Action Alert - 1/13/03

Congress to Pass FY03 Budget Soon; Calls Needed to Ensure AIDS Funding Increases

Take Action: Contact U.S. Senators Peter Fitzgerald and Dick Durbin and your House Representative on Wednesday, January 15. Call the Capitol switchboard toll-free at 1-800-648-3516 and ask to be transferred to their offices.

Don't know who your representative is? Call 1-888-868-3762 or visit http://www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml.

Leave this Message: “Please encourage your colleagues on the appropriation committee and in the House and Senate leadership to ensure that final negotiations of the FY03 budget include much needed funding increases for AIDS prevention, global AIDS, and Ryan White CARE Act programs, including the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.”

Background: As members of the 108th Congress convened for the first time this week in Washington, DC, Republicans assumed majority control of the Senate and retained a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Among members' top priorities this month will be to complete FY03 budget negotiations. Congressional leaders may seek passage for a massive appropriations package, known as an “omnibus bill,” establishing annual funding levels for a broad array of federal programs. Under this scenario, Congress would likely consider the President's 2003 budget—which contained no funding increases for domestic and global AIDS prevention and care programs—as the blueprint for final funding amounts. Level funding would spell disaster for AIDS programs already dangerously under-funded and at or above capacity.

Members of Congress may have opportunities to weigh in with the leadership and appropriators regarding funding increases for specific programs before the final budget is passed, but constituents must communicate their priorities now. Your calls can make a difference. A nationwide coalition of AIDS organizations and advocates is mobilizing on Wednesday, January 15 to urge Congress to prioritize HIV/AIDS funding for FY03 and FY04 budgets. Advocates will be calling their members of Congress while others will be meeting with the House and Senate leadership and appropriators on Capitol Hill and in local district offices.

Be part of the grassroots movement to gain increased funding for critical AIDS programs, and encourage your friends, family members, colleagues, and clients to join your efforts on January 15. For more information, contact Sara Schmitt at 312-922-2322.