Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 18:51:30 -0400 From: Kevin Ivers Subject: GOP Congress Moves Ahead on Ryan White CARE Act LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Kevin Ivers April 10, 2000 (202) 347-5306 x12 GOP CONGRESS MOVES AHEAD ON RYAN WHITE CARE ACT Work Begins on Federal AIDS Program Reauthorization (WASHINGTON) The Republican-controlled House and Senate have both begun work on reauthorizing the Ryan White CARE Act, the federal mechanism of support for local and state care and treatments programs for people with HIV/AIDS. The bill, first sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and passed in 1990, was reauthorized in the 104th Congress in 1996, and is up again for reauthorization this year, led by Senator Jim Jeffords (R-VT), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and Congressman Tom Coburn (R-OK), vice-chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment. Over the course of its majority in Congress, the GOP leadership has pushed through funding increases far above President Clinton's budget requests each successive year since 1995. The 1996 reauthorization responded to the changing face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, ensuring greater equity in funding for rural areas and non-urban states. In House and Senate proposals, released in recent days, Congress plans to move more decisively in shaping the Ryan White CARE Act to address the most pressing needs of people with HIV/AIDS over the next five years -- putting priority in saving and extending lives over preserving outdated and inefficient bureaucracies. For detailed analysis by LCR of the GOP House and Senate Ryan White proposals, visit the LCR website at http://www.lcr.org. Log Cabin Republicans is the nation's largest gay Republican organization, with state and local chapters nationwide, a full-time Washington office and a federal political action committee. ### -- Log Cabin Republicans Kevin Ivers (202) 347-5306 phone Director of Public Affairs (202) 347-5224 fax http://www.lcr.org