WASHINGTON D.C., DC — For the first time in more than two decades, Congress has approved funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence.
Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Cobb County) celebrated the passage Tuesday.
"I came to Washington to help protect our communities and was proud to lead my colleagues in asking for this life-saving research funding. I am thrilled that for the first time in two decades, we have successfully secured that funding, funding that will help us prevent gun violence and keep our families whole," McBath said.
The Atlanta-based CDC and the National Institutes of Health will receive more than $20 million to study ways to prevent gun injuries and deaths.
The $1.4 trillion spending bill moves to the Senate later this week to avoid a government shutdown.
Congress hasn't allocated money for gun research at the CDC since 1996. That year, Congressional Republicans, encouraged by the National Rifle Association, blocked the CDC from using federal money to "advocate or promote gun control."
But times have changed.
McBath joined a wave of freshman democrats who ran on the promise of fighting for gun control.
Even Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, who is retiring at the end of the year, pushed for the funding in the Senate version of the bill.
His proposal included $75 million to study all mass violence, including deaths and injuries from knives, explosives and even cars.
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