Norton Urges Residents to Get Tested During National HIV Testing Day, Today
Norton Urges Residents to Get Tested During National HIV Testing Day
at the National Council of Negro Women, Today
June 27, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will be tested today at the 3rd Annual National HIV Testing Day sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Council of Negro Women. Norton will also encourage residents to be tested by going on the air with WHUR at 1:15 p.m. The event will feature free and confidential HIV/AIDS testing provided by the National Association of People with AIDS, as well as offer information on HIV/AIDS, games, prizes, and much more from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 633 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
"Early detection and treatment are key tools in preventing the spread of the virus," Norton said. "In getting tested today, I am sending a message not only to my own constituents, but also to the Congress to step away from trying to keep the city from spending its local funds on needle-exchange programs. We removed the needle-exchange rider in 2009, but House Republicans tried, and failed, to re-impose it in the 2011 budget agreement, and may try to do so again when the D.C. Appropriations bill goes to the House floor in July. The needle-exchange rider, which Congress attached to the D.C. Appropriations bill for 10 years, is responsible for the District's distinction as the jurisdiction with the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the United States. The damage has been done, but the needle-exchange rider must not be re-imposed after we finally succeeded in removing it."