Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 5, 2006
Devlin Barrett
The deal ends a months-long standoff that pitted cities where the disease first made its mark against the rural communities where it is now spreading fastest. The agreement still has to be voted through Congress and signed by President Bush.
"We stood our ground, and they gave ground and we came up with a compromise that we can live with. We're very happy," said Clinton, D-N.Y.
Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, chair of the Senate Health Committee, said the deal on re-authorization of the $2.1 billion-a-year Ryan White CARE Act came after "months at the negotiating table trying to find an agreement that will ensure that Americans have access to life-saving HIV/AIDS treatments regardless of their race, gender, or where they live."
Clinton and fellow senators from New York and New Jersey had held out, claiming that the original five-year version of the program's renewal would cut their state's funding by at least $70 million each, and Clinton said her state alone stood to lose $100 million. Enzi, the measure's Republican champion, disputed both figures, saying the cuts would be far less.
Under the shorter, three-year version agreed to Tuesday and expected to pass the Senate Tuesday evening, New York would lose approximately $8 million.
"Of course the rural people aren't totally happy, and the city people aren't totally happy, but that is probably what makes it a good compromise," said Rep. Edolphus Towns, a New York City Democrat.
Southern state officials had been frustrated that opposition from the northeast was holding up a bill that would send them more money. They cheered the compromise.
"We're thrilled that we finally have gotten the bill," said Kathie Hiers, head of AIDS Alabama. "I think overall it's going to help the deep south states a great deal," she said, estimating Alabama would get $7 million new dollars in the first year of the deal.
Clinton said 100,000 New Yorkers infected with HIV should not have been forced to suffer cuts in order to spread money elsewhere.
"I'm very proud of the way that we just basically dug our heels in and stood our ground against a bipartisan coalition," said Clinton.
Opposition from a single senator is enough to block action in the Senate, particularly when lame-duck lawmakers are scrambling to leave Washington.
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Associated Press Writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.
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