Press Briefing by Marlin Fitzwater and Ronald Robertson, General Counsel to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Photocopied at the Roaald Reagan Libra
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MR. ROBERTSON: Well, there is an agreement to resolve
them. We will have to now work with the Patent Office to consummate
that agreement.
Q Do you happen to know how much federal money is
spent on AIDS research in this budget --
MR. ROBERTSON: No.
MR. BRASHEAR: For FY'88 --
MR. FITZWATER: Wait a minute. Rusty?
Q Rusty?
MR. BRASHEAR: FY '88, research and education, $1 billion
Q How much?
MR. BRASHEAR: $1 billion.
Q $1 million?
MR. FITZWATER: Billion.
MR. BRASHEAR: B, as in --
Q Billion.
Q What's the difference between that and '87, Rusty?
Q Can you break that down to the research and the
education components, Rusty?
MR. BRASEHAR: Let me go get my budget.
Q Congressman Dan Burton of Indiana has introduced a
bill to require universal testing for AIDS. Will you all support
this or oppose it?
MR. ROBERTSON: I'm not certain what the administration's
position is on that. I'll have to defer --
Q Marlin, do you --
MR. FITZWATER: No -- I don't.
Q Has the President not told you how he feels about
testing on AIDS, Marlin?
MR. FITZWATER: Our position on legislation is worked out
in the departments and then it comes up through the Policy Council
and I don't think this has come before us yet.
Q He doesn't know. He's in the department and he
doesn't know.
Q...c t-c., can you tell us how this agreement
was worked out with the French -- just briefly?

MR. ROBERTSON: It was worked out, basically, on two
levels -- between lawyers for the Institut Pasteur and Counsel for
the Department of Health and Human Services, and also on a parallel
track between the major scientists -- particularly, Dr. Luc
Montagnier from Pasteur and Dr. Robert Gallo from --
Q A group initiataive -- this seemed a fairly
acrimonious thing now suddenly it's resolved.

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