Congresswoman Lee was honored this evening for her work on HIV/AIDS with an HIV/AIDS Community Service Award from the Alameda County Office of AIDS and the African American State of Emergency Task Force.

The HIV/AIDS Community Service Awards Program recognizes individuals who have been active and committed to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. In 1998, Congresswoman Lee joined a community wide effort to address Alameda County's African American AIDS crisis. This effort led to the declaration of a State of Emergency on HIV/AIDS in Alameda County, which resulted in an increase of over $5 million in local HIV/AIDS care and services funding.

AI want to thank the African American Task Force and the Alameda County Health Department=s Office of AIDS for this award,@ said Lee. AI thank you for your commitment and applaud your diligence in fighting HIV/AIDS. In my eyes, you are our warriors in the war against AIDS at home and world-wide. I humbly accept this generous HIV/AIDS Community Service Award, knowing that our work has just begun.@

In the three years since Alameda County declared a public health emergency, HIV/AIDS prevention resources and efforts have been widely expanded and infection rates in the African American community are slowly decreasing AHIV can be prevented and AIDS is a manageable disease. We must do all we can to eradicate both from the face of the earth,@ said Lee. ADeclaring a State of Emergency places the right emphasis on the fighting the HIV/AIDS crisis. It is beginning to work in Alameda County and other communities throughout the country could benefit by following Alameda=s example.@

In June of this year, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Task Force on Global HIV/AIDS joined the CBC to call on the Bush Administration to declare a State of Emergency in minority communities as it relates to HIV/AIDS.

AThe urgency to call for a State of Emergency on HIV/AIDS in Minority communities is clear,@ said Lee. ARacial and ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionately impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, and we need to direct our resources towards those communities hit hardest.@