Transcripts For CSPAN3 Gun Violence Hearing In Chicago 20240713

Today who are not members of the committee that they be recognized for three minutes to ask questions after Committee Members have asked theirs and note only 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. Its an honor for those of us that are not from chicago to be here here. Im anna eschew and this is the midwestern part of my family and its an honor to be here with my colleagues on a very serious issue and this is the first energy and Commerce Committee hearing of the gun violence epidemic in our country as a Public Health issue. This subcommittee has jurisdiction over Public Health issues in our country. I want to recognize first the members of the committee who represent the parts of chicago and the region starting with congressman bobby rush whose district we are in. Thank you, bobby, very much for inviting us and asking the Sub Committee to come here. Congresswoman robin kelly who is here to my left. 2s2t  chaicowsky who is a representative here from the state of illinois and farther away i think next door to robin, and mr. Kensinger makes this hearing a bipartisan hearing and we are grateful to him for being here today for his leadership and the 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 always say is the voice of god with that magnificent voice of his and chuy garcia, the vice chair of the energy and Commerce Committee, congresswoman yvette clark, and i already mentioned congresswoman jan chai cow see. On the matter before us today its important to note that 100 americans are 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 massacres that have taken place in our country. They have watched families bury their loved ones and there are too many that live in fear of what could happen next and some are here with us today. Theyre in the audience. Theyre at the witness table and theyre on the deus as members of congress. Congressman rush buried his son as a result of gun violence. I think this collective heartbreak will move us to work with real purpose. We are here to treat american gun violence for what it is, an epidemic and 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 thats caused by it. We know that a Public Health approach can work. Consider antismoking efforts or preventing car crashes. Weve achieved lifesaving results through funding data analysis, Encouraging Research and adopting common sense product improvements with these epidemics, another simple and yet profound and proven method is listening to people from the communities most affected by an epidemic and the Public Health it represents. We are here in chicagos south side 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 years of your years of work to address gun violence. The gun homicide is the leading cause of death for africanamerican boys and men ages 15 to 34, and its the second leading cause of death for hispanic boys and men ages 15 to 34 as well. Africanamerican men make up 52 of gun homicide victims despite being only 7 of the population of our country. Compared to the rate of gun homicides for white boys and men of the same ages, the rate for africanamericans 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. Its why our witnesses include mr. Spencer leak senior. Owner of a family run funeral home in the chatham neighborhood who has comforted hundreds, if not thousands of families whose loved ones have been killed by a gun. Its why were listening to pastor Brendan Mitchell and mr. Normon kerr who have taken their experiences with gun violence and used them to promote common sense, evidencebased policies and its why were hearing from the physicians who work every day to heal the physical, mental and generational trauma from shootings and who see the bodies that 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 and for introducing sure, you can applaud. [ applause ] every member welcomes that. Its a validation of our work. I want to thank her for introducing hr1114, and this is legislation that requires the u. S. Surgeon general to provide an annual report to congress on the Public Health impacts and you can applaud, and the cost of gun violence in america, and i hope that our hearing today helps that bill come closer to becoming law so thank you, congresswoman robin kelly. Again, i thank each of my Congressional Colleagues. Its a special honor to join with you here today in chicago. I want to thank each one of our witnesses for your professionalism and your willingness to be here with us today and for all of you in the audience, thank you for being here today. Collectively, your presence and your testimony is going 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 friend from the great state of california. You and i were sworn in together in congress in january 1993 and we have enjoyed each other and had our friendship all of the way to this day and including this day. I want to thank you for convening this important hearing and right here [ indiscernible ] it is especially on nonviolence and most the 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. Far too many families here in chicago including my own family. Far too many families and some in the district and across the country have been have felt the painful consequences. Madam chairman, you mentioned my son bhwhose name was hughey. Hugheys murder was ten years ago this very month. The anniversary of his murder was october 31st. So we are ten years later and we are still fighting and still working to try to resolve this matter of this epidemic of gun violence in our nation, but until we met in 2017, rather, i started calling more hearings such as this to take place here in my district. Important