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| NBCC Calls on Sen. Clinton |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT KAY DEBOW 202 466-6888
National Black Chamber of Commerce Calls on Sen. Clinton to Undo her Damage to HIV/AIDS Funding to African Americans
Stands Stunned by the Senator’s recent comments Today, National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) stands stunned by Senator Hillary Clinton’s comments to increase HIV/AIDS funding to African Americans after she single handedly defeated measures in last year’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006 (S. 2823) which would have directed equitable funding to more African Americans with HIV/AIDS. Senator Clinton chose a Democratic presidential debate in June at Howard University, a historically black college, to announce her new stance on HIV/AIDS funding. Senator Clinton’s recent comments offer a stark contrast to her actions last year as she lead the fight on the floor of the United States Senate to block needed reforms to federal funding for those living with HIV/AIDS. In a letter to the Senator last week, NBCC President and CEO, Harry Alford wrote the following: “…You led the effort to gut provisions in the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Modernization Act of 2006, which would have fixed the increasingly unfair and outdated formulas that hurt African Americans, particularly in the rural South…I was stunned to see you, less than a year later, performing before a black audience as if you had led the fight for these changes instead of being the lone warrior against them.” Alford went on to say, “I am glad that at least now, unlike last year, you recognize that women of color in the South are 26 times more likely to be HIV-positive than white females. But thanks to your determined fight against reforms last year, a large portion of Ryan White CARE Act funding is still set aside for large metropolitan areas, and most states in the South will never qualify for it.” The NBCC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African American communities. This business association represents 95,000 Black owned businesses and provides an advocacy that reaches all 1 million Black owned businesses. 190 affiliated chapters are locally based throughout the nation as well as international affiliate chapters based in Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana and Jamaica. Businesses and individuals may also choose to be direct members with the national office. |