By Davis of Dallas                                   H.C.R. No. 291
         76R16887 ELG-D                           
                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, More than one-third of all reported AIDS cases and
 1-2     43 percent of new AIDS cases are among African Americans, even
 1-3     though African Americans comprise only 12 percent of the population
 1-4     of the United States; and
 1-5           WHEREAS, While AIDS deaths have declined, due in large part
 1-6     to the availability of new pharmaceutical drugs, the rate of
 1-7     decline in the African American community has been much slower; and
 1-8           WHEREAS, AIDS is now the leading cause of death among African
 1-9     American men and women ages 25 to 44, far outpacing heart disease,
1-10     cancer, and homicide; and
1-11           WHEREAS, African American women account for 56 percent of
1-12     women living with AIDS and African American children account for 58
1-13     percent of children living with AIDS; and
1-14           WHEREAS, Nationwide, as many as 700,000 African Americans are
1-15     infected with HIV, and many do not even know that they are carrying
1-16     the AIDS virus; and
1-17           WHEREAS, The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources
1-18     Emergency (CARE) Act is the primary mode of funding for
1-19     HIV/AIDS-related prevention, treatment, and outreach services; and
1-20           WHEREAS, Federal appropriation increases in all titles of the
1-21     Ryan White CARE Act will be supplemented with increased state
1-22     appropriations, which will in turn increase access to care and
1-23     decrease HIV/AIDS-related mortality and morbidity in African
1-24     Americans; now, therefore, be it
 2-1           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
 2-2     hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
 2-3     reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act; and, be it further
 2-4           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
 2-5     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
 2-6     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
 2-7     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
 2-8     the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
 2-9     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
2-10     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.