Function

• The act will make it so that no legislation can prevent the use of federal funds for the purpose of distributing sterilized needles. Dirty needles have been proven to be a cause in the spread of AIDS and hepatitis.
  
  

Statistics

• The bill cites statistics to support its cause. According to the bill, approximately 12,000 Americans are infected every year by AIDS and about 19,000 contract the hepatitis C virus "directly or indirectly from sharing contaminated syringes"; areas with syringe exchange programs were shown to have a 5.8 percent drop in the rate of infection.
  
  

History

• The act was originally proposed by Representative Jose Serrano of New York on Jan. 6, 2009. As of August 2010 the act had not made it out of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce.