[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 25, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL REPORT

  Mrs. McCARTHY. Permission to speak out of turn.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from New 
York is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, last week the Centers for Disease Control 
released a report on the economic burden of injuries in the United 
States. The results were astonishing.
  Every year injuries cost our economy $406 billion in health care, 
lost wages and lost productivity. The report goes as far as to list 
specifics on many different injuries; however, there is no listing on 
the costs of gun violence.
  The public might ask how could the CDC avoid gun violence when 
listing the causes of serious injury in this country? The answer is 
simple: Congress won't let them.
  That is right. Congress, in 1996, following the lead of their 
benefactors in the gun industry, refused to allow the CDC to report on 
the economic impact of gun violence. Independent studies show the cost 
to be nearly $100 million a year, but we can never be for sure because 
our government is prohibited from researching this public health issue.
  In fact, the report on the CDC's Web page has a section dedicated to 
fireworks injuries, but no space dedicated specifically to firearms 
injuries or deaths. So the CDC can release information on a cause of 
injury that kills an average of four people per year, but not on the 
cause of thousands that are killed by gun violence every year.
  However, the CDC cannot completely avoid the topic in its report. The 
report lists the top 10 causes of death among certain age groups, and, 
of course, homicide is prevalent, and of homicides of Americans more 
than 44 years of age, more than 10,000 were attributed to gun violence 
in 2003. In 1 year there were at least 10,000 people murdered with 
guns, and Congress won't allow the CDC to study how much these murders 
cost our economy.
  Again, this defies common sense. The CDC isn't allowed to reveal how 
many Americans survive shootings, like my son did, each year, which 
adds an additional billions in cost to our economy as well. Gun 
violence is an epidemic in this country, and Congress is trying to stop 
us from learning the true impact of this public health crisis. This is 
a case of our government controlling the flow of information to protect 
the special interest group. What are they afraid of?
  Is the congressional leadership afraid that if people know how much 
gun violence costs our economy, they would call for commonsense gun 
legislation? If people knew this information, would congressional 
leadership be forced to pass laws to keep military assault weapons out 
of the hands of criminals and terrorists? Would they be forced to stop 
passing legislation that protects the 1 percent of gun dealers who are 
responsible for selling 50 percent of the guns used in crimes?
  Mr. Speaker, the American people have the right to know this 
information, and let the record show that the release of this 
information will have no affect on the right of law-abiding citizens to 
be able to own a gun. But the release of this information might help 
pass commonsense legislation that will make sure criminals and 
terrorists cannot legally buy guns, or allow for law enforcement 
agencies to share information of ballistic evidence.
  Mr. Speaker, let's give the CDC the go-ahead to study this issue. The 
release of this information will make our Nation a safer, better place, 
and won't place a burden on the right of law-abiding American citizens 
to exercise their second amendment rights.
  This past week it has been 5 years since Columbine. In the last 48 
hours, we have seen many schools come under attack. They were prevented 
because our police got the information. We should allow also the CDC to 
be able to study why our young people are going to violence to commit 
and murder, 14, 17, 20 of their friends in school.
  Mr. Speaker, gun violence is a health care crisis in this Nation, and 
until this Congress wakes up, until this country wakes up to be able to 
do something to reduce gun violence in this country, there are better 
ways that we could spend the money, certainly helping Medicare, 
certainly helping the poor get the health care that they need, looking 
at wellness centers instead of waiting too late until people are sick.
  We can do something about this, but the American people need to know 
the facts and figures. It is only right that we do that.

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