On Thursday (December 4), AIDS Action escorted Junior Girl Scout Troop 2635 from Upper Marlboro, Maryland on a visit to Capitol Hill where the girls presented 80 Members of Congress with copies of Ryan White’s autobiography, Ryan White: My Own Story and shared with the legislators the insights they had drawn from his moving story. The eleven members of the troop had decided to read the book as part of a project on HIV.

Renee Antoine and Gabrielle Barnett in the office of Rep. Ralph Hall after delivering Ryan White autobiography.

Along with the books, the girls distributed a letter they had drafted which explained their interest in increasing people’s awareness of HIV. “We have been learning about Ryan White and [how] he was discriminated against,” they wrote. The letter continued, “If people learn about [HIV], hopefully they won’t be scared of people with this disease and other diseases.” The letter ended with the girls requesting that Members read the book so they can help “pass peace, love and justice to people who are living with HIV and AIDS throughout the country.”

Teneil Sivells, age 11, asks a question of Mary Hanks, Legislative Aide to Senator Barbara Mikulski as the rest of Junior Troop 2635 listens.

The whole troop expressed excitement about visiting the Members of Congress and sharing their thoughts and impressions of Ryan White. One girl, Marie Hallman, a ten year-old fifth grader, thought their choice to read the book and visit Capitol Hill was quite appropriate, since December 6 marks the anniversary of Ryan White’s birthday and Monday, December 1 marked World AIDS Day. Summing up her own reasons for participating in the Hill visits, Mariah Crews, the troop’s president, said, “I wanted to tell the people in Congress that nobody should be treated differently just because they have a disease. Everybody should be treated the same, no matter what.” This sentiment was echoed in the closing of the girls’ letter as well. It stated that all people should be treated with the same respect that Members of Congress receive.

Marie Holloman, age 10; Jasmin Spears, age 10; and Mariah Crews, age 11, present Ryan White’s autobiography to Austin Bryan, Aide to Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Enacted in 1990, the Ryan White CARE Act must be reauthorized every five years. Its next reauthorization will occur in 2005. This means that discussions about the future of the CARE Act are already taking place in Congressional and Executive-branch offices. So, the girls’ trip to Capitol Hill was well-timed.

Junior Troop 2635 of Upper Marlboro, MD, at the end of their day on Capitol Hill, delivering the Ryan White autobiography to 80 offices, with Troop Leader, Donna Crews and parents, Tamara Dorsey and Sharon McCorkle.

“Ryan White was a boy who had hemophilia and AIDS and he went through a lot at school because people took their kids out of school because they thought AIDS was spread through the air,” Mariah explained. Yet, rather than allow the illness—and the ignorance about HIV that was so pervasive in the early years of the epidemic—get the better of him, Ryan White became an outspoken advocate for the rights of those living with HIV. He raised people’s awareness of the disease and improved their understanding of how HIV is—and is not—transmitted. At 19 years-old, Ryan White died from AIDS-related causes, but his name lives on in the most comprehensive piece of federal legislation that has ever been created for people living with HIV: the Ryan White CARE Act. This important piece of legislation will be reauthorized in 2005. The 80 Members of Congress whose offices were visited by the girls all serve on one of the two Congressional committees that will lead the reauthorization process: the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

During the day’s activities, the girls carried forth the spirit of Ryan White, informing health care staffers that Ryan White “helped other students understand that you can’t catch HIV through casual contact.” They received warm welcomes in many of the Congressional offices, including that of Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). While meeting with the girls, one of her staff members revealed that all fourteen of the women who are currently serving as Senators had been girl scouts in their youth. She also revealed that Senator Mikulski viewed her time in the girl scouts as one of the most meaningful experiences she has ever had. Though they were pleased to share this connection with the Senator, the girls’ expectations were not diminished: they insisted that Senator Mikulski read the autobiography and said they would follow up with her to verify that the Senator had done her “homework.”

Eleven year-old Mariah Crews, president of Troop 2635, explained the lesson the girls hoped to teach the Members of Congress through this assignment: “Nobody should be treated differently just because they have a disease. Everybody should be treated the same, no matter what.”

Triana McCorkle, age 10, presents Ryan White: My Own Story to Mary Hanks, Legislative Aide to Senator Barbara Mikulski

see the girls' letter to the Members of Congress

see Senator Tom Daschle's (D-SD) letter to the girls