome you and I tnank you, not only
tor your partlr.jpation here toda.y but for the "'ark. you do every
day to improve the lives of the pgople of our nation and around
the world.
T.'d HlHO like to thank Dr. llitt and the memboro of the
President'.S Ad.viszory council on HIV and 1\Tns for Lltt~ir wor]( on
this critical issue and for suggestingthat weoonvena this
l\\aating.
·
And l "'ant to exprP-Rs my appct:!clalion to the two extraordinaey . ·
_1..' i.' .
,
Americans who have juGt chared tha &torio; of their l.tves with
· . 10-J.'.' A/ ·
a11 o:r m~.
Tt is t..ht:: passion, the commitment, nnd, yes, the
~p
1
anger of people like S~an saruo:or ·and Eile~?n Mi tzmari thRt remind
(': ·
us ~J 1 of' the ex.traord1nary courage it tilkes to hold on to hope
~~
u.s we continue to avan the odds in this ~;t.ruggle.
· ·
/
'
Each ggneration of American,; hRs faced an hnpo:r:tant challenge
· '
that has, in muny woyo, defined their timQ horo on earth. For my
paren'ts' c:JanP.r11t ton, Wurlcl war· Two we:& that de£ ininq moment, . ___ .... . ., ·~~-_,
unifying a nation against a common !oe. For my nwr1 t:JP-neration,
;
thP. q i.ld l -- · •;lht:s==1novement provided the focus ond the d.ri ve ot our I
livcc. But tor tho generation of my ml11 llld ld and all of those J'
in ht:!r aqe Ql-oup, the epidemic of HIV and AIDS may well b9 tha~ :;
defining challGmge.
·
~.·
~
~
My da'iightGr anO. her frieml::o ~:r·l:! yt·owing up in the shadow of
~um~thing we could never have imagined. 'l'hey ara coming of age
in~orld in which AI.DS Js n VP..l'Y sobering reality.
of
'.1'1\at reality has al.n·!<ttly changed the lives
all of us in thic
room.
It has tnken from U:c too 11\any friQnds and too many ·loved
ones muc.h l.cH1 ~oon. It ha5 shaken our faith in the future. But
it. has o.lso brought us togatbQr and inspired a c.minmtm:ity spi.rit
that. HLnmgthens our values QS o nation.
Tt is ou~ collective re3ponoibility to risg to this cha11e.n9e ~n~
ohange thQ future tor our um:..,P.lves, for our children, cmd for
their children. We oan do this. In tact, v~ mtt!'lt. t1o this.
�..
ID:
DEC 01'95
17:25 No.001
I .,.mnt to. Gharc with you the story of ju~:t one o:t the people who
.i.~ hHl"H today.
Just one of the human fa.ce3 o.nd human· voiocc of
AIDS.
It' c tha story of a young man Who gx-ew up in a ttl'ir!hl ~met:ican
suburb as part of n typico.l American family. He attgnded collGqe
and became politically active. Hll:l rluiclc mind and active spirit
marked him a.a a. "oorocr," and after graduatinq he joined the
corporation ~or National ~Hnth:f! to help start Americorps. It
wns while he wac working for Amaricorp~ that he found out he w~n
HIV-rJm:d L i vH.. He was 23 years old.
Oemetri Mo5hoyannia took thilt ncwG ac.a challenge. A challGnqo
to uae his oomrounj c:Ati on skills, hlt:J ux:qanizational skill5, and
his leadership Gkillc to educate and s:upport his peers and h91lp
1:hero F.!Rr.Ape the fale \.hat had been visited upon him.
Tt.'R thal combination of heartbreak and hope tho.t rnakco thio
epidemic so uniquo. And it is ~hat. chti n P.nges a 11 or us Lu
channel our energy and our :ta.lent into.thc fight to make AIDS a·
thing ot the past.
·
Ton days ago, 1:hl?
C~nt.ers for Dls~ati~ Cuult:ol and Prevention
reported thnt our nation hac reached anathor gad mil~stone in th~
AIDS ~pidP.mi c. Half a million Amal.-ican5 ho.ve now been diagnosed
with AIDS and more than 300, ooo men, women, and chUdrP.n h~ve
.. , ready di~u or AIDS.
\ (r 0
on this day, 120 more:Amcrioano vill lose their lives
to AIDS, another '
peopl"' w~ll be diagno!:!ed with the disease
and nearly 140 peop e in thia country will become infoctecl with
IUV. And tha1: will happP.n r~gain Lumu:n:ow and the day after that
1\t; we meet,
and the day after tho.t. It will continue to happon until we
s;ucceed in our e!forta to defeal. this epidemic.
'l.'llat is why th 1 s meeting is so i1nportant. It ie a.n opportunity
for uo to refocus and roonorgize our natlon(\1 r.nmmll.m~nt to
enning thlM epidemic. lt il5 a time to rally our troopc tor the
fight ahead and arm tbem with t.h"' wH,.pnns they need to win this
You and I have aoroe important work to do.
l.Ji1LLllj..
We have a conunon goal -- a cure for al1 those who are livin<J w.ll.h
H:IV and C\ Vett:c:l 1\t! to protect all of ua from thio deadly virus.
Let's be very clear on· that. A cure and a vact:!lnfO'\ <1.rt~ cnn· number
one prlt.lrlLy.
In my nwn lifetime, we have eliminated omallpox from our planet.
We ho.vc eliminated polio !rom our heml~;.phHr·H. And we al:"e within
~Ldking distance of controlling mcaolcc.
We roust -- WQ must -find a way to rid our planet of th~ Uu·H,.t. ,·,r. HIV.
P~03
�DEC 01'95
ID:
;1 0~/o :-
17:25 No.001
1 am l)rou<i ot thP wnr·k w~ havEs done in the.se laet three ycilra to
infuse new resourcor.:, new ·focus, and n~?.w l.r?."c1ership lnlo. our AIDS.
rl?~~l!r·.-;h es~rt. We have incrensed funding for AIDS rc:as=oaroh .by
more thaJL
percent. we havP. ~ramatlcally stt·engthened the
office of
D nese~roh and w~ have focusod our wor~ on basic
~acience and appl:lP-11 rese~::~rch t:IO that we can concurrently unlock
the myateries of HIV while we pursuo treatment opport.unitiP.s that
extend and 1m[1r:ove l:.he quality of the lives of people living with
IIIV.
Thia invcGtmQnt in sciGnco ha& already paid trP.mendous divlaends.
Todl\y, peoplu wltll.HIV live twice as long ne they did just ten
ycarc; ago. AIDS-rolated conc11tions thHt often meanl ·E! quick and
many Limes painful death for people living with HIV can now .bo .·
treated anct even pr~vent~.
And we· havere~Ron to btilleve that there will more progreso in
~he near future. New olassos ·ot.' AIUS drugs are bP.~ng approved.·
for URP. by tln~ FDA tl1at will help to reetore the damaged immuno
aystemo .of peoplG with HIV. combinl'ltinn drug t.h~r:e.pies are
showln~:~ y:r:eat promise as a me<~n3 for controlling' ~ho virus in thl?
human body.
And jugt last year we were able to show that the use of drug
therapy could <~Ctually .block H.LV tran~mie;slon from mnt.her to
chilO. our ~r.ientisLN tell me that it is within our gracp to
:virtunlly eliminate pediatric AIDS by th~ fmrl or this decade.
This is neither: science fiction nor n distant dream. lt can bo
accomplie:hed .by offering all prP.-r;Jnl1n\: women HIV counseling nnd
testln!J and 9uaranteeinq thnt they have accoss eo the t~eatment
theY noQCl to pro:tect. t.hHir unborn children. If we do thic, we
can have a qenerntion of 1\lt\oricans born without HIV. WI'! mm do
this: -- and. we w·i 11.
These advam:~~ have resulted in longer and fuller livas ror
· people living with HIV, but are they enou!Jh? 1\'bRolutely notl
must do mr.tr.·H.,
We
I am tak.lng three steps today that I believe wi.1.1 move us forward
at a fnater pace.
First, I am as:King the vic~ Pr~~-·d 1lt<~nt ·to convene n meeting of
scientists and lcadcrG of the pharmaceutical i.n~nF>try to la~ntiry
ways to acceleratf'! LhP. clevelopment of Vilccinco, therapeutics:, and
microbicidec that can protect people from HIV; and the infections
it cam.:t~!-1'. There are no <juarilntcc::; in ~cience, but the
oollcotive will of government Hnd lnuustry can overcome even thG
blygest obstacles.
Second, I am naldng Patey( Fleming to convene an tnt.P.rdepartmenlal
ta~k forcE'! working gcouv to develop a coordinated plan for ~IDS
3
~.04
�ID:
DEC 01'95
research, including a eoordinatad r9szaarch budget,
th~lr n~pCJrt within 90 days.
I will
17:26 No.001
P~OS
exp~c.~t.
"rh:h:d, I want to ma~e cleo.r my pcrponal commitment to make ev9ry
roasibla Gffort to tind a (.~ure i:\ncl ... n ef recti va vaccine or
vaccines. To that end, I am intensi~ying my relationship with
the o:ttice of Nati()nal AIDS Policy. We can't afford to mica any
new opportunitia&. We can't afford any unnecessary deliSys.
Th,1:'s why I am a!!kin9 J?ntay Flcmin9 to provide me cwon more
ragular upaa'tes on th~ ~merging oppurt.unities emd obstacles in
this etruggle. No Precidcnt can promico success in such an
ettort but I need to knuw what needs to be done to move this
along.
Of cour~c our work does not end in th9 laborl'ltnries of our great.
research 'institutions. It continues in the clinics and the
hospit.alc and the doctor~' offiCI}~ E\rounc1 the country Where
people wit.h HIV and AIDS go for the care they need to survive, to
rn~intain thGir hoalth, and 'to prP.AP.rve their diynit.y;
When wa
1nak.e advances in science we mu~t matoh thosa strido" with
improvement~ in·our r1P.11very.o:t h~alth care.
~·or p~op1 P. with AIDS, the cu~:rent discussione~ over o. bnlnnced
.federnl budqat are not some distant polit.1cal r.1refjght. Lel me
t~lk ~or a· feW minutes about a subiect that iG very important tO
me ~- tl'\G futuro of Medicaid.
·
For paopl9 with AJ.IJS I Med~ r.l\ i d .is a lifeline o( support.
Medicaid provides health care for nearly lla1f ot the ~. ·
Americans wno are llv:lng wllh AIDS including 90 percent o£ the
children. It providcc accasa to doctors, hospit."'1!-t, prescription
drugs, an~ home care that allow5 people with HIV and hiDS to live
their livec more fUlly. Medicaid p11YH for the drugs that keep
HTV under control for longer and longer periods of time and it
payc ~or thQ drug-s that pnwf:!nl. Uti:! infections that often end tho
lives or those with AIDG. Medicaid pays for the care that allows
families to stay tog'3t.hRr.
'tet today,
)
\
qQ.} Q Q0
Medit.~cdtl
l s under attack by the Republican leaders in
sp~nding and elimln~te t.he thi.rtyyQar common I)J:rJIHIC1 commitment we hnve mnd~ to the· poor, thQ
·
elderly, and thoGc with d:i,s!lbilitie9. We. CC\ntlot., we. must not,
and I will nat'allow us .to destroy thio vital lifeline.
Congress who \olnnt to c:lach its
Medlcai<l r:nnnot do the job nlone. That'o why.wQ created the l{yan
Nhite CARE ll.ot to plug the holes in lllt.r' lu~rll.th cnre syetem thnt .
l~ft: many people with HIV and. AIDS out in tha col<i.
liast ye!\r; ~~
more than :JbO,OOO American,.··.·Hc~ived cnre urider t e RyQn White~
~~:~ --t···W- -~ ~
~
N ,{- L\~ ......
\
\-..ou.J
'and
.
WP.
lmve.
~ ;tltY(Cvv 11d-
·' . c.)~\"
*v-&"
~ ~ ~~.(:,-~ ...~I
c A.y... (6.,~~
lo"'-:\ ~v.A,\oil'-
i
~~~
~i-~
~
R~~
to
Funding has increased by 103
,
o5-
~,~,v t
�DEC 01'95
ID:
,.
17:26 No.001
P~06
doubling the numl:ler of cit ir~t:{ TI:H.:~~ v HIIJ ruruh• nild enabling· every
sto.te in the country to recaive soma level of asr~ililtance.
Tho ChRE Act must be extQndoct for another fiVG y~ars. 8oth
hutlt'~~-' nf <':ongress have approved legislation to i:I.Ccomplir;h thiG
but final legis:lation ren-.ains stall~d. Thc.t.' F: why on last
F:dday, World AIDS Day, l sent n letter to the Speaker of the
Houso and 1:-he ~enatG Majority J,P.Rder, asking theln to make evet·y
effort to get me a final bill by the end of this month ~o that r
can sign it and we can get on with the wut·k ahead.
l am also f~ ghti ng !01:· Uae undinq increases that I have
requc~tcd for the .CARE Aot·a~ wall as hcusin~ progr~m~ ~or people
with .AIDS and our hiDS prevention programs nt coc.
I am concerned by the continued rate of new infection~ in thi9
co'llntry. In the 19ROs, we m~ll~ lmportallt progress in reducinq
the number. of no\01 infections by naarly ~u percent. But. for the
last. f':i.ve ye~n;, the estimated number of infectio.na h\13 hovered
between: 40,000 and 60, ooo per year. w~ also Jcnnw t:hitt .ae many fi.s ON e._
. ...mitt ur those infections occur nmonq people under the a9e o:f {!-6. .l'l.,
~a· aalf ar.Q-8mo~-t"e1nft\~~. Any new :1 nf'ectian lH tm
.
unnecessary infection. I om aetting a goal, today, of reducinq
£;..erR;~--' ,ht,;,{
the nuntbllr of new infGc.tions ln t:he Un3tad states M-fi~e.f.P
n~ftve years and to=-~-~ro-with-in-.--thQ7next=decad~
L/#r.£~ )/;.A'~E .,1/,K.£
/~
~A.;:.-
.2/..,.·_;:-, f , ... ;; . ·;.//.:..-·.5,.
Until we have n cure and a vaocine, education and prevention are.
our b~S't nopP-. For prevtmLluu to work it mue;t be tnl."qeted o.nd it
must be sustoined. we saw that at work in the gay r.~r.1inmunity in
~.hi:'\ v~aos, when act.ivist.s overcame the inertia of their
govcrnmen~
to protoct their 1ives.
must pay particul!:\r ati·.HuLi tm t:o two populations who ure o.t
the center of this epidemic -- young people and those who abuse
drug~. I: was pl~;;~a~l:-!11 Ln 8ee the new public ~ervice nnnouncemontc
released last week by Secretary Shalala. Thay point young peopl~
~oward theo t.r.mJ.., t:he.y need to protect themsel voo.
\'1e
We ahw uee.d to recognil;e that substonco abuoe treatment is a
form of HIV prevention. We must ensttr~ U111l. Uaoge who are
.tf,A;?tY/f./ I
receiving drug treatment oloc receive AIDS prGVQn~ion aervicGs
the SS'li\Q t.ime. We have lm:r·~ttfH~rl theff
.·
.
