Text of US HR 1039 (2026)

IV 119TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 1039 Supporting the goals and ideals of ‘‘National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 4, 2026 Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. GARCIA of California, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. NORTON, Ms. WIL- LIAMS of Georgia, Mr. MFUME, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. CARSON, Ms. SIMON, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mrs. MCIVER, Ms. SEWELL, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BELL, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. THANEDAR, Mrs. GRIJALVA, Ms. FRIEDMAN, and Mr. TAKANO) sub- mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce RESOLUTION Supporting the goals and ideals of ‘‘National Black HIV/ AIDS Awareness Day’’. Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this preamble referred to as CDC) estimated that in the United States, more than 1,200,000 people are living with human immunodeficiency virus (in this preamble re- ferred to as HIV), and 13 percent do not know they are infected; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HRES 1039 IH Whereas, in the United States, more than 700,000 people with HIV/AIDS have died since the beginning of the epi- demic; Whereas, in 2022, there were an estimated 31,800 new HIV infections in the United States, including about 11,900 African-Americans; Whereas, since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, African-Americans have been dis- proportionately affected by the disease; Whereas Black Americans affected by HIV/AIDS are con- fronted with greater barriers in accessing care and treat- ment and face higher morbidity and mortality outcomes than whites; Whereas Black Americans represent only 12 percent of the population of the United States, but they account for 39 percent of new HIV diagnoses, 40 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS, and 43 percent of deaths among people with HIV/AIDS; Whereas the rate of new HIV diagnoses among Black Ameri- cans is about 8 times that of whites; Whereas Black women account for about half of new HIV di- agnoses among women; Whereas Black young people account for about half of new HIV diagnoses among young people ages 13 to 24; Whereas, in 2021, HIV was the eighth-leading cause of death for Black men and for Black women ages 25 to 34; Whereas Black gay and bisexual men have been dispropor- tionately impacted by HIV/AIDS in the United States; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HRES 1039 IH Whereas Black gay and bisexual men account for 49 percent of all Black people living with HIV and 30 percent of all gay and bisexual men living with HIV; Whereas homophobia, stigma, religious trauma, and discrimi- nation pose major obstacles to HIV testing, treatment, and prevention services for gay and bisexual Black Amer- ican men; Whereas the disproportionate incarceration rates of Black men may contribute to the disproportionate rates of HIV transmissions among Black men and Black women; Whereas transgender women, including Black transgender women, in the United States are at high risk for HIV; Whereas socioeconomic issues impact the rates of HIV trans- mission among African-Americans throughout the United States; Whereas socioeconomic factors like income inequality, pov- erty, and lack of access to HIV prevention education and basic health services, and cultural factors like homophobia, transphobia, and racism all pose significant challenges to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic; Whereas the epidemic of community and interpersonal vio- lence that communities most impacted by HIV experience disproportionately fuels the HIV epidemic; Whereas the United States is seeing signs of progress in com- bating the HIV/AIDS epidemic; Whereas, between 2010 and 2022, there has been a 12-per- cent decline in the number of new HIV diagnoses in the United States overall and a 22-percent decline in the number of new HIV diagnoses among Black Americans; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HRES 1039 IH Whereas culturally competent outreach, testing, education, counseling, and harm reduction practices are all critical to prevent HIV; Whereas lifesaving treatment is also a proven prevention tool, and research shows that antiretroviral drugs can reduce the amount of virus to undetectable levels (also known as viral suppression), effectively resulting in no risk of transmission of HIV; Whereas, in 2012, the Food and Drug Administration ap- proved preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as prevention for people who are HIV-negative; Whereas PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV transmission for HIV-negative people by up to 99 percent; Whereas, in 1998, Congress and the Clinton administration created the Minority AIDS Initiative to help coordinate funding, build capacity, and provide prevention, care, and treatment services within the African-American, His- panic, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American com- munities; Whereas the Minority AIDS Initiative assists with leadership development of community-based organizations (CBOs), builds community prevention infrastructure, promotes technical assistance among CBOs, and raises awareness among minority communities; Whereas 2025 marks the 27th year of the Minority AIDS Initiative, which has successfully established lifesaving services and programs to address the needs of minority communities, families, and individuals most impacted and burdened by HIV; Whereas studies show that diversity in health care leadership can enhance quality of care, quality of life in the work- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HRES 1039 IH place, community relations, health communication, and the ability to positively affect community health status; Whereas greater cultural competency of health care providers is associated with increased quality and equity of HIV