The AmFAR Report

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the American l'oundalion f r AI I )S Research,
the nation's leading not-for-prOfit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, adoration for AIDS prevention, and
sound AIDS-related public policy.

EDITOR's NOTE:
When Bill Clinton won the election last November, AmFAR decided to publish a
special edition of the AmFAR Report that would focus on the new administration,
Clinton's promised reforms in government health policy on HIV/AIDS, and the role
AmFAR's Public Policy office plays in the development of new AIDS policies.
Within two weeks of Clinton's victory, AmFAR made recommendations to the
National Commission on AIDS on how national HIV/AIDS policy must change. In
her testimony before the Commission, Dr. Mathilde Krimn, AmFAR's Founding CoChair and Chairman of the Board, suggested how to strengthen the biomedical
research effort under President Clinton. A detailed excerpt of her testimony begins on
page 4. Below is a profile of AmFAR's Public Policy office and the Director of Public
Policy, Jahe Silver. Jane came to AmFAR from the National Commission on AIDS. In
a short time, she has carried AmFAR's public policy agenda forward with her
considerable public health experience and through her interaction with numerous
national AIDS organizations and lobbying groups. NORA, National Organizations
Responding to AIDS, is one of those organizations (see page 3).
In response to Colorado's recent passage of Amendment 2 which repeals the
Governor's executive order banning anti-gay discrimination, AmFAR, scheduled to
be the beneficiary ofa fundraiser in Aspen, withdrew from the event in protest over
the amendment: Dr. Mervyn F. Silverman, AmFAR's president, sent a letter to
Colorado governor Roy Romer to explain the Foundation's reasons for withdrawing.
The text of the letter is reprinted on page 7.
AmFAR has hope that the incoming administration will provide the comprehensive..programs we have needed for the past 11 years. Under President Clinton, we look
forward to a focused commitment and strong presidential leadership to make the HIV/
AIDS issue the top priority it must be. There is no other way to end the epidemic.
AmFAR's PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAM
GROWS UNDER NEW DIRECTOR
Jane Silver Increases AmFAR's Influence On Public Health Policy

ince its inception, AmFAR
has provided objective
and current information
on HIV/AIDS to federal, state and
municipal policy makers through
briefings, writings and public testimonies. In April of 1991, AmFAR's
Public Policy office opened in
Washington, D.C. to give the
Foundation a more permanent and
visible presence in the nation's
capital as we continue to fight for
more AIDS funding and an improved
federal response to the epidemic.
AmFAR has also been vigilant in
defending the rights and dignity of
all people affected by the epidemic.
The Public Policy office was
established with a $250,000 contri
bution from the family of the late
Sheldon W. Andelson, a distinguished Los Angeles businessman
and attorney who was a founding
director of AmFAR in 1985. Mr.
Andelson was also the founder and
Chairman of the Board of the Bank
of Los Angeles, a Regent of the
University of California, and a
dedicated gay and civil rights
advocate. He died of AIDS in 1987.
Within the past 18 months,
AmFAR's public policy office has
focused on research and legislative
priorities that include health care
reform, research, prevention and
education, federal policies on illegal
(continued on page 2)