-fip£rZ /IL
slote av~ubx:iin thic country and I am working to convjnr.A the
~£.f~;,.<cES
t:ongress to approvf:\ \IIH r~quests for money to bring that. number
17£. .7...:fc ;I j',E,/
even higher•
. ~,<v6 /)E~,-ri.f./t i
I hove alco acked the CDC to conven~ a mr:>P.tJng o1' state aH<l local
health orrh:liilfl and their counterparts on oubctanoe abuse to
develop an !i!Cticn plan to assura t.ha i ntegratiun of lUV
prevr="uLi uu and subs'tance abuse prevention.
5
�ID:
DEC 01'95
17:27 No.001 P.07
We cannot ."lfford to freesza prevention funding -- na the
;·Republicans in con3as:s have proposed -- ber.;m~e thP.. eptdP.mtc
~·:i:tnnot be. fro~en. '[j.t. uill juat grev and grow 3nd qrow
.
:S
·
'
We also cannot forget the ha.cic human rights of p~oplCl l.iving
HIV ~n~ ATDS. The sturi~~ or AIDS related discrimination
hreo.lt the heartc of all Americans:: ot" conscience.
wi~h
Five years ago, our nation took a hug~ st~r forwnrd toward a
juH~ society when we enacted the Americana with Dicabilities
It offers mora than 40 tDillion Amerln~nR who are llvlny with
physical or l!\ental di:sabili.ties -- including those.who are living
with HIV and AlUS -- protent-Jon Agal.nst. dloc:rilnination.
.lu~t:iCEI ORpnrt.ment, the Equ11l 'Etllployrnent Opportunities
Commission, and the Department ot HQal.th and HUman services have
been vigorously ~uforc1nQ the.A.D.A. And we are about to lo.unch
a new effort to ensuro that health ca~Q fC\CllitJeF; -- nursing
home!:J in particub.r .;._ are providinq equo.l o.cccoo to people with
HIV or AIDS.
'.l'he
still, a11 o! us c~n do more. w~ c~:~.n stal."t by cleaning our own
houae. I am acldng Pa~sy ~·laming to conduct an immeodinte f.iO:--cll!y
rev:l P.W of all ~overnment pl-ograms that require HIV teatinq ac:; a
oond1~1on ot partlcipation in govl!'rnm~nt-. ~;P.r'vice and goverronent
p:r:oqran\5, Those that do not hc.ve " strong pub1io health
r~tional, must be ameonded nr Lhey must be ended.
We must cont.inu~ to exAmlne our societal attitudes tow\lrd racial
and ethnic minorities, gayc and lesbians, and others for whom
fear of AIDS lu'!r:mnes a con"'fenient excuse for discrimination. We
cannot let our fear outweigh our common sense or our t.~omp;:,HH.lur•.
If we do, MJ1 or us will lose.
AH T have said before, the thing wo have to remember is that
peop!c with AJ..US an<1 those who an• llvlHIJ wi1:h HJV are ,.part of
our American family.
Whether they are gay or straight, blac){,
white, Nativa ~merican, Le:d:..i.m1 w· .1\siiln American, they are our
sons nnd do.ughtcror ourbrothers and ~i!ate:rs; our aunt!:!. anc1
unc::lQs:; our mothgrs MJJtl fathers; our grandmothers nnd
gr~ndfathers. · They arQ Alneri'cana one and all.
':rhP-y need our
cornpa~slon.
They de5erve .our
re~pect.
Fln<tlly, let me say that the fight againct AIDS ia int9rnational
in scop9. H~V Jcno•.o1s no g~ogrRph i c boundaries. It is found on
~very continent nnd vlrtunlly ovary country.
The world H&?C\lt'h
Or!fanh:CI.t:1on est-~mates that mo:.:·e than 18 million men, women, ~nd
chJ.ldren nrc livinq with HIV around the world. ThP. l!n;ted staleti
is and will remain.~ full pa~tner in the international effort to
fight the pandemic.
6
�DEC 01'95
ID:
17:27 No.001 P.08
.I
...
As Q wor1ct .leader, wa nave a moral and a national r~~->pnrll·>l h·ll lt~y
to help developing nntione with prevention programs, medical
care, and other vital sGrvlcett. WH r'51F>CI have much to leo.rn.from
And when we do find the curs and the vaccine that w~ seek,
1'5 vt~tory for America, it will he. a victory·
for tho world.
When this country was; in th~ throes or Annthar si.ckn~tia Llli:lt.
tl!r~i1t:Aned to tear ue apart-- tho:Jickncoo of e:lavery -Fradarick Douglas, th~ gre1\t 11-mP-rican l!l.bulitionist,wrote;
them.
it will not only be
•it: :l.r:: nnt light t11~L 1:> Heed~d, but fi1.-e.
It i$ not
the gentle tl1ower, but thunder. we ilE>ea t.h~ storm, t:hP.
wh.lrlwlm1, tmd the eftrthqu4ke. .The .feelinq. of the
nation must bG quickenE>t1. Th~ commtenae ot: U1e. n~Licm
must be roused. The propriety o£ the nation rnust be
etartlad."
Each. ot you nave b~en t.hP. t.hunder. and Llt~ llQhtening. Each of you
is helpin9 to awak.en the con3cicnoc of our nation. our challenqe
is to draw more of. our nJt.h:ens lnLu our circle of hope.
Together; I am certain, we oan ohanga our :futuro for the better.
Thank you o.nd God blcoo you alL
7
�11/30/1995
11:11
3102786380
.·PAGE
R SCOTT HITT
01
FAX.
Date
11/30/95
·---------------30
Number of pages including
cover sheet
To:
\
. Terry Edmonds·.
..
.
...._
"
Phone
Fax Phone
CC:
··----------
I
Scott Hitt9 M.D~
Assistant
Steve Tyier'
·Phone
· - 310~278-6380
Fax Phone 310-278·6380
...202-456~5709
,.,_
'-------·--------.;_
::I'R,EMARK;:,.: "".
I.
'
From: ·
'
1------·
' : ', .... ,. .
0
'
~
' ...... II '
Urgent
'
'
:
'
·;r.:.·
1'1
I
I
0
For your rev1ew
0 ·Reply ASAP.
Terry,
·Dr. Hitt wanted me to be sure that you had these past speeches made by tht.
President
·
Please caH me ifyou have any questions .
.
'
Steve Tyler
Asst. to Dr l-Iitt
·
�11/30/1995
11:11
3102785380
R SCOTT HITT
PAGE
,.
IJ~
."Let
02
i• •
Rise to the Challenge"
Governor Bill .Clinton
l';,lan• Theater, May 18, 1992
you·
T hank
Mi.tner --he's
1'('1)'
nu•·
fot',·•;
at il··for /It(// won<f,·rr:.
for ym'tr frimdl·hifl. '! ·•.
WhO Wl1f(! u~-t·hair:~
a· ..
And 1 want to .l'ay a 'i''.:
.
;·t~"''k _wm. Thank you very much 1ny longtime friend David
. ·".t.: '.'/'(t.:chcs in his mind for thirty years, he's about to get good
· .,,,.,;/. Thi11ikyou RobertaAchumbergforyour sratement a11d
·, •11 .'.cot! a11d Diane em d. Roberta and Bob, al/tlze rest of you
· 1•1 1lri.1·
evenc.
'
.
,.
·· ..-,I 1;f thanks to ANGLE for cheir work on my behalf o~·er the
'
last sevefllllllfllllh\. :
all tile otlza.1· 1d1u Ill· '
'·: rlwnk John Garamendi, my state
··J. up(ll1 of this event.
y~lu
,. . , .
. · ;n~~.·-, that a campaign for president has two purpc.n;cs. One
ts fm tlh: qlun: r\ ·:
get l\l know 1h.: l'Pu•·.·
and conlp:ls.,i,,n :nb::
. · ~. ww the candidate, and the other is for the candidate to.
