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I would like to submit additional materials for the record, including letters of support and policy statements from our religious communities.

Mr. EDWARDS. Without objection, they will be received and made part of the record.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Allen follows:]

PREPARED Statement of ReV. SCOTT ALLEN, COMMISSIONER, NATIONAL COMMISSION ON AIDS, WASHINGTON, DC

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am Rev. Scott Allen, a commissioner on the Congressionally mandated National Commission on AIDS. I am pleased to provide testimony on the importance of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with a particular focus on anti-discrimination protections for people with HIV-related conditions.

My work with AIDS has been varied and diverse. I am employed by the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. My specific experience with AIDS began when I was the founding Director of the AIDS Interfaith Network of Dallas, an organization that provides AIDS education for our religious communities and pastoral care for persons living with AIDS as well as their family members and loved ones. In addition, I have served as a member of the Dallas County AIDS Planning Commission and on the Legislative Task Force on AIDS for the state of Texas, chairing the State's Responsibility Subcommittee.

As a citizen, minister and participant in the development of AIDS policy at the local and state level and now as a member of the National Commission on AIDS, I fully support the Americans with Disabilities Act. I urge the House to move expeditiously so as to provide important redress for the acts of discrimination that have such devastating impacts on the lives of many Americans, particularly those with the HIV virus and with AIDS.

As a commissioner for the National Commission on AIDS, I am charged with the important task of advising Congress on the implementation of the recommendations of the President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic. Admiral Watkins and the other commissioners are to be commended for their exhaustive and thoughtful articulation of the important issues related to the HIV epidemic. As you well know, the centerpiece of their recommendations was the passage of a bill to address the discrimination experienced by people with AIDS and HIV infection. They specifically recommended:

2

Comprehensive federal anti-discrimination legislation which prohibits

discrimination against persons with disabilities in the public and private sectors, including employment, housing, public accommodations, and participation in government programs, should be enacted. All persons with symptomatic or asymptomatic HIV infection should be clearly included as persons with disabilities who are covered by the anti-discrimination protections of this legislation.

That recommendation was endorsed by President Bush immediately after issuance of the Commission's report. One year after the President's Commission made the recommendation the President endorsed the ADA as it moved through the Senate. The President's endorsement was clearly a key factor in the Senate's overwhelming passage of the ADA. It is now incumbent upon the Congress, with the assistance of the National Commission, to move this bill as quickly as possible and without damaging amendments. Truly, with an epidemic that has affected more than 100,000 Americans and with 37 million other Americans with a disability awaiting the protections guaranteed under this act, the political and moral imperatives are clear.

To underscore the priority of the ADA, the National Commission on AIDS passed its first resolution in support of this bill. We stated:

"We, the members of the National Commission on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, strongly support passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, legislation which would implement the key recommendation of the Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic.

People living with AIDS and HIV infection, and those regarded as such, deserve the same discrimination protections as all people with disabilities. Such protections from discrimination are not only necessary to enhance the quality of

PREPARED STATEMENT OF REV. SCOTT ALLEN, COMMISSIONER, National COMMISSION ON AIDS, WASHINGTON, DC

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am Rev. Scott Allen, a commissioner on the Congressionally mandated National Commission on AIDS. I am pleased to provide testimony on the importance of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with a particular focus on anti-discrimination protections for people with HIV-related conditions.

My work with AIDS has been varied and diverse. I am employed by the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. My specific experience with AIDS began when I was the founding Director of the AIDS Interfaith Network of Dallas, an organization that provides AIDS education for our religious communities and pastoral care for persons living with AIDS as well as their family members and loved ones. In addition, I have served as a member of the Dallas County AIDS Planning Commission and on the Legislative Task Force on AIDS for the state of Texas, chairing the State's Responsibility Subcommittee.

As a citizen, minister and participant in the development of AIDS policy at the local and state level and now as a member of the National Commission on AIDS, I fully support the Americans with Disabilities Act. I urge the House to move expeditiously so as to provide important redress for the acts of discrimination that have such devastating impacts on the lives of many Americans, particularly those with the HIV virus and with AIDS.

As a commissioner for the National Commission on AIDS, I am charged with the important task of advising Congress on the implementation of the recommendations of the President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic. Admiral Watkins and the other commissioners are to be commended for their exhaustive and thoughtful articulation of the important issues related to the HIV epidemic. As you well know, the centerpiece of their recommendations was the passage of a bill to address the discrimination experienced by people with AIDS and HIV infection. They specifically recommended:

2

Comprehensive federal anti-discrimination legislation which prohibits

discrimination against persons with disabilities in the public and private sectors, including employment, housing, public accommodations, and participation in government programs, should be enacted. All persons with symptomatic or asymptomatic HIV infection should be clearly included as persons with disabilities who are covered by the anti-discrimination protections of this legislation.

That recommendation was endorsed by President Bush immediately after issuance of the Commission's report. One year after the President's Commission made the recommendation the President endorsed the ADA as it moved through the Senate. The President's endorsement was clearly a key factor in the Senate's overwhelming passage of the ADA. It is now incumbent upon the Congress, with the assistance of the National Commission, to move this bill as quickly as possible and without damaging amendments. Truly, with an epidemic that has affected more than 100,000 Americans and with 37 million other Americans with a disability awaiting the protections guaranteed under this act, the political and moral imperatives are clear.

To underscore the priority of the ADA, the National Commission on AIDS passed its first resolution in support of this bill. We stated:

"We, the members of the National Commission on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, strongly support passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, legislation which would implement the key recommendation of the Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic.

People living with AIDS and HIV infection, and those regarded as such, deserve the same discrimination protections as all people with disabilities. Such protections from discrimination are not only necessary to enhance the quality of

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