Senate Votes to Repeal HIV Travel & Immigration Ban

Today, by a vote of 80-16, the U.S. Senate voted to pass legislation that will triple anti-HIV/AIDS funding to $48 billion over the next five years — including to lift the ban on HIV positive individuals who travel to the United States, or attempt to become citizens. Surprisingly, Sen. Gordon Smith (R - Oregon) teamed up with John Kerry on this bill.

“Under current policy, our government still treats individuals with HIV/AIDS as modern day lepers, categorically banning these individuals from entering into the U.S.,” said Sen. Gordon Smith, an Oregon Republican.

“To fully embrace our global leadership on HIV/AIDS, we must remove our unwelcome mat and overturn this ridiculous ban.”

A conservative challenge to lifting the ban never materialized, as Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, decided not to offer such an amendment.

The ridiculous part of getting this passed was that in order to get it passed they needed to “fend off some conservative Republicans”.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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