.l:. ':111didate does not grow and deepen in understanding
_I· •n I h~,· race itself is <!.!ready half lost.
know.!
Thcrt~
have
h;~v.,·
an.: pl·llpk
i1;.··
hclp~:d 1111.: I<.~:··;
We just fini1-'hcd 1IH •\
here bcgi n lo pi d.; u;·
lhis n:101ncnt in our l·,;. ·
cities of ourgn.:a1 !;!·,,. ·
· .1~· 1~1day
chair, for being here and
to whom I owe a great debt of gratiqJde, for you
'• ·' my l'tlUOtry better than I did when I began.
:· h<tn rints in our hist~ry in Los Angeles. And as the people
·i·.·,;,·~. J think it might be well for us to note where we are at
,, .• ,, 11<tt i0o. Not just here in Los Angeles, and not just in the
· ;dl , ,f u~. all across America.
We should he dun('il;r
'.: ~ t'l'ls wilhj~JY 1oday because the Cold War is over. lflhtcc
years <tgo any\lnl.' h<l•.l
:11 \' ',f ynu that within three years the Berlin. Wall would fall,
all of the. g1lVcrn 111l' n! :.. : .. \' ,·rn l'",urope would fade away, the Soviet Union itself would
collapse and cut it~.
'~~· hudgd by 50% in a year, and the threat of nuclear
annihil<itio6 would. J,,
· 'dl int~) the di:;tance ofhistory, rio one would have believed
it.'
If anybody had tol~ ', · : 1;1! wo'uld happen and we would still be deeply divided and
aroiety·riddcn at dt,;( ,. · · '' rn(. it would be difficult to believe. But we are. And we are
because a.s w''· cckhr:,
rriumph of our values aro.und the worl~, we see them lying
in taller'S hen: (I( ht)1J1.'
''II tllry Jcfcated in SO many Ways econornically... a COUntry in .
"Tonight, I wam .;:
talk to you about ho•11
·we can be one per
again -· without rer;· ·
to race or gender ,
sexual orientation.:,:
age or region or
income, how we c,~,,1.
be one
aaain.
II
�Date: 12/01/95 Time: 08:53
SJournal of Woman with AIDS Portrays Quiet Victims
YONKERS, N.Y. (AP)
Janice Burns says she and her husband,
William, were a ~~nauseatingly cute'' couple who loved vacations
and shopping for home furnishings.
~~we love to eat out, go to Broadway shows, and shock people by
revealing our liberal outlooks that hide under our conservative
exteriors,'' Mrs. Burns wrote in 1987, when she was a 24-year-old
university researcher married to a rising star in the financial
community.
Then comes the kicker: ~~we spend $1,200 each month on
prescription drugs, and we will never have children . . . • We are
HIV-positive. 1 1
Thus begins ~~Sarah's Song,'' Mrs. Burns' journal covering the
years from 1987, when she and her husband were diagnosed with HIV,
to 1994, when her husband died of AIDS at age 29.
The Warner Books publication
named for the daughter Mrs. Burns
desperately wanted
is a painfully poignant rendering of death
foretold, of a woman whose world turned into a numbers game: How
many pills, how many T cells, how many hospitalizations, years,
months, days, hours until the counting stops?
~~There are still a lot of people who stereotype people with
AIDS,'' said Mrs. Burns, now 32 with full-blown AIDS. She is
partially deaf and blind in one eye, takes 40 pills a day and has
been hospitalized four times since June.
~~There are those who don't want someone like me to have AIDS
because it means they or someone they love can be at risk,'' she
said in an interview Wednesday, two days before today•s
commemoration of World AIDS Day.
More than 501,000 u.s. AIDS cases were diagnosed from 1981
through October 1995, according to the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. More than 311,000 of those people, or 62
percent, have died.
Most interesting to Mrs. Burns is that the number of cases
attributed to heterosexual transmission increased from 3 percent
during 1981-87 to 10 percent from 1993 to October 1995. Female
cases increased from 4,035, or 8 percent of the total between
1981-87, to almost 18 percent
43,383
from 1993-0ctober 1995.
~~I see more and more women who look like myself in support
groups,'' said Mrs. Burns, a middle-class Catholic from the New
York City borough of the Bronx.
Her neat Yonkers apartment is filled with books, including a
huge Bible on a stand in the living room, and is dominated by a
nearly finished wooden Victorian dollhouse.
She started the dollhouse in 1992, before her husband died, and
still plans to complete it. ~~I'll get to it one day,'' she said,
the only time she speaks of the future during a 90-minute
interview.
Mrs. Burns believes her husband was infected with the virus that
causes AIDS during a brief homosexual affair when he was 18. She
married him a few years later and they were diagnosed as
HIV-positive shortly after their first wedding anniversary, in
February 1987.
�The couple became activists, founding advocacy groups and
speaking on television shows and before high school groups, trying
to tell the world that AIDS can strike anyone.
Mrs. Burns maintains that even if she had known William Burns
was HIV-positive, she still would have married him.
' ' I had a love, despite AIDS,'' she wrote at the end of her
book. ' ' I could live off this love for the rest of my life. I think
I will. 1 1
APNP-12-01-95 0850EST
I
�~---~--
-
.
--
THE WHITE HOUSE'
WASHINGTON
OFFICE' OF
SPEECHWRITING
PHONE: (202) 456-2777
fAX: (202) 456-5709
RECEIVER FAX: _ _ ____;_____;__ _ _ _ _ _ _____;__ _ _ _ __
~ ·RECEIVER PHONE: _ _ _,...-----"---------,-.-----'--
NUMJ3ER OF PAGES (INCLUDING COVER SHEET):
.•. COMMENTS: ·
i!_.f!Nl 4.
.. ·
7
!Qwv. ~1M(:{
--
.Unauthorized use of these materials is subject· to· federal prosecution
I
�STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON MONEY LAUNDERING
DECEMBER 2 1 1995
Today, Treasury Secretary Rubin, representatives of the
Department of Justice and the Department of State, joined the
other nations of this hemisphere in signing a historic anti-money
laundering communique. This accord will make it more difficult
for international organized crime, including drug traffickers to
profit from their criminal activities. As I stated in my address
to the United Nations General Assembly in October, we must send a
clear and unambiguous message to the cartels that profit from
drug trafficking and other serious crimes: your dirty laundry is
no longer welcome.
You will no longer be able to wash the blood
off profits from the sale of drugs from terror or from organized
crimes.
I have urged the nations of the world, and especially
those in this hemisphere, to bring their banks and financial
systems into conformity with international anti-money laundering
standards. This communique is an important step in that
direction.
·
The communique affirms the commitment made during the December,
1994 Summit of Americas Ministerial in Miami, Florida. During
that conference, with u.s. leadership, a Declaration of
Principles, including a strategy for combatting the problem of
organized crime and money laundering, was adopted by the member
nations. The communique specifically directs the member nations
to enact laws that make the laundering of proceeds from drugs and
other serious crimes unlawful.
It permits the seizure of
proceeds and the equitable sharing of those assets by the
investigating nations.
In addition, it allows for cooperative
methods for reporting suspicious bank transactions, including
special efforts to prevent and detect financial crimes.
As I have said many times, America will fight the war on drugs
and crime on all fronts, both at home and abroad.
Today, with
our neighbors in the region, we are taking an important step by
targeting the cartels and criminals who, until now, have moved
vast sums of ill-gotten gains through the international financial
system with absolute impunity.
Finally, the nations of this
hemisphere are standing as one to say, "No more."
�DEC-02-1995
15=07
FROM
WHITE HOUSE RIDS.POLICY.
TO .·
...
