House members launch first-ever bipartisan Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus

Democratic and Republican House members at a press briefing on Thursday formally introduced the first-ever bipartisan Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, along with its funding proposals, the Washington Independent reports. Through the caucus, led by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), "59 Democrats and Republicans have united in pledging to spend more money for research and prevention efforts to combat the spread of AIDS domestically and worldwide," according to the news service (Resnick, 9/15). "Prior to Thursday, similar groups in Congress contained only Democrats," the Huffington Post notes (9/15). According to CQ HealthBeat, "the launch came as advocates also worry about the impact of actions by the deficit-cutting super-committee that could affect research, treatment and health care related to HIV/AIDS" (Norman, 9/15).