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Obama, Barack - President
Hello, everybody! Hello! (Applause.) Hello. Hello, hello, hello. Hello. Well, good evening, everybody. This is a pretty feisty group here. (Laughter.) |
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AUDIENCE MEMBER, -
We love you, President! |
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Obama, Barack - President
Love you back. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Well, it is a privilege to speak with all of you. Welcome to the White House. |
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Obama, Barack - President
Let me begin by welcoming the Cabinet Secretaries who are here. I know I saw at least one of them, Kathleen Sebelius, our outstanding Secretary of... |
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Obama, Barack - President
In particular, I want to recognize Ambassador Eric Goosby, our Global AIDS Coordinator. (Applause.) Eric’s leadership of the President’s Emergency... |
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Obama, Barack - President
And I want to also thank the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. (Applause.) Thank you -- and the Federal HIV Interagency Working Group for... |
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Obama, Barack - President
Now, it’s been nearly 30 years since a CDC publication called Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report first documented five cases of an illness that... |
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Obama, Barack - President
From activists, researchers, community leaders who’ve waged a battle against AIDS for so long, including many of you here in this room, we have learned... |
| 00:03:2925 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
So the question is not whether we know what to do, but whether we will do it. (Applause.) Whether we will fulfill those obligations; whether we will... |
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Obama, Barack - President
All of us are here because we are committed to that cause. We’re here because we believe that while HIV transmission rates in this country are not... |
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Obama, Barack - President
And we’re here because of the extraordinary men and women whose stories compel us to stop this scourge. I’m going to call out a few people here... |
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Obama, Barack - President
We’re here because of people like Craig Washington, who after seeing what was happening in his community -– friends passing away; life stories sanitized,... |
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Obama, Barack - President
We’re here because of people like Linda Scruggs. (Applause.) Linda learned she was HIV-positive about two decades ago when she went in for prenatal... |
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Obama, Barack - President
We’re here because of Linda and Craig and Ben, and because of over 1 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS and the nearly 600,000 Americans who’ve... |
| 00:06:2116 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
In recent months, we’ve held 14 community discussions. We’ve spoken with over 4,200 people. We’ve received over 1,000 recommendations on the... |
| 00:06:3729 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
And today, we’re releasing our National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which is the product -- (applause) -- which is the product of these conversations, and... |
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Obama, Barack - President
Now, I know that this strategy comes at a difficult time for Americans living with HIV/AIDS, because we’ve got cash-strapped states who are being... |
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Obama, Barack - President
prevention. We can’t afford to rely on any single prevention method alone, so our strategy promotes a comprehensive approach to reducing the number... |
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Obama, Barack - President
To support our new direction, we’re investing $30 million in new money, and I’ve committed to working with Congress to make sure these investments... |
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Obama, Barack - President
The second -- |
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AUDIENCE MEMBER, -
Mr. President -- |
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Obama, Barack - President
Let’s -- hold on -- you can talk to me after -- we’ll be able to talk after I speak. That’s why I invited you here, right? So you don’t have... |
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Obama, Barack - President
Second is treatment. To extend lives and stem transmission, we need to make sure every HIV-positive American gets the medical care that they need.... |
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Obama, Barack - President
And we’ll build on those reforms, while also understanding that when people have trouble putting food on the table or finding a place to live, it’s... |
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Obama, Barack - President
Now, the third goal is reducing health disparities by combating the disease in communities where the need is greatest. (Applause.) |
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Obama, Barack - President
We all know the statistics. Gay and bisexual men make up a small percentage of the population, but over 50 percent of new infections. For African... |
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Obama, Barack - President
So reducing new HIV infections; improving care for people living with HIV/AIDS; narrowing health disparities -- these are the central goals of our national... |
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Obama, Barack - President
So, yes, government has to do its part. But our ability to combat HIV/AIDS doesn’t rest on government alone. It requires companies to contribute... |
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Obama, Barack - President
When a person living with HIV/AIDS is treated as if she’s done something wrong, when she’s viewed as being somehow morally compromised, how can... |
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Obama, Barack - President
When we fail to offer a child a proper education, when we fail to provide him with accurate medical information and instill within him a sense of responsibility,... |
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Obama, Barack - President
When we continue, as a community of nations, to tolerate poverty and inequality and injustice in our midst, we don’t stand up for how women are treated... |
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Obama, Barack - President
So fighting HIV/AIDS in America and around the world will require more than just fighting the virus. It will require a broader effort to make life... |
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Obama, Barack - President
So to all of you who have been out there in the field, working on this issues day in, day out, I know sometimes it’s thankless work. But the truth... |
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Obama, Barack - President
God bless you and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.) |