PRINTER'S NO. 1963
No. 171 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY MUSTO, STAPLETON, HUGHES, COSTA, WAGNER, THOMPSON,
BODACK, LAVALLE, BRIGHTBILL, O'PAKE, SCHWARTZ, MURPHY,
RHOADES, LEMMOND, EARLL AND MELLOW, MAY 15, 2000
REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, MAY 15, 2000
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress of the United States to fully fund the Ricky
2 Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998 for human
3 immunodeficiency virus victims.
4 WHEREAS, Congress passed the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund
5 Act of 1998; and
6 WHEREAS, The Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998 was
7 passed to provide for compassionate payments to individuals with
8 blood clotting disorders such as hemophilia who contracted the
9 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to contaminated blood
10 products; and
11 WHEREAS, In its review of the events surrounding the HIV
12 infection of thousands of people with blood clotting disorders
13 such as hemophilia, a 1995 study of the Institute of Medicine,
14 entitled "HIV and the Blood Supply," found a failure of
15 leadership and an inadequate institutional decision-making
16 process in the system responsible for ensuring blood safety,
17 concluding that a failure of leadership led to less than
18 effective donor screening, weak regulatory actions and
1 insufficient communication to patients about the risk of
2 acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); and
3 WHEREAS, The Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998,
4 named after a teenage hemophiliac who died from AIDS, was
5 enacted to provide financial relief to the families of
6 hemophiliacs who were devastated by the Federal Government's
7 policy failure in its handling of the AIDS epidemic; and
8 WHEREAS, Now that the relief bill has been signed into law by
9 the President, Congress has been reticent to fund it; therefore
10 be it
11 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 urge Congress to fully fund the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund
13 enacted into law under the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act
14 of 1998 so that there is no delay between the authorization and
15 timely appropriation of relief; and be it further
16 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
17 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
18 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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