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Coalition letter to Secretary Thompson requesting his support for targeted funding under the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative October 10, 2001
The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson
Dear Secretary Thompson, On behalf of the thousands of people affected by HIV/AIDS in metropolitan Chicago, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the undersigned AIDS service organizations urge you to support the targeted distribution of federal HIV/AIDS funding under the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative (MHAI). Specifically, we support report language that prioritizes the funding of, as well as provides a definition of, minority organizations that work in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Such language is critical to ensuring long-term success for the MHAI--a critical initiative created by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and actively supported by the CBC as well as by the Congressional Hispanic and Asian Pacific American Caucuses. We support such targeted funding because twenty years of fighting the AIDS epidemic in America have proven that to do otherwise is to disregard what is known about effective strategies against HIV/AIDS. To be effective, efforts against HIV/AIDS must be led, as well as staffed and supported by, members of the community being affected by the disease. HIV/AIDS is a disease whose prevention and treatment requires candid communication about matters--like sexual practices and substance use--that are widely shrouded in stigma and shame. Particularly because of this, it is of paramount importance that people see men and women who are identifiably members of their own communities, at the core of AIDS education and service efforts within their communities. Targeting HIV/AIDS funding to meet the intent of the MHAI is entirely constitutional, under the principles established by the Supreme Court, most recently in its Adarand decision in 1995. In Adarand, the Supreme Court held that the federal government is justified in employing race-based criteria where they have a compelling interest in doing so, and where they narrowly tailor their efforts to serve their interest. In the United States today, the federal government has a compelling interest in using racial and ethnic criteria to distribute funding for HIV/AIDS services because of the massively disproportionate impact that HIV/AIDS is having on people of color throughout the United States. Simply put, the federal government has a compelling interest in preventing the devastation of certain racial and ethnic minorities through disease, and to do so by targeting resources to those community-based organizations that are best equipped to reach individuals in hard-hit communities with HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services. The MHAI also meets the second prong of the Adarand test--it is narrowly tailored to serve the government's compelling interest. It does not require that all federal AIDS funding be targeted to minority community agencies. Rather, it mandates that certain funds--those provided through the MHAI--be allocated to organizations run by, staffed by, and serving, members of racial and ethnic minorities hard-hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, for the narrowly tailored purpose of increasing their capacity to serve their communities. In other words, the funding is designed to, if properly administered and sufficiently funded, eradicate the need for the program itself, by ensuring that all of America's various communities become equally effective at battling HIV/AIDS. With MHAI funding, minority community-based organizations will increase their capacity to provide AIDS-related services and, thus to enhance their ability to successfully compete for government contracts to provide other AIDS-related services needed in their communities. Because targeted funding is critical to increasing the efficacy of America's efforts against HIV/AIDS, and because it is clearly lawful, we hope that you will do everything in your power to facilitate rules that embody the intent of the MHAI. While the complex diversity of America's many cultures complicate the fight against HIV/AIDS, they also provide us with opportunities to multiply and strengthen our nation's arsenal of tools against the disease. With your support for the goals of the MHAI, we believe that the United States can be a leader in responding effectively to the devastation and inequality that HIV/AIDS is visiting upon our global community.
Established in 1985 to provide central leadership in the fight against the epidemic, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago promotes sound HIV/AIDS pubic policy, funds HIV/AIDS prevention and care projects, and, through its 135-member Service Providers Council, helps to coordinate the delivery of essential HIV/AIDS services. Sincerely, Kaethe Morris Hoffer, Esq. |
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