For immediate Release
October 7, 2010

Contact: Nicole Y. Williams
(202) 225- 2661

Washington D.C. - Today Congresswoman Lee joined her fellow Commissioners in São Paulo, Brazil for the first meeting of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. Launched in June by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS), the Commission seeks to “develop actionable, evidence-informed and human rights-based recommendations for effective HIV responses that protect and promote the human rights of people living with and most vulnerable to HIV.”

“I’m honored to be selected to participate in the work of this important commission and to join such a distinguished group of individuals in examining the legal barriers to effective national AIDS responses” said Congresswoman Lee. “In many ways, the success of our global fight against HIV/AIDS relies on the success of our struggle to guarantee human rights for all.”

“Today in the United States, African-Americans, Latinos, and young gay men experience a disproportionate share of new infections – and I intend to bring the challenges faced by these communities to this Global Commission. We have made a lot of progress in this country to tackle stigma and discrimination against people living with or vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, and to removing legal and structural barriers to accessing HIV/AIDS services. However the United States can also learn from the experience of other countries about ways to effectively empower vulnerable communities to raise awareness of this disease, to protect each other from infection, to get access to treatment, and to allow for the full exercise of their fundamental human rights.”

Congresswoman Lee is the only member of the Commission from the United States and joins a distinguished group of former presidents, ministers, judges and eminent persons from around the world including Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Former President of Brazil), Stephen Lewis, (Canada, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World), Festus Mogae (Former President of Botswana), Professor Miriam K. Were (Former Chair of Kenya's National AIDS Council).

The Global Commission on HIV and the Law will explore the impacts of legal environments on HIV responses. Areas of inquiry may include: (1) punitive laws and practices that effectively criminalize lives (2) laws and practices that sustain violence and discrimination as lived by women (3) laws and practices that impede treatment access. The Commission’s work will take place over an 18 month period - mobilizing communities across the globe and promoting public dialogue on how to make the law work for an effective response to HIV. The findings and recommendations of the Commission will be announced in December 2011.

For additional background information on the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, and a full list of Commissioners, please visit: http://www.hivlawcommission.org/

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Congresswoman Lee has been a leader in the fight against the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. She co-authored legislation signed into law creating the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in 2000, establishing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003, assisting orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS in 2005, and reauthorizing PEPFAR in 2008 . The recent PEPFAR reauthorization also included language originally authored by Congresswoman Lee to remove the HIV travel and immigration ban and led to the formal elimination of the ban by President Obama last year, clearing the way for the International AIDS Conference to finally return to the United States in 2012.

She was instrumental in the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act that will continue to allow for lifesaving AIDS treatment to reach people in need, along with supporting ongoing community outreach programs and services, and training for clinicians. Additionally, she helped lead the charge to rollback the federal ban on funding for needle exchange programs to ensure that these proven initiatives can receive the much needed resources they need to bring drug users into care and addiction recovery programs.