Allen.Uebele@p0.f69.n154.z1.fidonet.org (Allen Uebele) (10/02/90)
ACTUP - Milwaukee circulated through the Wisconsin AIDS Walk to distribute
the following letter to the crowd to receive signatures and support. All of
the signed letters will be delivered to Senator Kasten's office on October 1,
1990. We urge you to read the letter and send it to Mr. Kasten to help
convince him that the Wisconsin community insists upon his support.
Senator Robert Kasten 517 E. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53202
Senator Kasten:
I am writing to demand full funding for the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS
Resource Emergency (CARE) Act. This CARE Act, also called the Kennedy-Hatch
bill during congressional deliberations, was enacted to provide disaster
relief to 16 cities with more than 2,000 AIDS cases and block grant funding
to all 50 states. In May, this Act was approved at $875 million for the
federal fiscal year beginning Octo- ber 1, 1990.
Unfortunately, signing this bill into law did not guarantee any funding for
it. It is now the role of the appropriations and budget process to see that
this law receives full funding. Senator Harkin's current proposal to fund
the CARE Act for only $110 million is gross- ly inadequate. This amount would
fund little more than the existing AZT reimbursement program and would
provide no disaster relief to cities. Similarly, Senator Adams' proposal to
boost this amount to
$300 million also reveals a willingness, on the part of the Senate,
to "gut" this law of its power.
The AIDS epidemic needs to be seriously addressed by the federal government
now! As the AIDS case load in Milwaukee doubles this year, federal funding
to the city is being cut by 20%. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in
Atlanta estimates that 1,000,000 people are currently infected with HIV in
the United States. If the federal government remains unwilling to pay for
this crisis now, it will certainly be forced to pay much more later.
I expect you to use you position on the Senate Appropriations Commit- tee to
fight for the immediate full funding of the Ryan White CARE Act. As one of
your constituents, I wish to be informed of you actions regarding this
matter.
Sincerely,
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