My response and her e-mail. The ignorance is appalling... What's even more mind-boggling is this gal doesn't have a political bone in her skinny body, but this gets her ire up? She lives in FL, but grew up in MA. :shrug:
XXXXX, unless you have sex with someone on a plane, or share drugs through a needle, you will not be getting AIDS from anyone who has it.
AIDS is NOT contagious. And anytime John Kerry fights for something, you can be assured he has our best interests in mind, our being this country.
What are you afraid of? Strangers? Whatever happened to 'give me your tired, your poor' (see the base of the Statue of Liberty for the full quote)? When did this country lose that sentiment? Why should we be so unwilling to welcome other people? Yes, our rights are being ripped away, but not the way you think. The mindset in this e-mail is a testament to that.
Arm yourself with the truth and worry about the right things, then contact Congress. There's a whole lot to complain about.
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Lifting restrictions on visas
Here's an article that concerns me. I understand that there is a problem with foreigners lying to get a visa but the solution should not be lax on the guidelines to get a visa. The solution should be to tighten visa guidelines. There is something called a rapid oral HIV test that should be administered to people who want a visa.
I am appauled that John Kerry claims that the USA's unwillingness to allow those with contagious diseases is really just because of "our" lack of humanity or because of our "squeamish" factor. :wtf:
This country is about to really taking a turn on this politically correct bus. Wait until every single right is ripped away from us because it is offensive to someone else and viewed as discriminatory in someone else's eyes. I astonished that we have politicians accusing people for being "discriminatory" in regards to disease which is of epidemic proportions in other countries.
There is a reason it is called an epidemic and it's a crisis in some countries (5.5 million people were living with AIDS in South Africa in 2005). If administering a rapid oral test to foreigners who want to apply and PAY FOR a visa is too difficult then I am concerned to what this country is going to do once they get inside the borders? Personally I think this is a breach of homeland security if this passes.
Here is a link to some statistics on AIDS in South Africa. One fact that jumped out at me is the rise in 1993 was by 63%! This shows that our country is not immune to having a crisis of this proportion either, especially in light that our dollar is losing value and we are not as financially stable to ensure all measures are available for application for prevention, care, etc. Just allowing those infected by this disease in our country-no questions asked is estimated to cost us $80million over 10 years (if we have that)
http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm Time to forward my disapproval to congress.
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 44 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A two-decade ban on people with HIV visiting or immigrating to the United States may end soon through a Senate bill aimed at fighting AIDS and other diseases in Africa and other poor areas of the world.
The U.S. is one of a dozen countries — including Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Russia — that ban travel and immigration for HIV-positive people.
Even China, said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., recently changed that policy, deciding it was "time to move beyond an antiquated, knee-jerk reaction" to people with HIV.
"There's no excuse for a law that stigmatizes a particular disease," Kerry said Tuesday at a speech to the Center for Strategic & International Studies HIV/AIDS Task Force. Even people with avian flu or the Ebola virus have an easier time than those with HIV when it come to applying for visas, he said.
Kerry and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., are trying to repeal the ban, first implemented in 1987 and confirmed by Congress in 1993. The two have attached their measure to legislation — which the Senate may pass this week — that would provide $50 billion over the next five years to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa and other poor areas.
Foreign citizens, students and tourists can apply for a difficult-to-obtain special waiver for short-term visits, but an HIV-positive person has little chance of obtaining permanent residency.
Under current law, HIV is the only medical condition explicitly listed under immigration law. The Kerry-Smith provision would make HIV equivalent to other communicable diseases where medical and public health experts at the Health and Human Services Department — not consular officials at U.S. embassies — determine eligibility for admission.
Those with HIV seeking legal permanent residency would still have to demonstrate they have the resources to live in this country and would not become a "public charge."
The HIV ban was "adopted during a time of widespread fear and ignorance about the HIV virus," said Allison Herwitt, legislative director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay and lesbian civil rights group.
Among the consequences, experts on HIV and AIDS who are themselves infected have been unable to attend conferences in the U.S. Students and refugees in the country who may be at risk of infection have been reluctant to seek testing or treatment.
"Health care professionals, researchers and other exceptionally talented people have been blocked from the United States," some 160 health and AIDS groups said recently in a letter urging Congress to end the current policy. "Since 1993, the International Conference on AIDS has not been held on U.S. soil due to this policy."
Herwitt said some HIV-positive people seeking visas lie on their applications and then don't bring their medications. "It's not only wrongheaded and discriminatory, but can also cause people to not tell the truth."
Both President George H.W. Bush and President Clinton sought to ease the policy and in 2006 the current President Bush asked the Homeland Security Department to streamline the waiver process. Congress so far has not gone along.
There's still opposition.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., may offer an amendment to eliminate the Kerry-Smith provision from the Senate bill. Sessions cited Congressional Budget Office estimates that the new immigrants coming in under the relaxed policy could cost the government more than $80 million over a 10-year period. "Most people just don't want to talk about that."
Sessions said the Health and Human Services Department already has considerable flexibility to grant entry visas.
The measure would offset the costs of new immigrants by raising the price of applying for a visitor's visa by $1 for three years and then $2 for the next five years.
The House version of the Africa AIDs bill does not have the travel and immigration provision, but advocates said it will be included in the final version of the bill that goes to the president.
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., is sponsoring companion legislation in the House.
The Africa AIDS bill is S. 2731.
___
On the Net:
Congress:
http://thomas.loc.gov Human Rights Campaign:
http://www.hrc.org/
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