Washington, DC -- U.S. Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-Lorain), the top Democrat on the Commerce Health and Environment Subcommittee, today led the fight to pass a House and Senate compromise version of a measure to extend and improve services for people living with HIV/AIDS.  Brown said the Ryan White CARE Act Amendments of 2000 will now go to the President's desk to be signed into law.

    "The Ryan White CARE Act has been and continues to be the nation's most effective weapon against HIV/AIDS.  The United States has been well-served by the Act in two critical ways.  It combats the illness itself, and it combats the fear, prejudice and alienation that HIV/AIDS has engendered in this country," Brown said.

    The Ryan White CARE Act Amendments of 2000 originally passed the House in July.  The Senate passed a similar measure one month earlier.  Today's bill represents a compromise between the two versions that would continue the successful public-private partnership enabling community-based organizations to provide health care, counseling, and social services to low-income Americans with HIV and AIDS.  The CARE Act was passed in 1990 after the death of Ryan White, the young Indiana activist who fought for an end to discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS.

    "AIDS is set to kill more people worldwide than WWI, WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam War combined.  Those individuals committed to fighting AIDS on a global scale face the same kind of obstacles Ryan White faced two decades ago: ignorance, fear, apathy and the urgent need for resources.  Prevention is vital.  Treatment is vital.  The Ryan White programs are vital," Brown said.

    Brown noted that most of the 13th Congressional District is included in Ohio's only Title One Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA).  Title One funds provide health care, support services, and medications that have literally brought people back to life.  Whether people with HIV/AIDS live in the more rural areas like Medina County or in the more urban Elyria, the Ryan White CARE Act provides medical care, dental services, medications, alcohol and drug treatment, mental health services, and nutrition.