HUGE news!! Obama lifts AIDS travel ban (this was Kerry's bill!)

[beachmom]

President Obama announced today that his administration is lifting travel restrictions into the country for those with HIV/AIDS.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/10/obama_lifts_aid.html

Senator John F. Kerry, who co-authored legislation that the Senate passed last year to lift the ban, praised Obama's decision, asserting that the 1987 provision baring HIV-positive individuals from travelling or immigrating to the US covered doctors and experts, as well as refugees seeking asylum despite the lack of scientific evidence supporing the ban as an effective tool for disease control.

“Today a discriminatory travel and immigration ban has gone the way of the dinosaur and we’re glad it’s finally extinct. It sure took too long to get here,” Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. “We’ve now removed one more hurdle in our fight against AIDS, and it’s long overdue for people living with HIV who battle against stigma and bigotry day in and day out.”

“At long last, our nation’s unjust policy of excluding HIV-positive visitors and immigrants has ended,” added Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement issued by Kerry's office. “We applaud the leadership of our allies in Congress, especially Senator Kerry, and of President Obama and Secretary Sebelius in bringing this discriminatory chapter of our history to a close.”

Obama's remarks at the link.

[ProSense]

1. This is great news.

Posted JK's statement here

[karynnj]

2. This is wonderful news

[wisteria]

3. Very good news. n/t

[MBS]

4. 10-31 NYT story mentions JK

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/us/politics/31travel.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1256991666-iyFnoIax6cHri7XqjcQ5Lw

Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, who led the effort to repeal the ban, said it had now “gone the way of the dinosaur.” But, Mr. Kerry added, “it sure took too long to get here.”

[beachmom]

5. This is actually something "real". Not some vague notion, but tangible.

Andrew Sullivan, who I like to read, can now pursue becoming a U.S. citizen. He can go home to England without fear that he won't be allowed back in the country. And for once, he is so floored, he can't full express how he feels about this:

I look forward to screwing the national anthem up like every red-blooded American. But right now, I just feel weird. I know I should be totally delirious at the news that I've been waiting for and fighting for for more than a decade. But like most huge anticipated moments, this one doesn't quite have the immediate punch. You feel numb and unreal. You've spent so long steeling yourself against disappointment you barely know what it is to celebrate. But thank you for all the emails of support and kindness. They mean a huge amount. You were, in some ways, among the best friends I had in this period. The Dish cares.

In his first post reacting to the news, of course he gave props to John Kerry (and Gordon Smith). I also think that he dealt with a Kerry staffer who he thanked as well.