Block funding for gun violence research

House GOP appropriators block funding for gun violence research

By ADAM CANCRYN

House Republican appropriators Wednesday rejected a proposal to designate millions of dollars for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for gun violence research, voting 32-20 to keep the language out of a fiscal 2019 spending bill.

The party-line vote marked Democrats’ latest failed bid to spur studies into preventing firearm-related injuries and deaths — and comes despite a bipartisan agreement earlier this year that the CDC is permitted to conduct such research. The agency's ability to study gun violence had been limited by a 1996 provision that prevented the CDC from collecting data to advocate for gun control.

“It’s time that we give the scientists the tools to study the causes of firearm injury, in hopes that more Americans can be spared from violent suicide and firearm-related accidents,” said Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), who introduced the amendment.

The measure, which would’ve been tacked onto the House’s fiscal 2019 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, proposed earmarking $10 million for competitive grants to support gun violence research.

But House Appropriations Republicans argued the CDC is already free to study firearm injuries and that the language would risk further politicizing the spending bill.

“They’re free to research anything they care to research,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). “I don’t want to spend my time on the floor — and hopefully this [bill] comes to the floor — in a gun control debate.”