AIDS: The Congressional Black Caucus asked Health and Human Services Secretary, Donna Shalala, to invoke a Federal law giving her special authority to spend up to $45 million of a fund to combat the HIV epidemic among African-Americans. The funds must first be appropriated by Congress. The Caucus is urging the Federal government to declare a state of emergency, because African-Americans are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. Although African-Americans comprise 12 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 43 percent of new AIDS cases. Also, AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-Americans between the ages of 25 to 44. President Clinton requested that government agencies begin to examine ways to reduce disparities in health status that affect racial and ethnic minorities.