; Whereas transgender women in the United States are at high risk for HIV; Whereas half of all transgender people diagnosed with HIV are Black or African American; Whereas the Southern United States now experiences the highest burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic; Whereas Southern States account for an estimated 44 percent of all people living with HIV, despite having just 37 percent of the overall United States population; Whereas African Americans are severely and disproportionately affected by HIV in the South, accounting for 54 percent of all new HIV infections in the region; Whereas socioeconomic issues impact the rates of HIV infection among African Americans in the South and throughout the United States; Whereas socioeconomic factors like income inequality, poverty, and lack of access to HIV prevention education and basic health services, and cultural factors like ho­mo­pho­bia, transphobia, and racism all pose significant challenges to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic; Whereas we are seeing signs of progress; Whereas from 2010 to 2014, HIV diagnoses among African-American women fell by nearly 25 percent and have also fallen sharply among African Americans who inject drugs; Whereas testing, education, counseling, and harm reduction practices are all critical to prevent HIV; Whereas life-saving treatment is also a proven prevention tool, and research shows that antiretroviral drugs can reduce the amount of virus to undetectable levels (also known as viral suppression), effectively resulting in no risk of transmission of HIV; Whereas in 2012, the Food and Drug Administration approved pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as prevention for people who are HIV-negative; Whereas PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection for HIV-negative people by up to 99 percent