Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Area Reporter - August 16, 2007
Seth Hemmelgarn
August 11, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) reiterated her support for the Early Treatment for HIV/AIDS Act, which was introduced in Congress earlier this month.
An apparent stumbling block to ETHA is the way in which the Congressional Budget Office scores legislation as it relates to costs and benefits. ETHA would allow states, through Medicaid, to offer treatment to persons infected with HIV before the virus progresses to full-blown AIDS.
The act is stalled in Congress, in part because of the CBO issue, but Pelosi told the Bay Area Reporter, "I will do everything possible to make it happen."
Pelosi visited the grove to commemorate her 20 years in Congress. She became the first woman to be elected House speaker when the Democrats took control following last November's midterm elections.
Like many other people at the grove, Pelosi has been to a lot of funerals for people who've died from AIDS. Pelosi joined more than 100 volunteers in the bucolic grove and did some clean-up work and took time to reflect on the epidemic.
In the late 1980s, when the idea for the grove was born, the grove itself was still an overgrown patch of land in Golden Gate Park. AIDS was still a largely unspeakable word, despite the fact that it had killed thousands of Americans. In 1987, Pelosi was elected to the House of Representatives to represent California's 8th Congressional District, which includes most of San Francisco.
"I'm here to fight AIDS," Pelosi recalled saying shortly after being sworn in. At the time, she said Saturday, people said to her, "You really don't want to be known for this." But Pelosi said she wanted to share what San Francisco had learned about prevention and care with the rest of the country.
In 1996, Pelosi authored the legislation that made the grove the country's first national AIDS memorial.
Among other things, she has also helped enact legislation to assist people living with HIV and AIDS with housing, worked to maintain San Francisco's share of HIV/AIDS funding, and pushed to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act, which helps low-income people get care and treatment. Pelosi has also led efforts to fund the global fight against AIDS. Legislation she authored also created the federal Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS program.
Saying she never would have believed 20 years ago there still wouldn't be a cure for AIDS, Pelosi said it's important to keep working toward that goal.
"Our work is not done," she said.
Many people have said that Pelosi and other Democrats in Congress have been too timid in their dealings with the Bush administration, particularly over the war in Iraq. But those in attendance Saturday seemed to agree she's been a tireless fighter for people living with HIV/AIDS.
"People are living today that would have been dead if not for Nancy Pelosi," said Allen White.
Before Pelosi made her remarks, volunteers chatted as they raked and pulled at weeds. A documentary filmmaker shot footage for a film on the grove. Pelosi, in a white blouse, a white sweater, jeans, and high-heeled black boots, was dressed a bit more formally than the rest of the volunteers, but she donned gardening gloves and seemed earnest as she crouched down on one of the grove's hills, silently plucking out weeds and placing them in a large black bucket.
Everyone seemed to have loved ones on their minds.
Lou Fischer, one of the volunteers, said, "I buried 17 friends." Referring to her housemate, Michael Hellmann, who was standing nearby, she said, "Michael didn't have to go through the fear, pain and sickness, but we haven't cured AIDS yet ... I'm worried about the younger generation."
Hellmann, 24, lost a relative to the disease, and said it was unfortunate more people from his generation weren't at the grove Saturday. Most in attendance appeared to be in their late 30s and older.
"There needs to be more awareness among younger gays," he said.
After she spoke, Pelosi helped plant a tree, as she did to mark her first 10 years in Congress.
Volunteers are invited to join workdays in the grove on the third Saturday of every month, from March through October. For more information, visit http://www.aidsmemorial.org.
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