CARE ACT FUNDING THREAT; LOBBYING HELP NEEDED

The Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act of
1990, passed by large majorities in Congress and recently
signed into law by President Bush, provides $780 million in
emergency impact aid to cities and states heavily affected by
the epidemic. But while this bill authorizes the expenditure, the
money must also be appropriated in a separate legislative
process. On September 12, the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee of Labor, HHS and Education approved a budget
plan funding only $110 million of the $780 million authorized --
essentially continuing funding for AZT, but starting no new
programs. Part of the remaining funds could be added next
year.

The original bill, introduced by Senators Edward Kennedy
(Democrat -- Massachusetts) and Orrin Hatch (Republican -- Utah),
had included $275 million as disaster relief to 16 U.S. cities
which have been especially hurt by the decade-long epidemic.
In a statement addressing the cut, San Francisco Mayor Art
Agnos said, "I understand that we are responding to the
invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, but America is also facing its own
invasion by a killer virus that is wiping out tens of thousands of
lives. . . Today, nine years into the AIDS epidemic, we are still
waiting for a meaningful response from Washington."

In addition to San Francisco, the cities slated for help were
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, Jersey
City, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, San
Diego, San Juan, and Washington, DC. As chair of the AIDS Task
Force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Agnos sent telegrams to
fellow mayors facing the loss, urging them to lobby for support
of an amendment by Senator Brock Adams (Democrat --
Washington) to restore full funding of the bill. An editorial in
The New York Times, September 14, also called on the Senate
Committee on Appropriations to reverse the decision.

Senator Adams likened the epidemic to other natural
disasters, noting that tornadoes and earthquakes would never
have to wait "another year" for a national response.

The funding could be restored by the full Committee on
Appropriations, by the full Senate, or by the House/Senate
conference which will occur later. No one knows when these
votes will occur, because the schedule will depend on the
current "budget summit" meeting between Congress and the
White House.

The most important Senators are those on the Committee on
Appropriations: Adams, Bumpers, Burdick, Byrd, Cochran,
D'Amato, DeConcini, Domenici, Fowler, Garn, Gramm, Grassley,
Harkin, Hatfield, Hollings, Inouye, Johnston, Kasten, Kerrey,
Lautenberg, Leahy, McClure, Mikulski, Nickles, Reid, Rudman,
Sasser, Specter, and Stevens. If you are a resident of any state
represented by one of the above Senators, then your call to his
or her office will be especially important.

Because the legislative picture keeps changing, you might
want to call an expert AIDS organization to get current
information. Any of the following could help: AIDS Action
Council, 202/293-2886; Human Rights Campaign Fund, 202/628-4160;
Mobilization Against AIDS, 415/863-4676; or National Minority
AIDS Council, 202/544-1076.