Democrats in the House of Representatives recently approved the allocating of $50 million to study gun violence. The House Labor-HHS-Education fiscal 2020 funding bill, which was revealed yesterday, will provide $25 million to the CDC and $25 million to the NIH, Politico reported.
The money is to be used to research the prevention of gun violence, injury and death. While funding for this type of study hasn’t been allocated in more than two decades, gun violence prevention organizations and doctors’ groups have sought this money to address gun violence. But experts expect there will be much push back from Republicans.
The CDC currently collects data regarding gun-inflicted injuries, but there isn’t much more the agency can do without more funding. Therefore, an agency spokesperson claimed the $50 million will “help the CDC to move forward in this work.”
While House Democrats have prioritized gun violence in their agenda with the passing of H.R. 8 (116), which mandates federal background checks on all gun sales, Republicans claim that the reason is politically driven. Republicans believe that Democrats “are trying to score political points because the CDC already has the authority to study gun violence,” Politico reported.
The CDC is allowed to study gun violence outlined in a budget deal from March 2018 as long as it doesn’t promote gun control, but spending provisions have effected such research.
The House health subcommittee will review the bill on Tuesday.
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