119-hres331

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 331 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 331

Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness 
 Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 10, 2025

Mr. Pocan (for himself, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. 
 Evans of Pennsylvania, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, 
Mr. Nadler, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Simon, Ms. Waters, Mrs. 
 Watson Coleman, and Ms. Johnson of Texas) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness 
 Day''.

Whereas ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day'' is a nationwide observance 
 that calls on people to take action to invest in the health, education, 
 and leadership of young people;
Whereas, more than 40 years into the epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control 
 and Prevention estimates that in the United States more than 1,189,700 
 people are living with HIV, and 30,635 people were diagnosed with HIV in 
 the United States in 2020;
Whereas, in 2020, youth aged 13 to 24 years composed 20 percent of all new HIV 
 diagnoses in the United States;
Whereas young people living with HIV are the least likely of any age group to be 
 retained in care and have a suppressed viral load;
Whereas 56 percent of young people living with HIV ages 13 to 24 are unaware of 
 their HIV status;
Whereas African-American youth are most impacted by the epidemic, representing 
 54 percent of new transmissions in young people ages 13 to 24;
Whereas young African-American gay and bisexual men are even more severely 
 affected, representing 53 percent (2,740) of new HIV diagnoses among 
 young gay and bisexual men;
Whereas young gay and bisexual men accounted for 84 percent (5,161) of all new 
 HIV diagnoses in people aged 13 to 24 in 2020;
Whereas the National HIV/AIDS Strategy expands the fact that youth experience 
 worse HIV outcomes on status awareness, pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake, 
 and health outcomes;
Whereas the National HIV/AIDS Strategy recommends children and young adults with 
 HIV need tailored and often more intensive medical and support services 
 to support them as they grow and become young adults;
Whereas the Division of Adolescent and School Health is the only Federal program 
 supporting HIV prevention for adolescents in schools;
Whereas the Nation's largest Federal program dedicated to providing care and 
 treatment for people living with HIV was named after Ryan White, a 
 teenager from Indiana who helped educate a Nation about HIV and AIDS in 
 the 1980s;
Whereas the Ryan White Part D Program is one of the national efforts to link 
 young people living with HIV to medical care and support services;
Whereas the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides youth, including 
 those living with or impacted by HIV and AIDS, better access to health 
 care coverage, more health insurance options, additional funding for sex 
 education, a prohibition against denying people living with HIV access 
 to health care, and expanded access to Medicaid which will support more 
 young people living with HIV receiving care; and
Whereas April 10 of each year is now recognized as ``National Youth HIV/AIDS 
 Awareness Day'': Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

    (1) supports the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/
 AIDS Awareness Day'';

    (2) encourages State and local governments, including their 
 public health agencies, education agencies, schools, and media 
 organizations to recognize and support such a day;

    (3) supports young people's right to education, prevention, 
 treatment, and care, and to live without criminalization, 
 discrimination, oppression, and stigma;

    (4) promotes up-to-date, inclusive, culturally responsible, 
 and medically accurate information about HIV, such as pre-
 exposure prophylaxis PreP, in sex education curricula to ensure 
 that all young people are educated about HIV, as called for in 
 the National HIV/AIDS Strategy;

    (5) supports removal of HIV laws that are scientifically 
 inaccurate and unfairly criminalize young people living with 
 HIV for behaviors that are consensual or have no risk of 
 transmission;

    (6) urges youth-friendly and accessible health care 
 services, especially access to medications such as pre-exposure 
 prophylaxis, post-exposure prophylaxis, and antiretroviral 
 therapy without parental consent, to better provide for the 
 early identification of HIV through voluntary routine testing, 
 and to connect those in need to clinically and culturally 
 appropriate care and treatment as early as possible;

    (7) supports the increase of funding for programs that 
 support people impacted by and living with HIV, including the 
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of 
 Adolescent and School Health, the Division of STD Prevention, 
 and the Division of HIV Prevention, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS 
 Program, the Medicaid program, AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, 
 and programs that support medical mentorship, peer navigation, 
 educating communities on testing and treatment options, and 
 people accessing PrEP, and ensure a smoother transition to 
 adult HIV care;

    (8) recommends a comprehensive prevention and treatment 
 strategy that empowers young people, parents, public health 
 workers, educators, faith leaders, and other stakeholders to 
 fully engage with their communities and families to help 
 decrease violence, discrimination, and stigma toward 
 individuals who disclose their sexual orientation or HIV 
 status;

    (9) calls for a generation free of HIV stigma in a manner 
 that prioritizes youth leadership and development in order to 
 ensure youth involvement in decisions which impact their health 
 and well-being as well as advance a pipeline for the next 
 generation of HIV and AIDS doctors, advocates, educators, 
 researchers, and other professionals; and

    (10) recognizes the direct impact from harmful legislative 
 efforts seeking to restrict bodily autonomy for young people, 
 such as restrictions on abortion and birth control access and 
 bans on transgender health care, which negatively impact youth 
 access to nonstigmatizing HIV prevention, education, 
 confidential testing and treatment, and increases risk for 
 criminalization.
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