Three minutes to ask questions. Many members will be allowed to make openings Committee Members will be allowed to make Opening Statements. Hearing no objections, so ordered. The chair recognizes herself for five minutes for an opening statement. First of all thank you, everyone, for being here this morning. It is an honor for those of us that are not from chicago to be here on a very serious issue. This is the very first energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the gun violence epidemic in our country. As a Public Health issue. And this subcommittee has jurisdiction over Public Health issues in our country jurisdiction over Public Health issues in our country. I want to represent recognize members who were present chicago and the region, starting with bobby rush, whose district we are in. Thank you, bobby, very much for inviting us, asking the subcommittee to come here. Congresswoman robin kelly, who is here to my left. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky from the chicago region. Enter and two representatives, adam kinzinger, from the state of illinois, a little further away, and store to robin, and mr. Kensinger makes this hearing a bipartisan hearing. We are grateful to him for being here today for this his leadership and leadership of each member that is here today. We are also grateful to have with us and we welcome our Congressional Colleagues who are guests of the committee today, representative danny davis, who i akwasy say is the voice of god. And julie garcia who is here. The vice chair of the energy and commerce to, congresswoman yvette clarke. And i already mentioned congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. On this, on the subject matter that is before americans, killed by a gun and hundreds more are shot and injured every day in our country. Millions of americans have watched in horror to see the shootings and the things that have taken place in our country. They have watched families very their loved 1 emilys bu families bury their loved ones and they live in fear of what could happen next and some are with us today. They are in the audience, and the witness table and they are on the dais as members of congress. Congressman rush buried his son as a result of gun violence. I think this collective heart break will move us forward with real purpose. We are here to treat american gun violence for what it is, an epidemic. To treat an epidemic, we have to study it, we have to understand what works to prevent it, and we need to learn how to treat the trauma that is caused by it. We know that a Public Health approach can work. Consider antismoking efforts or preventing injuries from car crashes. We have achieved lifesaving results through funding, data analysis, encouraging research, and adopting common sense product improvements with these epidemics. Another simple yet profound and proven method is listening to people from the communitys most affected by an epidemic and the Public Health it represents. We are here in chicago southside, where so many have lived with the epidemic of gun violence. And for decades. Thank you again, congressman rush, for inviting our committee to hold this hearing in your district and for your years of work to address gun violence. Gun homicide is the leading cause of death for africanamerican boys and men ages 15 to 34, and it is the second leading cause of death for hispanic boys and men ages 15 to 34 as well. Africanamerican men make up 52 of all gun homicide victims, despite only being 7 of the population of our country. Compared to the rate of gun homicide for white boys and men of the same ages, the rate for African Americans is 21 times greater, and the rate for hispanic men is nearly four times greater. Notably, the communities most impacted by gun violence are the most knowledgeable about how to treat it and prevent it. It is why our witnesses include mr. Spencer lake, senior, owner of the familyrun funeral home in the chasm neighborhood in the neighborhood, who has comforted thousands of families who have had someone killed by a gun. It is why we are listening to pastor mitchell and norman kerr, who have taken their experience with gun violence and used them to create common sense, evidencebased policies, and why we are hearing from the physicians who work every day to heal the physical, mental, and generational trauma from shootings and who see the bodies who are ravaged by gun violence. Todays hearing will not be enough to stop the daily violence, but we can broaden our understanding of how best to treat this epidemic and provide resources for Public Health research. I am proud that the house voted to provide 50 million for Gun Violence Research at the cdc and the nih, and the senate needs to do the same. I want to thank congresswoman robin kelly, a leader on the issue of gun violence yeah, you can applaud. Every member welcomes that. It is a validation of our work. I want to thank her for introducing hr 1114. Requires the u. S. Surgeon general to provide an annual report to congress on the Public Health impacts you can applaud and the cause of gun violence in america. I hope our hearing helps that bill become closer to becoming law. Thank you, congresswoman robin kelly. Again, i think each of my Congressional Colleagues. It is an honor to join with you here today in chicago. I want to thank each one of our witnesses for your professionalism and willingness to be here with us today, and everyone else who has joined us, those who are in the audience, thank you for being here today. Collectively, i think your presence and your testimony is going to fuel our action. I now have the privilege of recognizing the gentleman from illinois, mr. Rush, for his opening statement. I want to thank you, madam chairman and my friends from the great state of california. You and i were sworn in together in congress, back in january 1993, and we have enjoyed each other and our friendship has shone all the way to this day. I want to thank you for convening this important hearing, and the question right here in my district. John f. Kennedy and robert f. Kennedy, and dr. Martin luther king jr. Was killed by gun violence. Gun violence, madam chairman, is indeed a national epidemic. Gun violence undermines the Public Health and the Public Safety of all of our communities. This epidemic has had painful consequences for far too many families here in chicago. Including my own family. Far too many families in my district and in districts all across the country have felt the painful consequences. Madam chairman, you mentioned my son. His murder was 10 years ago this very month. The anniversary of his murder was october 31, so 10 years later, we are still fighting, still hoping to try to resolve this matter of this epidemic of gun violence in our nation. Madam chair, in 2017, to take place here in my district. An important conversation about these things. This is what is just as important, if not more so, is that we have a new conversation right here in the community that first so long as that for so long has felt the pain of this epidemic. It is for this very reason that i am pleased that we are finally convening today this hearing to discuss this Public Health crisis. This epidemic of gun violence. And i want to thank all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for being here today, and i want to thank the witnesses who have come out at their own expense, sacrificing their own time and resources to make testimony at this hearing. Madam chairman, i am confident that at todays hearing, we will be able to shine a light on the Public Health impacts, the Public Health impacts of gun violence. And i am optimistic that we will walk away and conclude this hearing with tangible ideals and solutions that will protect all communities in the future from this widespread and holy unrecognized wholly unrecognized epidemic. This epidemic is not just a Law Enforcement issue, madam chairman. It is a health care crisis. As you stated, it is an epidemic that we must address, an epidemic in the government. Madam chairwoman, i look forward to hearing from todays witnesses and with that said, i ask for a unanimous consent to insert in the record the testimony of the individual hearing that i had in washington, an unofficial hearing in the library of Congress Almost three years ago, where dr. Rainey, an emergency physician and chief of affirmed research that the countrys only Nonprofit Institution dedicated to solving gun violence i want to submit the testimony for the record. Rep. Eshoo so forward. Rep. Rush i yield the balance of my time, and again, rep. Rush i yield the balance of my time, and again, thank you for holding a hearing on this and other issues. Rep. Eshoo the gentleman yields back. Let me just say, on behalf of my colleagues, we are all very, very grateful to the faculty, to the entire team here at kennedy king for your hospitality, for your warm welcome, for the coffee that came through the doors that we had this morning. Let me just say, the words of kennedy and king will always be an inspiration to each one of us, and how fitting it is that we are having this hearing in an institution of learning. It is now my pleasure to recognize the gentleman from illinois, adam kinzinger, for his five minutes and his opening statement. Rep. Kinzinger good morning, everybody, and for our witnesses, thank you very much for being here. Chairwoman, thank you for making the trip, and to all my colleagues, i really appreciate you all being here. Im a be outnumbered today, but i assure you, there is a 100 turnout of republicans from northern illinois, so hey. Rep. applause applause kinzinger one of the other things i want to make really clear, because you do not get to see this a lot when you watch tv and stuff, most of us here, i think all of us get along really well. We all respect each other. Unfortunately, you just see the times we argue and debate and you assume it is like that all the time. We actually like each other. If i do not like somebody, it is not because of their politics, it is because they are a jerk, but i do not think anyone here fits that bill. Rep. Kinzinger i want to say this because when we get in these debates, no matter whether it is guns or gun violence, both sides mistry to the corner and mistrust each other in a conversation, and assume the worst about what oaks are saying and in some cases what some folks are saying and in some cases, they may mean the worst. But in the near future, i think there are a lot of areas where we can agree. I think it would begin to talk to each other again and respect each other again and listen to each other again, we might be able to make some progress. That is why i am here. I am not here to debate my points or to argue, i am here to listen, to learn more about the people of the community and what is working, and what we can do at the federal level to remedy some of these issues. Whether it is a small town or big city across the nation, americans are terrified by the Mass Shootings they have seen that have sadly become a regular occurrence. Too often, our focus on gun related violence focuses more on Mass Shootings and farley any hardly any goes to the steady stream of devastation happening in chicago and elsewhere. When i get a notification on my phone about an active shooter or see the amount of people being killed in chicago, this is our community and we need to stop this violence. As a congressman, i see the validity of both sides of the conversation. We clearly have a gun violence epidemic here in america, and i want to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find solutions that will reduce suicide, drug violence, gangrelated violence, and Mass Shootings. While the debate continues, i believe there are many areas where we can find agreement