Mr. President. my distinguished colleague. Senator HELiMs. has introduced an amendment which in effect would support the recommendation of the Public Health Service that human immunodeficiency disease virus infection be added to the list of dangerous contagious diseases which is used for purposes of immigration. I am prepared to support Senator HmLMs amendment today. but it is important for us all to realize that there may be some difficulty with respect to implementation. It is my understanding that there is concern as to who verifies the results and where the testing will be done. Many of the Third World countries do not have the resources or the technology to do this sophisticated testing. Currently. with respect to those seven diseases that are already on the list. the country of origin does the testing and treating as recommended by Public Health officials and the State Department. The results of the testing and exams are then reviewed by U.S. officials and a decision regarding eligibility for an immigrant visa is then made based on the examining doctors medical findings. I raise these questions not to discourage us. but rather to point out that there will be new issues raised by this amendment which must be addressed by both the Public Health Service and the State Department. It makes great sense to me. however. that if there is currently a listing of dangerous and contagious diseases. there is every reason to add the AIDS virus to this list. as there is no question regarding its being dangerous or contagious.
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