conversations are going on in washington but just as important if not more so is to have these conversations rid here in the community that for too long has showed the pain of this epidemic. And it is for this very reason that we are holding today this hearing to discuss this Public Health crises, and this epidemic of gun violence, and i want to thank all of my colleagues for being here today and i want to thank the witnesses who come out at their own expense and sacrifice their own time and resources for this hearing and madam chairman, i am confident that in todays hearing we will be able to shine a light on the Public Health impacts, the Public Health impacts of gun violence, and im optimistic that we will walk away and conclude this hearing with solution that will take our communities and this future from this widespread and totally unrecognized epidemic. It is not just a Law Enforcement issue, madam chairman. Its a healthcare crisis in our nation, and as you stated earlier, it is an epidemic that we as an epidemic and our federal government. Madam chairman, i look forward to hearing from todays witnesses, and with that said, i ask for unanimous consent to insert in the record, the testimony of an individual who appeared at a hearing that i had in washington, an unofficial hearing, but inaudible almost two years ago. And an emergency physician, the chief research in the countrys only Non Profit Institute dedicated to solving gun violence i want to submit for unanimous consent her testimony for the record. So ordered. And madam chairman, with that, i yield the balance of my time and again, thank you for your participating and your leadership on zinger, for his five minutes and his Opening Statement. 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 [laughter] [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 actually 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 nobody here fits that bill. [laughter] 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 just retreat to their corner and mistrust each other in a conversation, and assume the worst about what oaks are im horrified he when i see the number of people shot and killed in chicago or when i get a notification on my phone about an active shooter. Congressman, i feel the heat on 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 it is our duty to do so. Today 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 as is where communityd 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, desperation can be a dangerous trigger, and to the extent we can work on helping and healing those who are struggling and and and end 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 suicide. 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. It is an issue we need to resolve in society. 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 problem that requires comprehensive holistic approach. 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 olive all of 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 friend from illinois, congresswoman kelly. I was going to yield congresswoman kelly sometime if she was not on the schedule. She is on the schedule . Reclaiming my time. [laughter] rep. Eshoo dont lose the time. Rep. Butterfield she is on the second tier and is nevertheless a very strong and forceful leader in this area. Rep. Czajkowski we heard that and and average 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, 22,100 people shot. 382 killed. This is a crisis. It demands a sense of urgency right now. We are raising the profile right now today, but we need action. So, you know, 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 from guns, from bullets that may come through. So this is an opportunity and an obligation today to actually move ahead. Thank you, i yield back. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. Rep. Butterfield i yield back. Rep. Eshoo i recognize the gentleman from illinois, representative robin kelly, for her statement. And with thanks for your work as well. Rep. Kelly thank you, chairwoman eshoo, and thank you for your work in this area. I want to welcome everyone to chicago and thank the witnesses who are taking the time to be here. Thank you for holding this important hearing on gun violence as a Public Health crisis. Thank you to all of my colleagues. I really appreciate you being here. I being here, you are showing your commitment to solutions that will end our countries gun toll on communities and in some parts of my district, young people experience levels of ptsd on par with returning veterans because of regular gun violence. Simply addressing easy access to guns will not solve all the challenges in these communities. Decades of systemic under investments and disinvestment in school, transportation, businesses and public spaces coupled with residential segregation by race has created a divided city. I divided city in which gun violence is largely concentrated in black and brown communities that are underserved, under resourced, and for some, wary of Law Enforcement. As chair of the Congressional Black Caucus held brain trust, i and dedicated to finding solutions that improve the health of all communities across the country. This includes preventing gun violence. As i said, gun violence impacts our society in various ways, and not only does it take a toll on the health care system, it also negatively impacts worker productivity and our health care system. Loss of quality of life, psychological and Emotional Trauma declined in Property Values in other legal and societal consequences stemming from gun violence cost an estimated 174 billion. Of that cost, the government directly absorbs 12 billion. Instead of using these funds to invest in our communities, these dollars are bled away due to gun violence and the impacts. I always say, nothing stops the bullet like an opportunity. In order to combat gun violence and Health Community help communities rebuild, i have introduced several pieces of legislation creating opportunities, including heroes for atrisk youth and Community College to career fund act. For the past several congresses, i have also introduced the urban progress acts that would help to fill this void in Economic Opportunities, strengthened policecommunity relations, and present common sense gun violence prevention policies. I look forward to the witness testimony, welcome, and i yield back. Rep. Eshoo the gentlewoman yields back. The chair reminds members that pursuant to Committee Rules, all members written Opening Statements shall be made part of the record. I would like to introduce the witnesses for todays hearings. To my left, pastor Brenda Mitchell. She is the mother of kenneth mitchell, jr. Welcome to you and thank you for being here with us today. Dr. Rogers junior, chief section for trauma and acute care surgery and founding director of Trauma Center university of chicago medicine. Thank you for joining us here today. Dr. Ronald stewart, director of trauma programs, American College of surgeons committee on trauma, traveled to texas to be with us here today. Mr. Norman care, director of a violence prevention from the city of chicago, thank you for joining us today. Mr. Spencer leek, sr. , president and ceo of leek and sons funeral home. He has a story to tell. Last but not least, dr. Johnson, immediate past president of the National Medical association. Thank you to you, thank you to each witness. We look forward to your testimony and at this time, the chair recognizes each witness for five minutes. We will begin with pastor Brenda Mitchell. I think that you you are probably familiar do you have the lighting system there . Green, you know what green means. Yellow, caution. When the red light comes on,. On, full stop. You are probably wondering why that does not apply to members of congress. Anyway. [laughter] the chairagain, and is pleased to recognize pastor Brenda Mitchell for your five minutes of testimony. Pastor mitchell thank you. Good morning to this network for allowing me to be here. For moms demand action and for purpose over pain. I also recognize excuse me, pastor. Can you move your microphone much closer . So we dont miss a word. Pastor mitchell there we go. Better. Pastor mitchell i also recognize mr. Leek, sr. , who was the recipient of my sons Burial Service and gave me a voice also as to black on black love. I am pastor Brenda Mitchell. I live in university park, illinois, and have lived and worked in the chicago area most of my life. Today i and here as someone who has experienced two Family Members taken by gun violence, my brother and my son. Today i am here as a voice for my son. I am here as a voice for my community. I am here on behalf of the hundreds of mothers who have had their children torn from their lives by gun violence. My son was the center of our family. He was the first grandchild on both sides of the family and became a role model for his younger siblings and cousins at cousins. At 31, he was the single parent of two children and another little boy who would be born two days after his death. It was Super Bowl Weekend and he was the manager of a golf center. He was hosting a Super Bowl Party on sunday. His boys were with their mother, so he took the rare opportunity that evening to spend some time with friends at a local sports bar, playing darts and enjoying each others company. As kenneth was leaving, an argument broke out among two individuals outside of the bar. Kenneth intervened and attempted to diffuse the situation and make peace when a friend of one of the individuals went to his van, grabbed a gun, and started randomly firing into the crowd. Kenneth was struck by a stray bullet and killed. I received a call in the middle of the night that no parent wants to receive i was told, my son kenneth had been hurt in a shooting, and he was lying at the scene with a sheet over him. I could not tell my husbands son, his namesake, our i could not tell my husband that his son, his namesake, our firstborn child was dead. Earlier that day, i distinctly remember feeling so satisfied with my life, and i thank god for meeting my needs and the needs of my family. I could not ask for anything. Little did i realize that in less than 24 hours, i would have to ask god for strength. After tenets death, i felt for the first time in our lives that my family was dysfunctional. My son was a crime scene. I cannot touch him. My pain was so intense that i would not wish this experience on my own worst enemy. Even worse, was trying to navigate through it with no resources. I was traumatized with nowhere to go. Just a week before kenneths, our younger son kevin left for his third tour of duty in afghanistan. These are the kind of things that a mother worries about. I prayed for kevin, placed him on the altar, and in my mind he was the one who was in danger. I never would have imagined that kenneth would have been the one to die from an active gun violence right here at home in a free country. A week later, i brought kevin back to bury his brother in a free country. My life shows that trauma, posttraumatic stress syndrome, and creates a lasting effect in the lives of those touched by gun violence. But i learned these terms and the impact on health, even though i did not know what it was called, i knew how i felt and effect that it had had on my life and the lives of my Family Members. My mother cannot handle after losing her son, her first grandson to gun violence after the death of her own son. Herself out ofd her pain. She died of a broken heart. I myself had to leave a successful career because of ptsd and trauma. I lost cognitive memory, i did not know my phone number or the names of people very close to me. I still struggle to recall the date of my sons death. This is not the date that is significant to me, but it is the manifestation of that trauma. I almost died three times with extreme hypertension and the narrowing of the arteries in my brain because of the level of stress i was under. I was grieving for my son, raising my grandsons left without their primary parent. I had to look at my youngest grandson and know that he would never meet his father. I had to recreate his father for him. There are no words that communicate the death of that depth of that love. How many young men and women have we lost two will never have the chance to reach their full potential . Every day there are communities being shattered by the devastation that is this crisis of gun violence. We have the children in chicago who are not worried about growing up to be a doctor or lawyer, they are just worried about growing up period. That reality is unacceptable. In my own journey i am almost done i have come full circle. I identify with the devastation family the arians every day in our country and in chicago. It has devastation families feel every day in our country and in chicago. It has become my mission to show how gun violence can affect individuals and communities. I have become an advocate for Trauma Informed Care and i will do whatever i can to help others so they do not have to experience what i have gone through. It is so important that families like mine, who have been deeply impacted by gun violence, keep telling their stories. If we keep shining a light on the impact of gun violence, then our childrens deaths are no longer in vain. I think you for allowing me to humbly submit this testimony. Rep. Eshoo thank you, pastor mitchell. [applause] rep. Eshoo pastor mitchell, thank you for the current you have exhibited today in coming here to tell your story, which is just riddled with just tremendous grief. Thank you. We really hold you in our debt. I now would like to recognize dr. Selwyn rogers, jr. , and thank you were really with you and wed like to recognize dr. Selwyn rogers jr. Thank you for being here today and being a witness and you have five minutes for your testimony. Good morning. Thank you very much chairwoman and the subcommittee of health. Id like to thank all of you including bobby rush to continue to keep chicago in america safe. Were honored to have you here in chicago and the spending time on a devastating toll and a task that is here in congress to do to help to protect our children in our country. My name is Selwyn Rogers and the chair of trauma and the key at the university of chicago medicine. My work with staff and specialists is for people that were dramatically injured in the south side of chicago that much of our cities gun violence. Everyone thats going to speak the, most effective way is to get this microphone really close to your lips we dont want to miss a word. When you think of gun violence in the United States its tragic events in dayton ohio and in texas however in congo every day we see examples that are no less devastating. Lucy a 22yearold man driving his girlfriend and was shot and a carjacking and is name was alexis. 36 year old mother of three was shot in front of children a cell phone store. We see an 11 Year Old Girl killed by a stray bullet at a Birthday Party the next day her name was cassava. At a hospital there was the limits of our ability like to say people like these and the bullets the lead to dust despite of our best efforts. Theres a moment of silence to mourn the loss and north of that moment will soon be with screams of languish and distinguished gray too soon and that her daughter and son was not dead and asked me how could this happen and why did this happen . I have no answers and the answers are exactly what we need and here to testify today that we could actually find answers to the analysis killed with the 40,000 americans in 2017 and most recently available in addition that we noted almost 23,000 americans were killed by what happened every year. I joined more than 40 professional organizations as part of the impact laws the health of people and by calling to elaborate in his remarks. We must understand this is a Public Health issue in a Public Health crisis. We should address it with the same urgency that we do for ebola or any other disease that we know we can treat. When we do that, they look at this as a disease that can be cured. Will make a true meaningful investment out of our communities and the violence epidemic and in the south side Coverage Area in the National Average at 43 of children was with poverty and double the state average. The south side residents are on the Health Conditions with Breast Cancer and hiv. On help in the environment, our day to day life was a constant struggle and hopelessness has there was any wonder that there is a higher rate of gun violence. To address this, we need to develop evidence and invest in research in these issues in the federal state that should be dedicated to these prevention efforts and beyond that we have the remedy in the social factors of education disparity and Economic Opportunities to be get off that route base. All these measures will take years to act with a number of programs investigated now. Enough of the programs are in chicago, which have outreach workers which are the deterred of violence. Centers these dimension prograh as other Medical Centers throughout chicago have shown to reduce these efforts are secondary prevention over what should focus on prevention initiatives so people were not injured in the first place. I know gun violence is an overwhelming problem and ive seen the pain with my own eyes and lived the blood from my own hands. Yet im still hopeful because i know that if we take concrete actions and do the small things. I think big changes can change the violence that becomes way too common. And says a devastate a problem in our nation. Thank you for the opportunity for this testimony. Thank you doctor rogers. Its a pleasure to recognize ronalds to it for you or five minutes of testimony and thank you for being with us and traveling distance to do so. Thank you chairwoman eshoo and members of the subcommittee and its an honor to follow someone like Selwyn Rogers at the leadership in staff and further terrific hospitality. The aca this is based out of chicago and for 96 years the American College surgeons as areas such as Trauma Centers and disaster responses and resulted in a dramatic care and outcomes to our patients and the past five years we focus efforts on implementing the public approach to guns and fire on violence. And to increase the resilience of our country in the help of our patients. The aca represents the patients who suffer from firearm injuries at the hardest part of my work is trying to explain to the family of a child and a child who was the embodiment of the future of that family and who is completely normal at breakfast and is now dead. For those in this audience who lost loved ones like mr. Mitchell and representative rush i know my pain pales in comparison to yours but i want you know that we the american are committed to let no one die or suffer and we know that if we can prevent injury and violence and we are driven to make this a reality. Over the course of the five years we run three guiding influence and addresses the violence as the medical problem and not a political problem and this means focusing our attention on immunity and basing our interactions on doing whats best and to search for evidence based on these programs and best practices with the goal of implementing these programs to our network of 554 searches across the u. S. What do we mean by implementing this french and program . Is it possible for us to prevent and secure violence . Well, yes it is. For those who believe that this is too difficult a task. To me is definitely not more difficult than managing a complex up epidemic. It is possible to prevent violence but to get this right requires the full commitment and all of us and all of our partnerships at the local state and federal levels. The people who are right now here in this community of the United States who are working to make this a goal. To make this goal in reality need our full support and our full commitment. Three, foster and provide the collegial civil dialog for reducing unnecessary death and suffering related to prior injury. In a very interesting way, they let us to realize that they are through the first two that are not as difficult as we originally thought. I also know ear job is difficult and with the voters are conflicting with these messages. Is violence are not as conflicted and watch they would guess but. If we can actually talk about the problem, we are inclusive in our discussion and we have medicine on both sides and we talk from people from texas and california from, chicago and from the extensively surveyed ourselves in the town halls we, put together a working group of searches that were fire owners and nations of which they call the consensus and these are included in our testimony and carefully review these recommendations and i really feel for what we can do to Work Together. In february, doctor rogers noted we have the environments in chicago. This consisted of the largest medical Health Organization in the United States. 47 leading medical associations lead many opportunities to target injury prevention initiatives. At least 47 support nine consensus based recommendation this month in the call for surgeons. They testimony includes this as we carefully consider because it has a comprehensive overview and what we mean by a Public Health approach. Wrapping up, intentional violence is the most neglected Health Problem in america. Violence is a Public Health crisis but i am optimistic. If we commit to addressing the potential violence in the same way we did with Motor Vehicle related injuries and five decades ago we can and will make dramatic progress. This means working together to make firearm ownership as safe as possible and for those who do not. To, Work Together to understand and address the root causes of violence and in summary this is the court of a Public Health prevention. As i said, i am optimistic. Our country currently appears paralyzed by the polarization. We hope that our recent work of building consensus in the range of stakeholders and moving to action will have a hopeful guide. We understand that there is no simple solution to complex problems but we know if you use the power of partnership in science that these complex problems were completely manageable and even curable with. We are fully committed to working with you and thank you very much for the opportunities to represent today. Thank you very much doctor stewart. Each one of you gives us hope for your testimony. I now have the privilege of recognizing mr. Kerr who is here today. Hes the director of violence presenter for the city of chicago. You now have five minutes for your testimony sir and welcome. Thank you. Good morning chairwoman eshoo and members of the committee. Great to see a