Whereas, as of the end of 2024, an estimated 40,800,000 people were living with human immunodeficiency virus (referred to in this preamble as HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (referred to in this preamble as AIDS), including 1,400,000 children;

Whereas, in the United States, more than 790,000 people with AIDS have died since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, including over 19,300 deaths among people with diagnosed HIV in 2022, with the disease disproportionately affecting communities of color;

Whereas, in 2023, over 39,000 people became newly diagnosed with HIV in the United States;

Whereas, while all races and ethnicities are affected by HIV in the United States, communities of color are disproportionately impacted;

Whereas, in order to address the HIV epidemic in the United States, on August 18, 1990, Congress enacted the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (Public Law 101–381; 104 Stat. 576) (commonly referred to as the Ryan White CARE Act) to provide primary medical care and essential support services for people living with HIV who are uninsured or underinsured;

Whereas the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides services and support for over half of all people diagnosed with HIV in the United States;

Whereas, to further focus attention on the HIV and AIDS epidemic among minority communities in the United States, in 1998, the Minority AIDS Initiative was established to provide funds to State and local institutions and organizations to best serve the needs of racial and ethnic minorities living with HIV;

Whereas the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals established a global target to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030;

Whereas, in order to further address the global HIV and AIDS epidemic, in 2003, Congress and the administration of President George W. Bush, with bipartisan support, created the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (referred to in this preamble as PEPFAR), which for more than 2 decades has served as the primary policy instrument of the United States to address HIV and AIDS in the developing world;

Whereas the United States PEPFAR program remains the largest commitment in history by any country to combat a single disease;

Whereas 26,000,000 lives have been saved through PEPFAR;

Whereas, as of September 30, 2024, PEPFAR has supported treatment for approximately 20,600,000 people and has enabled 7,800,000 infants of mothers living with HIV to be born HIV-free;

Whereas, in fiscal year 2024, PEPFAR directly supported testing and counseling for 84,100,000 people;

Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, launched in 2002, has helped provide antiretroviral therapy to approximately 25,600,000 people living with HIV or AIDS and to 648,000 pregnant women to prevent the transmission of HIV and AIDS to their children and, as of 2025, has saved an estimated 70,000,000 lives;

Whereas the United States is the largest donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and every $1 contributed by the United States leverages an additional $2 from other donors, as required by law;

Whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight against HIV and AIDS, including an approximately 40-percent reduction in new HIV transmissions, an approximately 60-percent reduction in new HIV infections among children, and a reduction of over 50 percent in the number of AIDS-related deaths between 2010 and 2024;

Whereas approximately 31,600,000 people had access to antiretroviral therapy in 2024, compared to only 7,700,000 people who had access to such therapy in 2010;

Whereas research funded by the National Institutes of Health found not only that HIV treatment saves the lives of people living with HIV, but people living with HIV on effective antiretroviral therapy and who are durably virally suppressed cannot sexually transmit HIV, proving that HIV treatment is prevention;

Whereas it is estimated that, without treatment, half of all infants living with HIV will die before their second birthday;

Whereas, despite the remarkable progress in combating HIV, significant challenges remain;

Whereas, in 2024, there were approximately 1,300,000 new HIV diagnoses globally, structural barriers continue to make testing and treatment programs inaccessible to highly vulnerable populations, and an estimated 5,300,000 people living with HIV globally still do not know their HIV status;

Whereas children living with HIV are significantly less likely than adults to know their HIV status, and, as a result, are prevented from accessing life-saving treatment;

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 39,000 people were diagnosed with HIV in the United States in 2023, and 13 percent of the 1,200,000 people in the United States living with HIV are not aware of their HIV status;

Whereas men who have sex with men (referred to in this preamble as MSM), particularly young MSM of color, are the population most affected by HIV in the United States;

Whereas Southern States bear the greatest burden of HIV in the United States, accounting for 52 percent of all diagnoses in 2022;

Whereas people living with HIV are frequently susceptible to other infections, such as hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis;

Whereas the opioid and heroin epidemics have led to increased numbers of new HIV infections among people who inject drugs, and the crisis has disproportionately affected nonurban areas, where HIV prevalence rates have been low historically and services for HIV prevention and treatment and substance use disorder treatment are limited;

Whereas December 1 of each year is internationally recognized as World AIDS Day; and

Whereas, in 2025, commemorations for World AIDS Day will recognize the essential role of community and collective action to sustain and accelerate HIV progress in the global HIV and AIDS response: Now, therefore, be it