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Protests Work - House Dems Buck Obama, Lift Federal Ban On Syringe Exchange Program

by: Keori

Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 18:20:57 PM EDT

As a follow up to yesterday's post concerning the 26 AIDS activists protesting in the Capitol rotunda, some news from Ryan Grim at Huffington Post:

House Democrats have reversed a decision by President Obama and removed a ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs that he included in the 2010 budget. Including the ban broke a campaign pledge and the flip-flop set off outrage in the gay community and among HIV/AIDS activists. Twenty-six activists were arrested Thursday in the Capitol protesting the policy.

"For us this is a major positive development," said Allan Clear of the Harm Reduction Coalition. "We're optimistic it will stay out. We don't think Democrats would do this unless they thought they could keep it out."

"The fact that Democrats took it out in subcommittee means they're willing to take it all the way," said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance.

Excellent. To be clear, numerous scientific studies worldwide and medical experts agree that Syringe Exchange Programs (SEP) save lives by reducing HIV and Hepatitis C infection via Intravenous Drug Use (IDU). Many state and local governments, such as Nancy Pelosi's home district of San Francisco, already have SEPs in place in their municipalities. San Francisco's doesn't depend on federal funding, but in a time of state budget crises and wedge politics, those programs in many other states go unfunded, leaving the public at higher risk of HIV and Hep C infections. Candidate Obama promised to be on the side of science, and see that those programs stood to be reinstated via a lifting of the federal ban on funding SEPs. Like so many other times, and so many other issues, he backed away from that promise, allowing wedge politics and centrist sentiments to kill a public health policy based on science and common sense.

AIDS activists noticed Obama's failure to deliver, and they made damn sure everyone else did, too. The protestors got no response from the White House (please, try to contain your shock and surprise). But they sure got attention in Congress. More below the fold, including a call to action.

Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wisc.) highlighted the reversal of Obama's decision when releasing the budget Friday. Obey is also the chairman of the subcommittee that removed the ban.

"One key exception that I want to mention concerns needle exchange programs. This bill deletes the prohibition on the use of funds for needle exchange programs," he said. "Scientific studies have documented that needle exchange programs, when implemented as part of a comprehensive prevention strategy, are an effective public health intervention for reducing AIDS/HIV infections and do not promote drug use. The judgment we make in this bill is that it is time to lift this ban and let State and local jurisdictions determine if they want to pursue this approach."

However, the battle is far from over. As usual, GOP members of the committee are exploiting children for the purposes of playing wedge politics with public health.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) offered an amendment Thursday that Democrats in the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government accepted. It bans funding for distribution of syringes "in the District of Columbia within a thousand feet of a public or private daycare center, elementary school, vocational school, secondary school, college, junior college or university or any public swimming pool, park, playground, video arcade or youth center or an event sponsored by any such entity."

Setting aside whether there is still such a thing as "video arcade," the amendment telegraphs what the GOP strategy is. A Kingston spokesman said that the language of the bill does leave some space in D.C. where a syringe exchange program (SEP) could operate. But it certainly doesn't leave much.

"This restriction is really designed to shut down" needle exchange, said Clear. "Long-standing and effective SEPs in cities such as New York and San Francisco would have to close down if subjected to arbitrary restrictions similar to the one imposed in Washington D.C.... Congress should not be in the business of local zoning. Many communities with SEPs have already adopted policies addressing location issues and the federal government should not be second-guessing these decisions."

The amendment only effects funding coming through the specific subcommittee involved and funding through Obey's subcommittee could still go toward needle exchange in the District. But if the GOP succeeds in adding the amendment in the full committee, the lifting of the ban will have been effectively undermined.

The list of the members of the House Appropriations Committee is here. Please, take a moment, click over, and if your Representative is listed, call his or her office and voice your support for lifting the federal ban on Syringe Exchange Programs without the proposed amendment. These are the members of the Subcommittee on Finance Services and General Government, where the amendment was originally proposed. Those of you who are constituents of these subcommittee members, we ESPECIALLY need you to call and voice your support for rejecting the amendment and lifting the ban. Please, call 202-224-3121, ask to be put through the offices, and make the statement.

MAJORITY

Chair: José E. Serrano (NY)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL)
Rosa L. DeLauro (CT)
Chet Edwards (TX)
Allen Boyd (FL)
Chaka Fattah (PA)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Adam Schiff (CA)
David R. Obey (WI), Ex Officio

MINORITY
Jo Ann Emerson (MO)
John Abney Culberson (TX)
Mark Steven Kirk (IL)
Ander Crenshaw (FL)
Jerry Lewis (CA), Ex Officio

So what does this yet-another-White-House-flip-flop mean?

At the time of Obama's reversal, spokesman Ben LaBolt said that the president left the ban in because he wanted Congress to take the lead and that the president didn't want to fight policy battles in the budget language.

"We have not removed the ban in our budget proposal because we want to work with Congress and the American public to build support for this change," he said. "We are committed to doing this as part of a National HIV/AIDS strategy and are confident that we can build support for these scientifically-based programs."

He added, "In recent years, Washington has used the budget process to litigate divisive issues and score political points. This practice, which both sides have engaged in, has limited our ability to tackle our major economic challenges. President Obama decided not to play politics as usual with this budget and while he remains committed to supporting the program he wants to address that through the normal legislative process."

It means that the lives of people with AIDS and people at higher risk of contracting HIV via IDU are just as disposable to him as LGBT lives. It means publicly reversing damn near every progressive stance he'd taken on policies affecting LGBT and HIV+ lives. It means refusing to acknowledge our presence, our struggles, and the threats to our lives, health, and families. It means more of same, business as usual, pander to the right and refuse to take the lead. That's what it portends, more of the same cowardice we've had shoved down our throats since Inauguration Day. Take note, Mr. President: We are not stupid. Don't lie and tell us that the shit in the sandwich is really dijon mustard. We're not buying it.

Is this guy EVER going to step outside the 1993 time warp bubble and actually move forward with the progressive agenda on which he campaigned?