. ...
.
P.01
94565709
·;
..
·.
· ·oF~lCE OF NATIO~AL AIDS POLICY .
.J
·EXECUTIVE OF'FlCE OF 'I'HE· PRESIDENT .
150 17tll Str~et, N.W.
Washington, DC 20503
_Phone: 202:-632-1090
Fax: 202-632-l096
· COMI\fENTS:· :.
.
'
.
••
'
�12/03/95
SUN 15:31 FAX
...... D BAER.
I
I ,
SCHEDVLE OF THE PRESIDENT
FOR
MONDAY DECEMBER 4, 1995
FINAL
' There is no public schedule,
., BC AND IIRC RON
'iBE WHITE HOUSE
I
�December 1995
Presidential Calendar·
1§1
.o
....
0
�,._
January ·1996
""'
0
~-"1
Presidential Calendar
":
CD
en
I
II
I
I
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1I
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�E X E C U T I V E
0 F F I C E
0 F
T H E
P R E S I D E N T
28-Nov-1995 05:37pm
TO:
James T. Edmonds
FROM:
Marsha Scott
Office of Political Affairs
SUBJECT:
AIDS Remarks
Three people that could be very helpful on this speech are:
Michael Itzkowitz - Sen. Kennedy - 224-6572
David Mixner - FOB - 310-289-1181
Dr. Scott Hitt ( Chair of WH AIDS Council)-310-278-1668
310-652-8729 ext
339
I know these three very well. They have all spent most of their
adult lives working on this problem. All three are very
articulate and extremely knowlegable. Even if you don't use
anything they say, politically it would be a good thing to do.
�Date: 11/22/95 Time: 13:50
Growing AIDS Cases Overburden New York City
NEW YORK (Nov. 22) XINHUA - Rapid growth of AIDS cases is so overburdening
the New York City administration that it has decided to partially shift the
service work for AIDS patients to community organizations.
New York City established the Division of AIDS Service in 1987 to provide
extensive services to people with AIDS, including providing case-workers to
help obtain government assistance. At present, there are 18,000 people on the
division's caseload with a diagnosis of AIDS or advanced HIV, with an
additional 7,000 expected to seek help in the next three years.
The division has budgeted 28.5 million U.S. dollars this year for the work.
Although the New York State and the Federal Government have also made
contributions to it, the city authorities have found it difficult to manage
the matter alone and announced a plan Tuesday to turn a large scope of
services to community organizations.
According to the plan, the division will continue to provide a high level of
AIDS services, but once a person's condition has stabilized, the case will be
transferred to a community organization, which will follow up on the client's
needs.
However, the plan has aroused criticism from a number of groups. Assemblyman
Richard Gottfried, chairman of the Health Committee, said the city
administration was simply turning its back on the city's AIDS cases.
/
�draft 12/1/95
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON HIV AND AIDS
THE WHITE HOUSE
. DECEMBER 61 1995
[Acknowledgements: Patsy Fleming, Secretary Shalala [other
Cabinet members?], Scott Hitt, distinguished guests.]
Let me first welcome each of you to this historic White House
Conference on HIV and AIDS. You are the frontline faces and
voices of our national commitment to conquer the devastating
disease known as AIDS.
I welcome you and I thank you, not only
for your participation here today but for the work you do every
day to improve the lives of the people of our nation and around
the world.
I'd also like to thank Dr. Hitt and the members of the
President's Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS for their work on
this critical issue and for suggesting that we convene this
meeting.
And I want to express my appreciation to the two extraordinary
Americans who have just shared the stories of their lives with
. all of us.
It is the passion, the commitment, and, yes, the
:. anger of people like Sean Sasser and Eileen Mitzman that remind
us all of the extraordinary courage it takes to hold on to hope
as we continue to even the odds in this struggle.
Each generation of Americans has faced an important challenge
that has, in many ways, defined their time here on earth. For my
parents' generation, World War Two was that defining moment,
unifying a nation against a common foe.
For my own generation,
the civil rights movement provided the focus and the drive of our
lives. But for the generation of my own child and all of those
in her age group, the epidemic of HIV and AIDS may well be that
defining challenge.
My daughter and her friends are growing up in the shadow of
something we could never have imagined. They are coming of age
in world in which AIDS is a very sobering reality.
That reality has already changed the lives of all of us in this
room.
It has taken from us too many friends and too many loved
ones much too soon.
It has shaken our faith in the future.
But
it has also brought us together and inspired a community spirit
that strengthens our values as a nation.
It is our collective responsibility to rise to this challenge and
change the future for our ourselves, for our children, and for
their children. We can do this.
In fact, we must do this.
�I want to share with you the story of just one of the people who
is here today. Just one of the human faces and human voices of
AIDS.
It's the story of a young man who grew up in a typical American
suburb as part of a typical American family. He attended college
and became politically active. His quick mind and active spirit
marked him as a "comer," and after graduating he joined the
Corporation for National Service to help start AmeriCorps.
It
was while he was working for AmeriCorps that he found out he was
HIV-positive. He was 23 years old.
Demetri Moshoyannis took that news as a challenge. A challenge
to use his communication skills, his organizational skills, and
his leadership skills to educate and support his peers and help
them escape the fate that had been visited upon him.
It's that combination of heartbreak and hope that makes this
epidemic so unique. And it is what challenges all of us to
channel our energy and our talent into the fight to make AIDS a
thing of the past.
Ten days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that our nation has reached another sad milestone in the
AIDS epidemic. Half a million Americans have now been diagnosed
with AIDS and more than 300,000 men, women, and children have
already died of AIDS.
As we meet, on this day, 120 more Americans will lose. their lives
to AIDS, another 220 people will be diagnosed with the disease
and nearly 140 people in this country will become infected with
HIV. And that will happen again tomorrow and the day after that
and the day after that.
It will continue to happen until we
succeed in our efforts to defeat this epidemic.
That is why this meeting is so important.
It is an opportunity
for us to refocus and reenergize our national commitment to
ending this epidemic. It is a time to rally our troops for the
fight ahead and arm them with the weapons they need to win this
battle. You and I have some important work to do.
We have a common goal -- a cure for all those who are living with
HIV and a vaccine to protect all of us from this deadly virus.
Let's be very clear on that. A cure and a vaccine are our number
one priority.
In my own lifetime, we have eliminated smallpox from our planet.
We have eliminated polio from our hemisphere. And we are within
striking distance of controlling measles. We must -- we must -find a way to rid our planet of the threat of HIV.
2
�I am proud of the work we have done in these last three years to
infuse new resources, new focus, and new leadership into our AIDS
research effort. We have increased funding for AIDS research by
more than 25 percent. We have dramatically strengthened the
Office of AIDS Research and we have focused our work on basic
science and applied research so that we can concurrently unlock
the mysteries of HIV while we pursue treatment opportunities that
extend and improve the quality of the lives of people living with
HIV.
This investment in science has already paid tremendous dividends.
Today, people with HIV live twice as long as they did just ten
years ago. AIDS-related conditions that often meant a quick and
many times painful death for people living with HIV can now be
treated and even prevented.
And we have reason to believe that there will more progress in
the near future.
New classes of AIDS drugs are being approved
for use by the FDA that will help to restore the damaged immune
systems of people with HIV. Combination drug therapies are
showing great promise as a means for controlling the virus in the
human body.
And just last year we were able to show that the use of drug
therapy could actually block HIV transmission from mother to
child. our scientists tell me that it is within our grasp to
virtually eliminate pediatric AIDS by the end of this decade.
This is neither science fiction nor a distant dream.
It can be
accomplished by offering all pregnant women HIV counseling and
testing and guaranteeing that they have access to the treatment
they need to protect their unborn children.
If we do this, we
can have a generation of Americans born without HIV. We can dothis -- and we will.