care; Whereas AIDS service organizations have played a vital role in responding to the HIV epidemic, yet many are plagued by an underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in leadership positions; Whereas research on community empowerment suggests that health outcomes are improved when individuals are en- gaged in advancing the health of their own communities and working with their peers and partners in health pro- motion and services; Whereas a focus on equity in the provision of services sug- gests a diverse public health workforce can help sustain much-needed attention to community-identified priorities and raise the responsiveness of the health care system to diverse populations; Whereas, in 2010, the Obama administration unveiled the first National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which identified a set of priorities and strategic action steps tied to measurable outcomes for moving the Nation forward in addressing the domestic HIV epidemic; Whereas, in 2021, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States (2022–2025) was released and included ac- tions and goals in order to reduce HIV-related disparities and inequalities; Whereas when people living with HIV are on treatment and have an undetectable viral load, they protect their own VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HRES 1039 IH health, they cannot transmit HIV to their sexual part- ners, and their HIV is untransmittable; Whereas the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid and reforms to the individual insurance market have helped lower the uninsured rates for nonelderly African- Americans, leading to better health outcomes for African- Americans living with or at risk of HIV; Whereas ‘‘National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day’’ was founded to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS among Black Americans and provide capacity-building assistance to Black communities and organizations; and Whereas, each year on February 7, individuals, organizations, and policymakers across the Nation participate in ‘‘Na- tional Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day’’ to promote HIV education, testing, community involvement, and treat- ment in Black communities: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) supports the goals and ideals of ‘‘National 2 Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day’’; 3 (2) encourages State and local governments, in- 4 cluding their public health agencies, and media orga- 5 nizations to recognize and support such day, to pub- 6 licize its importance among their communities, and 7 to encourage individuals, especially African-Ameri- 8 cans, to get tested for HIV; 9 (3) commends the work of AIDS service organi- 10 zations, community-based organizations, faith-based 11 organizations, health care providers, community 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HRES 1039 IH health centers, and health departments that are pro- 1 viding effective, culturally competent, evidence-based 2 prevention, treatment, care, and support services to 3 people living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS; 4 (4) supports the implementation of the National 5 HIV/AIDS Strategy and its goals to reduce new 6 HIV cases, increase access to care and treatment, 7 and improve health outcomes for people living with 8 HIV, reduce HIV-related disparities and health in- 9 equities, and achieve a more coordinated national re- 10 sponse to the HIV/AIDS epidemic; 11 (5) requests the Secretary of Health and 12 Human Services to prioritize the distribution of Mi- 13 nority AIDS Initiative grants to HIV-based agencies 14 that are minority led with preference given to orga- 15 nizations led by people who identify as African- 16 American/Black, Latino, American Indian/Alaska 17 Native, Asian-American, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific 18 Islander; 19 (6) supports reducing the impact of incarcer- 20 ation as a driver of new HIV transmission rates 21 within the African-American community; 22 (7) supports reducing the number of HIV 23 transmissions in the African-American community 24 resulting from intravenous drug use; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HRES 1039 IH (8) supports effective and comprehensive HIV 1 prevention education programs in order to promote 2 the early identification of HIV through voluntary 3 routine testing and to connect those in need to clini- 4 cally and culturally appropriate care and treatment 5 as early as possible; 6 (9) encourages State and local governments, in- 7 cluding their public health agencies, and community- 8 based organizations to share and disseminate that 9 when people living with HIV are on treatment and 10 have an undetectable viral load, they protect their 11 own health and they cannot transmit HIV to their 12 sexual partners; 13 (10) supports appropriate funding for HIV/ 14 AIDS prevention, care, treatment, research, and 15 housing, including community-based approaches to 16 fight stigma, discrimination, racism, sexism, 17 homophobia, and transphobia; 18 (11) encourages comprehensive prevention, 19 treatment, and care strategies that empower public 20 health workers, educators, faith leaders, and other 21 stakeholders to engage their communities to help de- 22 crease violence, discrimination, and stigma toward 23 individuals who disclose their sexual orientation, 24 gender identity, or HIV status; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HRES 1039 IH (12) encourages State, local, and Federal agen- 1 cies to consistently partner and formally engage with 2 network leaders comprised of subject matter experts 3 with lived experience to uphold the meaningful in- 4 volvement of people living with HIV as laid out in 5 the Denver Principles of 1983. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Feb 05, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR1039.IH HR1039 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB