The U.S. Senate
voted Wednesday to repeal the nation's law barring
HIV-positive visitors from traveling to the United States.
Democratic senator John Kerry and Republican
senator Gordon Smith attached the repeal to
legislation reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief. The PEPFAR bill was approved by a vote of
80-16 and now moves to a committee in the
Senate before being sent to the president.
"We
applaud the Senate for rejecting this unjust and sweeping
policy that deems HIV-positive individuals
inadmissible to the United States," said Human
Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese in an HRC press
release. "We call on the leaders of the House
and Senate to retain the Kerry-Smith provision in
conference and ensure it is included in the final
legislation sent to the president's desk."
(The Advocate)