Jesse Helms

Mr. HELMS

Mr. HELMS. I ask, for the purpose of obtaining the yeas and nays, that these two amendments be considered the pending business.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I send an unprinted amendment to the desk and ask it be stated.

Mr. HELMS. I ask unanimous consent that it be laid aside.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on this amendment.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to lay aside the previous amendment so that I can offer another amendment.

Mr. HELMS. I now send an amendment to the desk and ask that it be stated.

Mr. HELMS. As the clerk has read, Mr. President, this amendment proposes that the Ryan White CARE Reauthorization Act of 1995 have this provision to guarantee that any and all Federal funds authorized and appropriated for HIV/AIDS will not exceed the total Federal funds authorized and appropriated for and in connection with the disease of cancer. The leading cause of death in America today is heart disease, followed closely by cancer. HIV/AIDS ranks ninth, No. 9--I believe, as a matter of fact, they lowered it to No. 8. So make that read HIV/AIDS ranks eighth in the number of deaths it causes. It is of interest that HIV/AIDS receives $2.7 billion per year in Federal funding, which exceeds Federal funding in connection with any other disease. Heart disease, for example, Mr. President, kills more than 720,000 Americans every year, and $805 million in Federal funds are allocated and appropriated for heart disease. Cancer kills 515,000 Americans, and it receives $2.3 billion. I think the arithmetic of all of this, Mr. President, speaks for itself. I want the Record to show that I hope a cure for HIV/AIDS is found tomorrow morning, and I encourage every research effort toward this end. However, I have to make it clear that I am appalled at what has become a total politicization of Federal funding for medical research and health services. The pending amendment stipulates that Congress may not authorize or appropriate more money for HIV/AIDS than is authorized and appropriated in connection with the disease cancer. More people are dying from heart disease and cancer and stroke and lung disease and accidents and pneumonia and diabetes and Alzheimer's and suicide than die from AIDS. Each one of these kills more people than does the disease AIDS, yet AIDS receives a disproportionate amount of the taxpayers' money. On average, the Federal Government spends about $91,000 on every person who dies of AIDS. The Federal Government spends about $5,000 for every person who dies of cancer. Now, I have my own ideas about priorities, but that is an issue for another day. And I think I am correct in my impression that Americans agree that this discrepancy is neither fair nor equitable. In a nutshell, the pending amendment will bring a measure of equity and fairness to the existing priorities in the area of HIV/AIDS funding. As long as cancer kills 18 times as many people as AIDS, and AIDS nonetheless receives more Federal funding, it is time I think that Congress established some new equitable priorities. Mr. President, I ask that all of my previous amendments be set aside enabling me to ask for the yeas and nays on this amendment.

Mr. HELMS. I yield the floor.

Mr. HELMS. I am certainly ready to hear it.

Mr. HELMS. If the Senator will yield. It is perfectly acceptable to me, Madam President. It will take a unanimous consent to vary the order in which the amendments were presented, is that not correct?

Mr. HELMS. Just so there will be no accidental mistake made, I ask unanimous consent that all amendments be voted on tomorrow morning in the order in which they were presented.

Mr. HELMS. I thank the Chair. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HELMS. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. HELMS. Madam President, I ask that it be in order for the Senator from North Carolina to ask for the yeas and nays on final passage on the Ryan White bill.

Mr. HELMS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HELMS. Madam President, I am going to have to suggest the absence of a quorum on this one because that is a contradiction of my understanding. Perhaps I can correct it. May I see a copy?

Mr. HELMS. You did not change the language in the first half?

Mr. HELMS. Is that the one where you deleted the second half of mine?

Mr. HELMS. If the Senator will yield. I am not suggesting anything that would vary the unanimous consent that I hold in my hand. I favor that. I simply want to be sure that all amendments are voted upon in the order in which they were presented.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the pending amendment was made essential because of a directive issued by President Clinton on September 30, 1993, in which he ordered all heads of executive departments and agencies to develop and fully implement a comprehensive HIV/AIDS workplace policy and employee education prevention program. The White House staff made it mandatory for every Federal employee--an unreasonable requirement on its face, and particularly so considering the nature of these so-called education programs. For the record, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy issued mandatory ``guidelines'' stating: HIV/AIDS workplace training is mandatory for every Federal employee . . . (and) the duration of the training session should be not less than 2 hours, although 3 hours is the recommended length . . . Mr. President, it may be useful to examine one agency's training program. The Department of Agriculture's AIDS program--which employees are compelled to attend--counsels Federal employees on the proper ways to engage in oral and anal sex and other similarly inappropriate subject matters. This is an editorial judgment on my part. I consider it outrageous-- not just inappropriate, outrageous. I took it up with the Agriculture Department, and we are having a go at that. This is an arrogant and nauseating abuse of power by the homosexuals in the Federal bureaucracy. Most Federal employees resent it. We have had scores of Federal employees to protest to us and ask us to do something about it. For example, let me to read from a letter I received from a USDA employee in North Carolina after the employee attended one of these so- called training classes: This week we were required to attend a mandatory HIV/AIDS training session which is apparently required by the President of all Federal employees. This results in millions of dollars in lost man-hours and consequently wages. We also were required to take a pre- and post-class test . . . Since we are mostly biological scientists we learned essentially nothing. The employee continued: Some of the material is not appropriate for the workplace (e.g. how to have safe oral sex, page 28), and it does not seem too necessary for government time and money. That is an understatement by the employee. Mr. President, I also have at hand a copy of a directive issued by the Foreign Agriculture Service which states: To comply with this Presidential mandate, the Foreign Agriculture service is presenting the attached MANDATORY HIV/ AIDS training sessions. Please attend the session scheduled as indicated or arrange to switch session with a coworker. Supervisors are responsible for disseminating this information to there (sic) . . . They misspelled the word ``there,'' t-h-e-r-e. They meant t-h-e-i-r. They will learn how to spell that word next week. employees and for certifying that all employees under their supervision attend a session of the mandated training . . .

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. HELMS. I withdraw that amendment and send another amendment to the desk.