
The U.S. House has already passed legislation that would bar the District from spending local taxpayer money on the program. But the D.C. Voting Rights Coalition says the needle exchange has been key in reducing the city's HIV/AIDS rate.
Tuesday members of the coalition will be meeting with a number of U.S. Senators and urging them to reject the bill approved by the House. The activists say the bill would be a congressional overstep and would wrongly interfere with local affairs.
But federal lawmakers have imposed a similar measure in the past. Congress lifted a 10-year ban on funding for the program in 2008.

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