mr. speaker i rise today to speak in support of mr. engel 's amendment to the h.r. 3010 , the labor hhs appropriations bill . 
mr. engel 's amendment would grant states an extension to use their expiring , unexpended ryan white care act funds , appropriated in previous years , through fiscal year 2006 . 
the amendment would therefore prohibit expiring funds from being returned to the treasury before the end of fy06 . 
reports indicate that state aids directors unanimously agree that expiring unexpended funds must be put back into the care act , rather than being returned to the treasury as is currently the case . 
while administering ryan white care act funds , states and eligible metropolitan areas periodically finish fiscal years with small amounts of unspent funds . 
these amounts , typically ranging from five or ten percent of overall awards , may be requested in the subsequent fiscal year to provide services during that fiscal year . 
the unspent funds typically result from delays in notice of grant awards from the federal government , timing issues related to subcontracting of services , payroll savings due to state hiring delays or freezes , expenditure of other grant funds for similar services , or other unanticipated fluctuations in spending at the state level . 
occasionally , the amount of unexpended funds reaches beyond ten percent of a grantee 's overall award for reasons specific to the individual jurisdiction . 
currently , the fy06 appropriations bill provides $ 2.1 billion for ryan white aids programs , which is $ 10 million ( 2 percent ) more than the current level but equal to the administration 's request . 
this total includes $ 610 million for the emergency assistance program -- which provides grants to metropolitan areas with very high numbers of aids cases -- $ 1.1 billion for comprehensive-care programs , $ 196 million for the early-intervention program , and $ 73 million for the pediatric hiv/aids program . 
in closing , it is important for me to say a few words about ryan white . 
as many of you know , as a result of his infection , ryan white was expelled from his school , on the account of being a `health risk ' to other students . 
this shameful behaviour on behalf of the school board , as well as multiple death threats to him and his family , required the white family to move to cicero , indiana . 
having found relative peace in cicero , ryan white began a nationwide campign to help educate communities about hiv/aids . 
his inscesant work landed him in washington , dc to testify before the president 's commission on aids . 
his words , works , and wills , were enshrined in the ryan white care ( comprehensive aids resource emergency ) act , signed 4 months after his death ( april 8 , 1990 ) . 
this is a very important issue , and i urge my colleagues to support the engel amendment . 
