“This is good news, and will ensure that San Francisco can maintain a high level of service to those living with this terrible disease.  Let me thank Speaker Pelosi for all she’s done to help push through this measure.

San Francisco sustained a 30 percent cut in their Ryan White CARE Act funding last year.  With this provision, Congress has recognized that no jurisdiction can absorb a cut of this magnitude in one year.

The epidemic is far from over in San Francisco.  AIDS continues to be the second leading cause of premature death in the city and counting.  Nearly 23,000 people are currently living with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco, which is more than at any point in the epidemic. 

I remember clearly when AIDS first arrived in San Francisco.  I was Mayor at the time, and the Director of Public Health came to me and said that hospitals were treating men with purple lesions all over their bodies.  They were some of the Nation’s first AIDS victims.  San Francisco responded, creating the first AIDS program in the county. 

This funding will allow the City to continue to be a national leader in fighting this devastating epidemic.”

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