Washington, DC -  While some Senators continued to deny New York City and Brooklyn needed HIV/AIDS dollars, Congressman Edolphus "Ed" Towns, 10th District of New York expressed "real disappointment" in the year-long process to reauthorize the Ryan White Act -- the law that funds medical care for those afflicted with HIV/AIDS.  Despite passing the House 325-98, Congressmen Towns and Engle led the fight to keep most of the New York House Delegation together.

You bring up New York...pat us on the back for 9/11, then you extend our suffering by cutting off the very lifeline for many working people in New York who depend upon Ryan White dollars for their prescription drugs and medical care," Congressman Towns said.  Mr. Towns said that the potential loss of millions of dollars is a "death sentence" for thousands of New Yorkers.  "The real problem is that the President and the Congress will not authorize enough funds to handle an older population in urban areas and a growing HIV/AIDS population in the South.  Mr. Towns asked that the bill be removed from suspension so it could be amended from the House floor.  He also personally contacted House Members on the floor in an attempt to defeat the bill.  "I did all that I could to defeat this bill.  Now we will to make sure that Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx get our fair share of the dollars that we do get." 

"We strongly encouraged Members to vote NO on H.R. 6143, Ryan White reauthorization.  Many Members have worked closely for a year to reauthorize the Ryan White Care Act.  However, the funding formula is still not right for New York."  The bill will "destabilize established systems of care and particularly affect community-based health facilities that provide care for African Americans, Latinos and in states with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS," Congressman Towns said. 

Congressman Towns proposed an additional $460 million in funds for New York and other areas that may be harmed by the Ryan White Reauthorization.  The Amendment failed by one vote in the Energy and Commerce Committee.  The funds would have increased 3.7 percent for each fiscal year 2008-2011.  In addition, Mr. Towns has also proposed the inclusion of community-based organizations that serve persons infected by HIV/AIDS through intravenous drug use in the grants section of the Act.  This Amendment passed the Committee unanimously.

During the long fight for adequate funding for New York, Congressman Towns asked Congress to remember that, New York has "historically borne the brunt of the HIV and AIDS epidemic.  We have also provided the best services in the country for people with HIV and AIDS in the nation.  Yet we will probably be the biggest losers in the proposed reauthorization." New York bears a disproportionate share of the epidemic with 17 percent of all persons living with AIDS but seven percent of the U.S. population. 

Mr. Towns fought for the inclusion of the Minority Aids Initiative (MAI) into the Ryan White reauthorization.  The MAI is a competitive grant program previously separate from the Ryan White Act, targeted to enhance the effectiveness of efforts to reduce the epidemic in racial and ethnic minority communities.  "It is critical to make sure that the MAI continues to be a part of the Ryan White Act.  We must formalize the process of helping people of color with HIV AIDS," said Cong. Towns. 

At 39.7 per 100,000, New York’s annual rate of new AIDS cases in 2004 was the highest of any jurisdiction other than the District of Columbia.  The epidemic in New York is dominated by HIV/AIDS in people of color.  More than 75 percent of living HIV/AIDS cases in New York State are persons of color. 

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