Pelosi Statement on the Obama Administration's Lifting of the HIV/AIDS Travel Ban

Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami/Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on President Obama's decision to lift the ban on travelers to the United States who are either HIV-positive or living with AIDS. The Administration today published a rule announcing that the ban would be lifted effective January 1, 2010.

"With the end of the HIV/AIDS travel ban, the United States will close the door on an era of intolerance. This discriminatory policy has done nothing to protect public health, and it is inconsistent with the values that have made our nation great.

"I commend President Obama for his decision to lift the travel ban and for all his efforts to make the United States a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS."