[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13174]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             THE PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, before we adjourned for the Fourth of July 
recess, we spent two weeks on the Senate floor discussing the Patients 
Bill of Rights. I supported the strong, enforceable bill which the 
Senate finally approved on June 29th. After years of consideration and 
a hard legislative battle, the bipartisan vote this bill received 
reflects the overwhelming support the bill has from the American 
people.
  Over the next several months we will continue to discuss the 
importance of reforming our health care system to make it more 
affordable and more accessible to the American people. But as we debate 
the subject, we must not ignore an issue that is often overlooked as a 
public health problem. I'm talking about gun violence. Because, Mr. 
President, accompanying the tremendous human costs of gun violence are 
enormous public health costs that we cannot afford to ignore.
  According to a 1999 report from the Office of Juvenile Justice and 
Delinquency Prevention, every day in the United States, 93 people die 
as a result of gunshot wounds and an additional 240 sustain gunshot 
injuries. The report states that ``the fatality rate is roughly 
equivalent to that associated with HIV infection--a disease that the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recognized as an 
epidemic.'' In addition, according to a 1997 study cited by the 
Violence Policy Center, the cost of gunshot wounds exceeded $126 
billion in 1992 alone. That same year, the injury cost per bullet sold 
in the United States exceeded $25.
  So as we in the Senate work to improve health care for all Americans, 
we should work just as hard to address the loopholes in our gun laws. 
Only by doing the latter can we reduce the costs to public health that 
result from gun violence.




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