April 13, 2007
POWER, MEET TRUTH
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Awardees & HW staff with Charles Rangel’s health guy, John Shiner.
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To kick off their busy week of Cylar Award events, this year’s honorees spent Monday and Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington, meeting with a dozen members of Congress and staff to talk about their work and to push for change in policies and funding.
Among the highlights of this year’s visits:
Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga transfixed staffers with her personal perspective on vulnerability and HIV, and explained how AIDS programs must impact the daily living conditions of women in order to really make a difference. Ross Quiroga also learned about U.S. foreign policy first-hand and provided legislators’ staffs with insight into HIV in Latin America. “I have a better understanding how U.S. policies are made and how they affect other countries,” she says.
Deborah Peterson Small asked for immediate action on sentencing guidelines for cocaine possession and sale, and for the elimination of dramatic disparities in sentencing for crack, powder cocaine, and crystal meth, explaining how incarceration and inadequate access to treatment accelerate HIV among men and women in communities of color. “I felt challenged to make my case for how drug policy fits into AIDS advocacy,” she said. “Some the aides were very knowledgeable and understanding. Those that didn’t understand the issues heard things that made them think. That’s the best you can hope for.”
Michael Rajner testified to inadequate access to HIV prevention and treatment in the South, calling for federal funding for needle exchanges (especially in Florida), for passage of the Early Treatment for HIV Act to expand HIV care in Medicaid nationwide, and for improvements in affordability and access in the Medicare Part D program. Rajner was eager to make representatives aware of the effects of AIDS in his home state of Florida. “It’s still a Bible-belt state and nobody wants to admit there’s a problem,” he says. “Florida officials need be held accountable. I really appreciate Florida Rep. Bill Nelson being supportive in the fight. It was great to meet him.”