Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 10:30:46 -0400 From: Mary Ann Murphy Following is this month's sample letter on HIV/AIDS. It is for members on the House Appropriations Committee. The sample letter is for California residents, please modify for your own state. If you do send a letter, make a phone call or send an E-mail message on this issue please let us know. We need to know whether our efforts are effective. Esteban Torres's fax number (202)225-9711 June 12, 1995 The Hon. Esteban Torres The U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative Torres: I am writing to your in your capacity as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, and a member of the California Congressional delegation, to urge that you support full and adequate funding for all HIV/AIDS programs in Fiscal Year 1996 (FY 96) as well as in future years. What is full and adequate funding? To be honest, I can't give you exact dollar amounts, but there are two factors which must be included in any rational budget calculations. These are 1) the increasing scope of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as more and more persons are becoming HIV infected or develop full-blown AIDS and 2) inflation, especially as it relates to the cost of medical care (although I recognize that Medicaid appropriations are not the purview of your committee). I am most concerned about adequate funding for the following programs: The National Institutes of Health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS Act (HOPWA). The Ryan White Care Reauthorization Act of 1995, with merging of Titles I and II. Without research into effective treatments, as well as adequate and focused prevention education, HIV/AIDS will continue to be a growing human and economic burden on the United States. If we do not have full funding for appropriate treatment and care of HIV infected persons, intolerable burdens will fall on the entire health care system with negative effects for those suffering from other conditions. Our health care system would be overwhelmed by the number of persons needing care. Without adequate housing and related services, some cities will become burdened with increasing numbers of HIV+ street persons with all the attendant problems which this would entail. Full funding of the above named programs for FY 96 and thereafter would go a long way towards preventing these potential problems. I would also appreciate your contacting your committee colleagues from other states, and those on the appropriations subcommittees, to pass on my message. Thank you for considering my views. Yours truly,