National Black Commission on AIDS Honors Barbara Lee with Choose Life Award
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) was honored June 3, 2009, by the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA) during their 2009 Choose Life Awards Dinner and National Call to Action. “I am truly honored to receive this award,” said Congresswoman Lee. “The NBLCA has been vocal in advocating for increased funding for HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care services for African Americans and all Americans affected by HIV/AIDS. In particular their work in convening the National Conclave on HIV/AIDS Policy for Black Clergy, and the development of the National Black Clergy HIV/AIDS Elimination Act have been instrumental in bringing all parts of our community together to fight this deadly disease.” Other honorees included A. Cornelius Baker Senior Policy Advisor, National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition; John A. Catsimatidis Chairman and CEO, Gristede’s Food Inc.;HSBC Bank, USA Cheryl Morrison, Diversity Manager; Ingrid Saunders Jones Senior Vice President, The Coca-Cola Company and André Leon Talley Editor-at-Large, Vogue. The National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA), founded in November 1987, is the oldest and largest not-for-profit organization of its kind in the United States. The NBLCA’s mission is to educate, organize, and empower Black leadership, including clergy, elected officials, medical practitioners, business professionals, social policy experts, and the media to meet the challenge of fighting HIV/AIDS in their local communities. The NBLCA conducts policy, research and advocacy on HIV and AIDS to ensure effective participation of our leadership in all policy and resource allocation decisions at the national, state and local levels of communities of African descent nationwide. Congresswoman Lee has been a leader in the fight against the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. She co-authored legislation signed into law creating the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in 2000, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003, the PEPFAR Reauthorization Act in 2008, and legislation addressing the needs of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in 2005. She is the only member of Congress serving on both the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education which have jurisdiction over all US global and domestic AIDS programs. ### Communications Director The Honorable Barbara Lee (CA-9) 2444 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 226-0323 (Direct) (202) 579-1925 (Cell) (202) 225-9817 (Fax)