and i look over to doing so. I look forward to hearing from our distinguished panel of witnesses on what more we can do to address this problem. During this hearing, i am interested in discussing the Community Aspect of the gun violence crisis. I believe this aspect is at the heart of a lot of issues we face. These programs that are often formed by the community and for the community have shown how critical of a role communities can play in addressing this crisis. We really need to make sure we are paying attention to these programs and replicate them when they are successful. Im also interested in the Mental Health aspect of gun violence and what we can do in congress to provide the tools necessary to address this component of the problem, like providing access to Community Health centers and those needing Mental Health help. Community and religious organizations can come into play by guiding and giving people hope for a better future. If you do not have hope or any reason to follow a moral code or fear the result of your action, tragedy in many cases follows. Desperation can be a dangerous trigger, and to the extent we can work on helping and healing those who are struggling and in the stigma of discussing and facing Mental Illness in this country, i fear things may only get worse. In discussing the desperation and helplessness, we come to the issue of suicide. In 2017, 60 of gun related deaths were suicides. Here in illinois, one person dies by suicide every six hours. In the age of technology and instant gratification, people are feeling less and less connected. They feel isolated and hopeless. Kids today in society feel their selfworth depends on the number of likes, comments, or snaps they get in a given day, and that is a concern to me. As we get into these issues surrounding gun violence, i want to reiterate, it is a complex issue that requires a holistic approach. I am grateful to the subcommittee for holding this hearing today and for our panelists being here to share their experience, expertise, and insight as we look at the root cause of this violence and Work Together to find Real Solutions to address the gun violence epidemic. With that, i yield back. Rep. Eshoo the gentleman yield back. The chair would like to recognize mr. Butterfield, the vicechairman of the full committee, for his five minutes for an opening statement. Pleasure to recognize. Rep. Butterfield i know ms. Clark might not take too kindly to that, she is vicechairman of the full committee, i am vice chair of the subcommittee. Rep. Eshoo you just got a raise. Rep. Butterfield thank you. Let me join with the congressman and thank you for your incredible work on the subcommittee. You promised us months ago that we would have this hearing and you have filled that commitment, so thank you very much. It is good to be with my colleagues, particularly those from illinois, and my good friend bobby rush is to my right, and i understand we are in your congressional district. Thank you for your work. The gun violence epidemic in america can no longer be ignored. We must treat this epidemic for what it is, a Public Health crisis. That is why we are here today. Democrats in the house recognize this crisis and we are determined yes we are we are determined to take some action. With that said, madam chair, i would like to yield two minutes to my chair from illinois, congresswoman kelly. To my friend from illinois, Congress Woman kelly. Rep. Eshoo rep. Butterfield i would like to yield to congresswoman kelly if she is not on the bill to do the opening statement. She is . I reclaim my time. I just did not want to lead out my friend ms. Kelly, because she worked so hard. Too long, we have handcuffed the federal government from researching the affliction of gun violence in america and its impact on Public Health. We need to marshal the department of health and Human Services and the cdc to understand what the impact gun violence is having on our kids right here in chicago and across the country. We need to know how they will be impacted throughout their lives after they witnessed their loved ones get guns down in the streets or committing suicide with the assistance of a firearm. We need to know why the homicide rate in america is more than 25 times the average of other developed nations. We are going to face the gun violence epidemic head on, and todays hearing will help us in that fight. I now want to yields time to mr. Kautsky to ms. Czajkowski, as she is a very strong and forceful leader in this area. Rep. Czajkowski we heard that number the average of 100 people a day. That adds up, if you multiply it by 360 5, 30 6500 people a year dying from guns . In chicago, as of sunday, 2101 people shot. This is a crisis. This is a sense of urgency right now. We are raising the profile right now today, but we need action. In chicago and in illinois, we have good laws on guns, but 60 of the guns that come into our state come from other states across the border. You can go to indiana on a weekend and go to a gun show, open up your trunk and load up that car with any kind of gun that you want and drive across the border. We dont stop people. I want to thank not only our panel, but i see people in the audience with red shirts, moms against gun violence rep. Schakowsky thank you so much. I see people who are here that want to help us. They deserve our help. On the panel, i want to thank pastor mitchell especially, because of the feeling of a mom, not only as an expert in our on this to bring that. Mr. Leek, a friend of mine, when we were talking about the number of People Killed if we were a virus if it was a virus, what would we be doing . We would be searching. He said, what about if it were terrorism . We would be at war. This is a war that we have to win. Children are hiding in bathtubs in their homes to seek refuge from guns, from bullets that may come through. So this is an opportunity