For Immediate Release: 
February 7, 2025

[email protected] 

Congresswoman Waters Honors National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee and a congressional leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, issued the following statement today in recognition of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which is celebrated every year on February 7: 

"National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is a day set aside to increase HIV awareness and enhance prevention, testing, and treatment among African Americans, and also to recognize the progress that has been made in the ongoing fight to combat this horrible illness.

"Throughout my career, I have been a strong advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, screening, and treatment, with a particular emphasis on the minority communities that have borne the brunt of the disease. I began my work on HIV/AIDS during the 1980s while I was in the California State Assembly, where I introduced legislation to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African Americans. During that time, I worked with early AIDS activists in the Black community to ensure that organizations serving African Americans living with HIV/AIDS would have funding. I especially enjoyed working with Archbishop Carl Bean, who founded the Minority AIDS Project in Los Angeles in 1985; Dr. Wilbert Jordan, who established the Oasis Clinic for AIDS patients in South Los Angeles; and Phil Wilson, who became an AIDS activist following his HIV diagnosis in the early 1980s and went on to establish the Black AIDS Institute.

"As a Member of the U.S. Congress, I spearheaded the establishment of the Minority AIDS Initiative, which has significantly expanded HIV/AIDS prevention, screening, and treatment efforts among racial and ethnic minorities and reduced AIDS disparities. I am proud to report that funding for this critical initiative has increased from the initial appropriation of $156 million in Fiscal Year 1999 to more than $400 million per year today. 

"While we have made progress, we must not forget the challenges we continue to face. During the previous Congress, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives proposed drastic cuts in HIV/AIDS funding. They proposed slashing $767 million from domestic HIV/AIDS programs in Fiscal Year 2024, including the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, and the Minority AIDS Initiative. These cuts would have needlessly endangered our nation's progress toward the eradication of HIV. That is why I circulated a letter to the House Appropriations Committee supporting robust funding for these domestic HIV/AIDS programs. My letter was signed by 60 Members of Congress. Fortunately, we were successful in stopping these cuts and ensuring that these critical programs received as much funding in Fiscal Year 2024 as they did the previous year. 

"While Fiscal Year 2025 funding for essential HIV/AIDS programs is yet to be determined, and we can only imagine the challenges we will face in the coming year with the new administration, we must continue to fight. We must rededicate ourselves to stopping the spread of this devastating disease, caring for those who are infected, and searching for a cure. We must never give up until we put an end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic once and for all."

Contact: [email protected]

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