These advances have resulted in longer and fuller lives for
people living with HIV, but are they enough? Absolutely not!
must do more.
We
I am taking three steps today that I believe will move us forward
at a faster pace.
First, I am asking the Vice President to convene a meeting of
scientists and leaders of the pharmaceutical industry to identify
ways to accelerate the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and
microbicides that can protect people from HIV and the infections
it causes. There are no guarantees in science, but the
collective will of government and industry can overcome even the
biggest obstacles.
Second, I am asking Patsy Fleming to convene an interdepartmental
task force working group
a coordinated plan for AIDS
. to develop
.
3
�research, including a coordinated research budget.
their report within 90 days.
I will expect
Third, I want to make clear my personal commitment to make every
feasible effort to find a cure and an effective vaccine or
vaccines.
To that end, I am intensifying my relationship with
the Office of National AIDS Policy. We can't afford to miss any
new opportunities. We can't afford any unnecessary delays.
That's why I am asking Patsy Fleming .to provide me even more
regular updates on the emerging opportunities and obstacles in
this struggle. No President can promise success in such an
effort but I need to know what needs to be done to move this
along.
Of course our work does not end in the laboratories of our great
research institutions.
It continues in the clinics and the
hospitals and the doctors' offices around the country where
people with HIV and AIDS go for the care they need to survive, to
maintain their health, and to preserve their dignity. When we
make advances in science we must match those strides with
improvements in our delivery of health care.
For people with AIDS, the current discussions over a balanced
federal budget are not some distant political firefight.
Let me
talk for a few minutes about a subject that is very important to
me -- the future of Medicaid.
For people with AIDS, Medicaid is a lifeline of support.
Medicaid provides health care for nearly half of the 200,000
Americans who are living with AIDS including 90 percent of the
children.
It provides access to doctors, hospitals, prescription
drugs, and home care that allows people with HIV and AIDS to live
their lives more fully.
Medicaid pays for the drugs that keep
HIV under control for longer and longer periods of time and it
pays for the drugs that prevent the infections that often end the
lives of those with AIDS. Medicaid pays for the care that allows
families to stay together.
Yet today, Medicaid is under attack by the Republican leaders in
congress who want to slash its spending and eliminate the thirtyyear common ground commitment we have made to the poor, the
elderly, and those with disabilities. We cannot, we must not,
and I will not allow us to destroy this vital lifeline.
Medicaid cannot do the job alone. That's why we created the Ryan
White CARE Act to plug the holes in our health care system that
left many people with HIV and AIDS out in the cold. Last year,
more than 360,000 Americans received care under the Ryan White
Act.
When I ran for President, I promised to fully fund the CARE Act and we have.
Funding has increased by 108 percent, more than
4
�doubling the number of cities rece1v1ng funds and enabling every
state in the country to receive some level of assistance.
The CARE Act must be extended for another five years. Both
houses of Congress have approved legislation to accomplish this
but final legislation remains stalled. That'S why on last
Friday, World AIDS Day, I sent a letter to the Speaker of the
House and the Senate Majority Leader, asking them to make every
effort to get me a final bill by the end of this month so that I
can sign it and we can get on with the work ahead.
I am also fighting for the funding increases that I have
requested for the CARE Act as well as housing programs for people
with AIDS and our AIDS prevention programs at CDC.
I am concerned by the continued rate of new infections in this
country.
In the 1980s, we made important progress in reducing
the number of new infections by nearly 50 percent. But for the
last five years, the estimated number of infections has hovered
between 40,000 and 60,000 per year. We also know that as many as
half of those infections occur among people under the age of 25
and half are among teenagers. Any new infection is an
unnecessary infection.
I am setting a goal, today, of reducing
the number of new infections in the United States by half in the
next five years and to zero within the next decade •.
Until we have a cure and a vaccine, education and prevention are
our best hope.
For prevention to work it must be targeted and it
must be sustained. We saw that at work in the gay community in
the 1980s, when activists overcame the inertia of their
government to protect their lives.
We must pay particular attention to two populations who are at
the center of this epidemic -- young people and those who abuse
drugs.
I was pleased to see the new public service announcements
released last week by Secretary Shalala. They point young people
toward the tools they need to protect themselves.
We also need to recognize that substance abuse treatment is a
form of HIV prevention. We must ensure that those who are
receiving drug treatment also receive AIDS prevention services at
the same time. We have increased the number of drug treatment
slots available in this country and I am working to convince the
Congress to approve our requests for money to bring that number
even higher.
I have also asked the CDC to convene a meeting of state and local
health officials and their counterparts on substance abuse to
develop an action plan to assure the integration of HIV
prevention and substance abuse prevention.
5
�We cannot afford to freeze prevention funding -- as the
Republicans in Congress have proposed -- because the epidemic ·
cannot be frozen.
It will just grow and grow and grow.
We also cannot forget the basic human rights of people living
with HIV and AIDS. The stories of AIDS related discrimination
break the hearts of all Americans of conscience.
Five years ago, our nation took a huge step forward toward a more
just society when we enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It offers more than 40 million Americans who are living with
physical or mental disabilities -- including those who are living
with HIV and AIDS -- protection against discrimination.
The Justice Department, the Equal Employment Opportunities
Commission, and the Department of Health and Human Services have
been vigorously enforcing the A.D.A. And we are about to launch
a new effort to ensure that health care facilities -- nursing
homes in particular -- are providing ~qual access to people with
HIV or AIDS.
Still, all of us can do more. We can start by cleaning our.own
house.
I am asking Patsy Fleming to conduct an immediate 60-day
review of all government programs that require HIV testing as a
condition of participation in government service and government
programs. Those that do not have a strong public health
rational, must be amended or they must be ended.
We must continue to examine our societal attitudes toward racial
and ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, and others for whom
fear of AIDS becomes a convenient excuse for discrimination. We
cannot let our fear outweigh our common sense or our compassion.
If we do, all of us will lose.
As I have said before, the thing we have to remember is that
people with AIDS and those who are living with HIV are part of
our American family. Whether they are gay or straight, black,
white, Native American, Latino or Asian American, they are our
sons and daughters; our brothers and sisters; our aunts and
uncles; our mothers and fathers; our grandmothers and
grandfathers. They are Americans one and all. They need our
compassion. They deserve our respect.
Finally, let me say that the fight against AIDS is international
in scope. HIV knows no geographic boundaries.
It is found on
every continent and virtually every country. The World Health
Organization estimates that more than 18 million men, women, and
children are living with HIV around the world. The United states
is and will remain a full partner in the international effort to
fight the pandemic.
Q
6
�As a world leader, we have a moral and a national responsibility
to help developing nations with prevention programs, medical
care, and other vital services. We also have much to learn from
them. And when we do find the cure and the vaccine that we seek,
it will not only be a victory for America, it will be a victory
for the world.
When this country was in the throes of another sickness that
threatened to tear us apart -- the sickness of slavery -Frederick Douglas, the great American abolitionist,wrote:
"It is not light that is needed, but fire.
It is not
the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the
whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the
nation must be quickened. The conscience of the nation
must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be
startled."
Each of you have been the thunder and the lightening. Each of you
is helping to awaken the conscience of our nation. Our challenge
is to draw more of our citizens into our circle of hope.
Together, I am certain, we can change our future for the better.
Thank you and God bless you all.
7
�REMARKS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON HIV AND AIDS
THE WHITE HOUSE
DECEMBER 6, 1995
[Acknowledgements: Patsy Fleming, Secretary Shalala [other
Cabinet members?], Scott Hitt, distinguished guests.]
Let me first welcome each of you to this historic White House
Conference on HIV and AIDS. You are the frontline faces and
voices of our national commitment to conquer the devastating
disease known as AIDS.
