Recognizing the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Minority AIDS Initiative.

Whereas the Minority AIDS Initiative was established on October 28, 1998, under the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus, to target funds for the awareness, prevention, testing, and treatment of HIV/AIDS toward racial and ethnic minority communities and toward community-based organizations and health care providers serving these communities;

Whereas HIV/AIDS is a devastating epidemic that continues to spread in communities throughout the United States;

Whereas there are more than 1,000,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States today;

Whereas there are more than 14,000 AIDS-related deaths every year in the United States;

Whereas approximately 1 in 4 of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States do not know they are infected;

Whereas racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS;

Whereas African-Americans account for about half of new AIDS cases, although approximately 13 percent of the population as a whole is Black, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that African-Americans accounted for 45 percent of new HIV infections in 2006;

Whereas Hispanic-Americans account for 19 percent of new AIDS cases, although only 15 percent of the population as a whole is Hispanic, and the CDC estimates that Hispanic-Americans accounted for 17 percent of new HIV infections in 2006;

Whereas Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders account for 1 percent of new AIDS cases, and Native Americans and Alaskan Natives account for up to 1 percent of new AIDS cases;

Whereas approximately 70 percent of new AIDS cases are racial and ethnic minorities;

Whereas the CDC recently released new estimates of HIV infection, which indicate that approximately 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in the United States in 2006;

Whereas these new estimates are approximately 40 percent higher than the CDC’s previous estimates of 40,000 new infections per year;

Whereas the CDC’s data confirms that the most severe impact continues to be among gay and bisexual men of all races, and Black men and women;

Whereas the purpose of the Minority AIDS Initiative is to enable community based organizations and health care providers in minority communities to improve their capacity to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate HIV/AIDS care and services;

Whereas concerned Members of Congress, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the Congressional Hispanic Conference, continue to support the Minority AIDS Initiative;

Whereas the Minority AIDS Initiative continues to provide funding to community-based organizations, research institutions, minority-serving colleges and universities, health care organizations, State and local health departments, correctional institutions, and other providers of health information and services to help such entities address the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the minority populations they serve;

Whereas Congress codified the Minority AIDS Initiative within the most recent reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act;

Whereas the Minority AIDS Initiative fills gaps in HIV/AIDS outreach, awareness, prevention, treatment, surveillance, and infrastructure across communities of color; and

Whereas, October 28, 2008, is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Minority AIDS Initiative: Now, therefore, be it