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NYC activists arrested in Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s office demanding protection for AIDS program

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters during a news conference in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol on July 19, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Tribune News Service)
By Joseph Wilkinson New York Daily News

Seven protesters were arrested at Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s office while demanding the House speaker guarantee funding for an HIV/AIDS program that has saved millions of lives worldwide.

Activists with two New York City-based nonprofits, Housing Works and Health GAP, occupied McCarthy’s Washington, D.C. office for about 15 minutes on Monday morning to make their demands clear.

“This is his Republican caucus that we feel is threatening the reauthorization,” said Seth Pollack, director of New York Community Mobilization at Housing Works. Pollack was part of the demonstration but was not arrested.

House Republicans have been stalling on the reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. Since 2003, the worldwide aid effort has saved an estimated 25 million lives and drastically slowed the global spread of HIV/AIDS.

But PEPFAR is set to expire on Sept. 30. It is now subject to a Congressional showdown after anti-abortion groups spun unfounded claims that the program provides abortions. Those arguments were rejected by PEPFAR boss John Nkengasong.

“It’s only the political games of a number of extremist Republicans,” that threaten PEPFAR, Pollack said.

The activists in McCarthy’s office are demanding a full five-year reauthorization of PEPFAR. They say the long-term funding is the only way to enable countries to plan ahead for HIV/AIDS prevention.

“We actually use PEPFAR dollars to do AIDS surveillance work in Haiti,” Pollack said. “So we feel firsthand the importance of this program’s continued reauthorization.

Among the arrestees were Housing Works CEO Charles King and Health GAP Director Asia Russell. Both New York-based organizations work around the globe to end HIV/AIDS and global health inequality.

“As activists from [Housing Works] and [Health GAP] are arrested in an act of civil disobedience in Speaker McCarthy’s office, a reminder that PEPFAR exists today because of brave activist direct action targeting duty bearers,” read a tweet from Health GAP.