I welcome you and I thank you, not only
for your participation here today but for the work you do every
day to improve the lives of the people of our nation and around
the world.
I'd also like to thank Dr. Hitt and the members of the
President's Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS for their work on
this critical issue and for suggesting that we convene this
meeting.
And I want to express my appreciation to the two extraordinary
Americans who have just shared the stories of their lives with
all of us.
It is the passion, the commitment, and, yes, the
anger of people like Sean Sasser and Eileen Mitzman that remind
us all of the extraordinary courage it takes to hold on to hope
as we continue to even the odds in this struggle.
Each generation of Americans has faced an important challenge
that has, in many ways, defined their time here on earth.
For my
parents' generation, World War Two was that defining moment,
unifying a nation against a common· foe.
For my own generation,
the civil rights movement provided the focus and the drive of our
lives.
But for the generation of my own child and all of those
in her age group, the epidemic of HIV and AIDS may well be that
defining challenge.
My daughter and her friends are growing up in the shadow of
something we could never have imagined. They.are coming of age
in world in which AIDS is a very sobering reality.
That reality has already changed the lives of all of us in this
room.
It has taken from us to_o many friends and too many loved
ones much too soon.
It has shaken our faith in the future.
But
it has also brought us together.and inspired a community spirit
that strengthens our values as a nation.
It is our collective responsibility to rise to this challenge and
change the future for our ourselves, for our children, and for
their children. We can do this.
In fact, we must do this.
1
�I want to share with you the story of just one of the people who
is here today. Just one of the human faces and human voices of
AIDS.
It's the story of a young man who grew up in a typical American
suburb as part of a typical American family. He attended college
and became politically active. His quick mind and active spirit
marked him.as a "comer," and after graduating he joined the
Corporation for National Service to help start AmeriCorps.
It
was while he was working for Americorps that he found out he was
HIV-positive. He was 23 years old.
Demetri Moshoyannis took that news as a challenge. A challenge
to use his communication skills, his organizational skills, and
his leadership skills to educate and support his peers and help
them escape the fate that had been visited upon him.
It's that combination of heartbreak and hope that makes this
epidemic so unique. And it is what challenges all of us to
channel our energy and our talent into the fight to make AIDS a
thing of the past.
Ten days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that our nation has reached another sad milestone in the
AIDS epidemic. Half a million Americans have now been diagnosed
with AIDS and more than 300,000 men, women, and children have
already died of AIDS.
As we meet, on this day, 120 more Americans will lose their lives
to AIDS, another 220 people will be diagnosed with the disease
and nearly 140 people in this country will become infected with
HIV. And that will happen again tomorrow and the day after that
and the day after that.
It will continue to happen until we
succeed in our efforts to defeat this epidemic.
That is why this meeting is so important.
It is an opportunity
for us to refocus and reenergize our national commitment to
ending this epidemic. It is a time to rally our troops for the
fight ahead and arm them with the weapons they need to win this
battle. You and I have some important work to do.
We have a common goal -- a cure for all those who are living with
HIV and a vaccine to protect all of us from this deadly virus.
Let's be very clear on that. A cure and a vaccine are our number
one priority.
In my own lifetime, we have eliminated smallpox from our planet.
We have eliminated polio from our hemisphere. And we are within
striking distance of controlling measles. We must -- we must -find a way to rid our planet of the threat of HIV.
2
�--
-----------------------------,---------------
I am proud of the work we have done in these last three years to
infuse new resources, new focus, and new leadership into our AIDS
research effort. We have increased funding for AIDS research by
more than 25 percent. We have dramatically strengthened the
Office of AIDS Research and we have focused our work on basic
science and applied research so that we can concurrently unlock
the mysteries of HIV while we pursue treatment opportunities that
extend and improve the quality of the lives of people living with
HIV.
.
This investment in science has already paid tremendous dividends.
Today, people with HIV live twice as long as they did just ten
years ago. AIDS-related conditions that often meant a quick and
many times painful death for people living with HIV can now be
treated and even prevented.
And we have reason to believe that there will more progress in
the near future.
New classes of AIDS drugs are being approved
for use by the FDA that will help to restore the damaged immune
systems of people with HIV. Combination drug therapies are
showing great promise as a means for controlling the virus in the
human body.
And just last year we were able to show that the use of drug
therapy could actually block HIV transmission from mother to
child. Our scientists tell me that it is within our grasp to
virtually eliminate pediatric AIDS by the end of this decade.
This is neither science fiction nor a distant dream.
It can be
accomplished by offering all pregnant women HIV counseling and
testing and guaranteeing that they have access to the treatment
they need to protect their unborn children.
If we do this, we
can have a generation of Americans born without HIV. We can do
this -- and we will.
These advances have resulted in longer and fuller lives for
people living with HIV, but are they enough? Absolutely not!
must do more.
We
I am taking three steps today that I believe will move us forward
at a faster pace.
First, I am asking the Vice President to convene a meeting of
scientists and leaders of the pharmaceutical industry to identify
ways to accelerate the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and
microbicides that can protect people from HIV and the infections
it causes. There are no guarantees in science, but the
collective will of government and industry can overcome even the
biggest obstacles.
(.J
~~
(~econd,
I am asking br~tiam Pa~l, director of the Office of
\AIDS Research at NIH, to convene a permanent working group of
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�scientists from all parts of government to assure a coordinated
plan for AIDS research, including a coordinated research budget.
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Third, I am asking-AIDS Director Patsy Fle~ing to provide me with
1 1~
/ , - ~erly re~~on our progress on our search for a cure and an~-rw
(~, effect1ve va ~ or vaccines. No President can promise success ~~
1~~ in such an effort but I need to know what needs to be done to
I~~~
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move this along.
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Of course our work does not end in the laboratories of our great ~~
research institutions. It continues in the clinics and the
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hospitals and the doctors' offices around the country where
~
people with HIV and AIDS go for the care they need to survive, to ~
maintain their health, and to preserve their dignity. When we
~
make advances in science we must match those strides with
·
improvements in our delivery of health care.
For people with AIDS, the current discussions over a balanced
federal budget are not some distant political firefight.
Let me
talk for a few minutes about a subject that is very important to
me -- the future of Medicaid.
For people with AIDS, Medicaid is a lifeline of support.
Medicaid provides health care for nearly half of the 200,000
Americans who are living with AIDS including 90 percent of the
children.
It provides access to doctors, hospitals, prescription
drugs, and home care that allows people with HIV and AIDS to live
their lives more fully. Medicaid pays for the drugs that keep
HIV under control for longer and longer periods of time and it
pays for the drugs that prevent the infections that often end the
lives of those with AIDS. Medicaid pays for the care that allows
families to stay together.
Yet today, Medicaid is under attack by the Republican leaders in
Congress who want to slash its spending and eliminate the thirtyyear common ground commitment we have made to the poor, the
elderly, and those with disabilities. We cannot, we must not,
and I will not allow us to destroy this vital lifeline.
Medicaid cannot do the job alone. That's why we created the Ryan
White CARE Act to plug the holes in our health care system that
left many people with HIV and AIDS out in the cold. Last year,
more than 360,000 Americans received care under the Ryan White
Act.
When I ran for President, I promised to fully fund the CARE Act
and we have.
Funding has increased by 108 percent, more than
doubling the number of cities receiving funds and enabling every
state in the country to receive some level of assistance.
The CARE Act must be extended for another five years. Both
houses of Congress have approved legislation to accomplish this
4
�but final legislation remains stalled.
I am asking the Speaker
of the House and the Senate Majority Leader to make every effort
to get me a final bill by the end of this month so that I can
sign it and we can get on with the work ahead.
I am also fighting for the funding increases that 'I have
requested for the CARE Act as well as housing programs for people
with AIDS and our AIDS prevention programs at CDC.
I am concerned by the continued rate of new infections in this
country.
In the 1980s, we made important progress in reducing
the number of new infections by nearly 50 percent. But for the
last five years, the estimated number of infections has hovered
between 40,000 and 60,000 per year. We also know that as many as
half of those infections occur among people under the age of 25
and half are among teenagers. Any new infection is an
unnecessary infection.
I am setting a goal, today, of reducing
the number of new infections in the United States by half in the
next five years and to zero within the next decade.
Until we have a cure and a vaccine, education and prevention are
our best hope.
For prevention to work it must be targeted and it
must be sustained. We saw that at work in the gay community in
the 1980s, when activists overcame the inertia of their
government to protect their lives.
We must pay particular attention to two populations who are at
the center of this epidemic -- young people and those who abuse
drugs.
I was pleased to see the new public service announcements
released last week by Secretary Shalala. They point young people
toward the tools they need to protect themselves.
We also need to recognize that substance abuse treatment is a
form of HIV prevention. We must ensure that those who are
receiving drug treatment also receive AIDS prevention services at
the same time. We have increased the number of drug treatment
slots available in this country and I am working to convince the
Congress to approve our requests for money to bring that number
even higher.
I have also asked the CDC to convene a meeting of state and local
health officials and their counterparts on substance abuse to
develop an action plan to assure the integration of HIV
prevention and substance abuse prevention.
We cannot afford to freeze prevention funding -- as the
Republicans in Congress have proposed -~ because the epidemic
·cannot be frozen.
It will just grow and grow and grow.
We also cannot forget the basic human rights of people living
with HIV and AIDS. The stories of AIDS related discrimination
break the hearts of all Americans of conscience.
5
�:
BUDGET PLANNING
NOVEMBER 30, 1995
ISSUES FOR THIS WEEK AND NEXT
OVERALL:
1.
Veto of GOP Budget
2.
Release of Impact Statement Thursday morning
3.
Direct Lending Event Thursday 1:15 p.m.
Tyson involvement?
4.
Identify Real People and Specific Incidents -- (Sub-group/Silverman)
5.
Cabinet/Local Government Calls [Wednesday/Thursday]
HEALTH CARE:
1.
Shalala Speech Friday
2._
Elderly Women Report (Mrs. Clinton Speech)
3.
Provider Meeting with Panetta (Congressional Leaders)
Stakeout for validation of taking too much out
4.
Democratic Governors Meeting with POTUS on Medicaid
5.
Medicare/Medicaid State-by-State
6.
Medicare/Medicaid Walkthrough
7.
Nursing Home vs. Homes and Family Farms
8.
Disability Roundtable
··
9.
Tyson/Stiglitz on Block Grants and Economic Downturns
10.
Low-Income Medicare Recipients
ENVIRONMENTAL:
1.
Op-Eds
0
-Browner regional Op-Eds on 25th Anniversary of EPA
-Response Op-Ed to attacks on President's credibility
2.
Browner National Press Club Speech
TAX:
1.
1.
2.
Release of State-by-State and District-by-District Analysis
EITC vs. Capital Gain/Estate Tax
Exploding Tax Cut
-<:~if.
'-'· EDUCATION:
1.
Direct Lending briefing and paper
2.
Riley education speech TBD
3.
Improving America's School Act Conference next Monday-Wednesday Hosted by
DoEd, attended by 3000 educators w/Sec Riley.
30 November 1995
�THURS
11/30
BUDGET EVENTS OF THE DAY:
•
Direct Lending/Education Kunin and groups
•
VPOTUS meeting with Congressional Members and press conference
POTUS
London
VPOTUS
Meeting with Congressional Democrats and statement
CABINETIIGA
Cabinet conference calls with mayors
Cisneros National League of Cities
Bump up CBPP Study in press conference with Mayors
GROUPS
Panetta meeting with AHA at White House
HILL DEMOCRATS
Press Briefing-"Republican Agenda. for Medicare" w/Sens
Graham, Kennedy ,Rockefeller
Floor Sp/ Satellite/ Radio:"Republican proposals are reckless & extreme, an
assault on working families"
Press Conf-Effect of Republican Budget on States w/DemGovs (t)
Event-Mtg w/Natl Leadership Group on Sr Issues
FRI
. 12/1
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
Shalala Medicare/Medicaid Speech
•
POTUS
Travel to Ireland (through Dec.3)
GROUPS
Meeting with Disability groups [Room 180, 2:30p.m.]
..
'.
HILL DEMOCRATS
Floor Sp/ Satellite/ Radio:"Republican proposals are reckless &
extreme, an assault on working families"
Press Briefing-"Nursing Home Stds Lost in Republican Budget" w/Sen
Pryor et al
Press Conf-"Republican Agenda for Rural America"
2
30 November 1995
�SAT
12/2
POTUS
Ireland
MILESTONES
25th Anniversary of the EPA
SUN
12/3
POTUS:
Travel to Madrid; EU/US Summit, Madrid
Return to US
MON
12/4
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
POTUS Veto?
•
•
[If no veto today] Taxes event with Hill
POTUS
DC
VPOTUS
Travel to South Africa (through Dec.8)
TUE
12/5
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
POTUS
Congressional Ball;
Nickelodeon taping (t)
VPOTUS
South Africa
-~.
MILESTONES
40th year of AFL-CIO
I •
'.
3
30 November 1995
�WED
12/6
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
•
Medicare State-by-State
POTUS:
WH Conference on AIDS;
Pageant of Peace
VPOTUS
South Africa
THURS
1217
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
•
Browner Environment speech at National Press Club
POTUS
Budget meeting (daily through 22nd)
Interview with People magazine
VPOTUS
South Africa
FRI
12/8
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
POTUS:
Budget meeting (daily through 22nd)
President Dos Santos of Angola;
Oregon reception
VPOTUS
Return from South Africa
SAT
12/9
POTUS
Arkansas
SUN
12/10
POTUS
Arkansas (a.m.)
Christmas in Washington (p.m.)
4
30 November 1995
�MON
12/11
. I
.\
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
POTUS
Budget meeting; Holiday Reception
Mtg w/PM Peres of Israel
VPOTUS
Budget meeting
TUE
12/12
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
POTUS
Budget meeting;
Holiday Reception
Briefing & Interview
VPOTUS
Budget meeting
WED
12/13
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
POTUS
Holiday Reception
Budget meeting
~riefing & Interview
VPOTUS
Budget meeting
Prayer breakfast
THURS
12/14
:-4&.11.
•·
BUDGET EVENT OF THE DAY:
POTUS
Budget meeting
VPOTUS
Budget meeting
Enviro breakfast
5
30 November 1995
�FRI
12/15
DEADLINE FOR BUDGET AGREEMENT/CR
l·\
:~.
''
6
30 November 1995
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Terry Edmonds
Creator
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Office of Speechwriting
James (Terry) Edmonds
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1995-2001
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36090" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763294" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
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2006-0462-F
Description
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Terry Edmonds worked as a speechwriter from 1995-2001. He became the Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting in 1999. His speechwriting focused on domestic topics such as race relations, veterans issues, education, paralympics, gun control, youth, and senior citizens. He also contributed to the President’s State of the Union speeches, radio addresses, commencement speeches, and special dinners and events. The records include speeches, letters, memorandum, schedules, reports, articles, and clippings.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
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635 folders in 52 boxes
Text
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Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
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Title
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White House Conference on AIDS, Washington, D.C. 12-6-95 [4]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
James (Terry) Edmonds
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0462-F
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 9
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2006/2006-0462-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763294" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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Reproduction-Reference
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12/9/2014
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42-t-7763294-20060462F-009-006-2014
7763294