Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 51, Ed. 1 Friday, April 19, 1991 Page: 3 of 32
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House's proposal on AIDS is $200 million higher than
President's, but advocates claim it's still not enough
By Cliff O’Neill
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House
of Representatives approved its version
of the federal 1992 budget on
Wednesday, asking for $188 million
more in AIDS funding than that
proposed by President Bush but still
falling far short of the $3 billion favored
by the nation’s leading AIDS
organizations.
“This certainly is a positive first
step,” commented Dan Bross, executive
director of the AIDS Action Council.
D.C. REPORT
“Now we have to go through the
appropriations committees. This is the
first step in a long process.”
The House budget resolution,
approved by the full chamber on a 335-
89 vote, outlines $2.1 billion in AIDS
spending for the Public Health Service
for fiscal year 1992, a $188 million
increase over the Bush Administration’s
$1.95 billion budget request. Additional
funding for the AIDS activities of the
Departments of Defense, Education,
Veteran’s Administration and Labor are
also in the budget resolution, but
normally are not counted as part of the
AIDS spending package sought by the
AIDS groups.
But even the House’s higher figures
on AIDS spending targets, advocates say,
are far below the amount needed to
effectively battle the epidemic.
“It’s moving in the right direction,"
Bross remarked, “but with this, we’re
still not looking at full funding of the
Ryan White CARE bill. I hate to sound
like a broken record, but last year
Congress declared AIDS a national
emergency. But then last year they failed
to fully fund it and they continue to fail
to fully fund it.”
The CARE (Comprehensive AIDS
Emergency Resources) Act, passed by
Congress and signed by President Bush
last summer, channels federal funds to
cities and areas hard-hit by the
epidemic, including Dallas. The measure
also funds a number of disease
prevention and early intervention
programs.
In the shadow of last summer’s
congressional budget fracas, however,
the bill was only partially funded for
fiscal year 1991 and, under both the
Bush and House plans, would only
receive partial funding again in 1992.
Dallas officials were informed last
week that its grant proposal for a second
round of funding from the CARE Act was
ranked last of 16 proposals submitted.
Under this program of the CARE bill,
Dallas will receive about $400,000, or
only about half of what officials had
hoped to receive.
Dallas also was automatically set to
receive $980,000 in CARE funding from
another aspect of the program. That
funding is not threatened by last week’s
announcement.
Over 150 public interest groups,
mobilizing under the coalition banner of
the National Organizations Responding
to AIDS (NORA), have called on
Congress to fund the Public Health
Service’s AIDS programs in fiscal 1992 to
the tune of $3 billion, emphasizing the
need for full funding of the CARE bill.
Although the CARE bill is not
mentioned by name in the House
budget package, the resolution does
contain statements noting the rising
number of AIDS cases and the need for
Steve Smith . . . Human Rights Cam-
paign Fund Lobbyist says of House
proposal, "It's not what we would like,
and we're still going to try to get more."
an adequate federal response.
In channeling more funds to the
battle against AIDS, House budget
committee members were limited by last
year’s budget agreement which barred
them from taking money from defense
programs and foreign aid to increase
funding for domestic spending. Hence,
in upping federal funding for AIDS,
committee members were limited to
reshuffling priorities in the Bush budget,
taking funds from NASA space
exploration programs to fund other
domestic initiatives.
“The House’s budget resolution is
better than the President’s proposal,”
judged Steve Smith, lobbyist for the
Human Rights Campaign Fund. “It’s not
what we would like, and we’re still
trying to get more.”
With approval by the full House, the
House Appropriations Committee, under
the chairmanship of Rep. James Whitten
(D-Miss.), will now use the proposal as
an outline to set spending limits for each
of the several appropriations sub-
committees.
“Until we know how much money
we’re talking about, it’s hard to know
how much AIDS is going to get in the
end,” commented Steve Morin, an aide
to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Once figures are outlined by the full
committee, AIDS budget requests still
must compete with a number of
programs related to other diseases, such
as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes
and cancer. ▼
Planning meeting called for possible D.C. march
A national planning meeting has
been called in Washington in mid-May
to discuss the possibility of a future
march on Washington for lesbian and
gay civil rights.
The meeting will be held May 11-12
and is open to all interested individuals,
activists and organizations.
The meeting will be held at the
Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert
Street N.W. in Washington. Sessions are
planned from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
Saturday, March 11 and 10 a.m. to 3
p.m. on Sunday, March 12.
The meeting is a follow-up to a
March 9 meeting held in Washington at
the call of the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force. On that day, more than 100
lesbians and gays from across the
country met to discuss interest in
another national event. The last March
on Washington was held in October
1987, drawing about a half-million
citizens to the nation's capital in support
of gay and lesbian rights.
At the March 9 meeting, participants
.f - '
ML MARCH ON WASHINGTON If
LESBIAN AND GAV RIGHTS
HHttwi
To march or not to march? That's the question to be discussed at an open meeting in
Washington in mid-May. The last March (pictured above) drew a half-million citizens
to the nation's capital in October 1987.
agreed that another, broader session was
indicated in order to involve a more
diverse group of people in the decision-
making process, organizers said. In
addition, meetings are being held in
localities across the nation in an attempt
to better gauge interest in another
march. The mid-May meetings are free.
Discount airline and hotel reservations
are available by calling 1-800-832-2889.
Those unable to attend the meeting
are invited to submit an oral or written
proposal to NGLTF. The organization
can be contacted by writing 1734 14th
St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009-4309 or
by calling 1-800-832-2889. ▼
DALLAS VOICE
APRIL 19, 1991
3
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 51, Ed. 1 Friday, April 19, 1991, newspaper, April 19, 1991; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth615766/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.