The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has yet to remove HIV from its list of communicable diseases of public health significance, the Los Angeles Times reports. On July 30. President George W. Bush eliminated the federal law restricting HIV-positive people entering the United States, but HHS still has the authority to forbid it. Lawmakers and advocacy groups are urging Bush to take steps to ensure that the HHS travel ban is lifted as soon as possible.

“We write to encourage you to act quickly to remove HIV from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance and end the HIV travel and immigration ban,” Sens. John Kerry (D–Mass.) and Gordon Smith (R–Ore.), main backers of the measure in the Senate, wrote to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt last month.

In a separate letter mailed to the president last week, 58 House Democrats—including California Reps. Barbara Lee (the chief sponsor in the House), House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman—asked Bush to take “swift action on this issue.”

According to the article, HHS must revise its current rule—which has been in place since 1987—submit it for public comment and finalize it in order to effectively lift the ban.