little bit more allegation here this morning and it tells me were at this great campus. Id like to thank the committee for holding this important hearing and response to gun violence. Let me start by introducing myself and admire and norman kerr under mayor lightfoots office in Public Safety. Since day one, they have been cleared at their highest priority in greatest responsibility as mayor is to have peace and safety from all of chicagos neighborhoods. Each and every day since may 20th, the health of Public Safety has been building on our comprehensive reduction strategy with the goal of measurably reducing gun violence. Chicago finds itself in a unique period. In 2016, the city suffered a increase and shootings in homicides. More severe than that experience by any of the other five largest American Cities over the past 25 years. The vast majority of these homicides were committed with illegal guns. Across chicago, communities have been devastated by the hundreds of homicides and by the thousands of non shootings that occurred each year. In addition to longlasting trauma thats the direct and indirect Economic Cost with billions of dollars. Since 2016, the trends have improved. Shootings and homicides ive seen double digit year over year decreases two years in a row. In fact, over this past summer, we saw an accelerated decrease in Violent Crimes. With june, july and august seen the lower slumber of shooting victims since 2014 and while Many Organizations are tackling gun violence independently of leadership. Through various private frameworks the experience of the cities shows that Violence Reduction efforts are far more successful and effective coordination of resources, policy and management decisions across all stakeholders. Mayor lightfoots decision to input save communities and violence is evident in her appointment of Public Safety susan lee who is the citys First Ever Office of Public Safety. As a spokesperson for anti gun safety oversight and operations with the activities in three areas. Reduction leading a strategy bt outreach and other communities and balance organizations and it was reassuring corporation with the police department. Guiding Public Safety and Agency Operations including Chicago Police department in Chicago Fire Department and the Emergency Management and civilian office of Police Accountability and police board. The reform these priorities and the gun policy strategy with the state and county governments. Finally, building on data and Research Critical to these decisions including regular analysis or the violence trends with the evaluation of violence in these issues. As cord components with these efforts the, Mayors Office was leading by weekly regional coordination with northside and southside. Its a targeted collaboration across the agency in monthly cabinet meetings with in the stat initiatives with with the u. S. Department of justice and the county state attorney with the county sheriffs and all the other major partners at or decide to identify trends and strengths and any weaknesses within the criminal justice system. We have embarked on a strategy that looks like and violence as a Public Health crisis. Which is what it is. We see consistent productions a Violent Crime throughout the city and life will be the first to say that we have much more work to do. Together we have to restitch are broken safety net and have to work on providing those services and job training in the neighborhoods that have been under siege and in under stress for decades. We recognize that this will not be solved overnight but. By investing in neighborhoods and the root causes of gun violence, we continue to make meaningful gains and Public Safety and communities throughout the city. Well continue to work with chicago and neighbor neighborhood in background from faith groups to businesses and schools. Who have joined us handinhand and our multifaceted approach with the violence in our city. The people of chicago will take part in all levels of government. I look forward to working with this committee to put further policies that create and maintain these communities with their families to thrive. Thank you and i look forward to continuing his. Thank you mister kerr and please give the best of all of our Committee Members to the mayor and thank you for being here this morning. The chair now recognizes mr. Leak for his five minutes of testimony and thank you for being with us. Thank you madam chairman and would it be out of order if i have the creator this morning as we approach these most important hearings where our congressman who represents as well and are here today and congressman garcia and cook and davis and my brother congressman bobby russia gave us the invitation to come here. I thank you for this privilege and i want to say to you that i am the ceo of an 85yearold Funeral Service organization. That no week goes by with members of congress that i dont service the families of at least two gun violence victims. I have to service them and then try to council them and try to answer the question that is invariably asked by the mothers and fathers and children that our service is in that question is one word. Why mr. Leak. Why . Of all of the families that have serviced one comes to mind this morning in the the share with you that it was march 12th, 2013. The mother and father of six month old jenny got a watkins came through our funeral home and the city of chicago had to lay this precious trial to rest and her death touched my heart even though i am a funeral director. When i think about her short lifespan they first scripture found the revelation to the sixth factor of the 13th birth that seems to define her in a profound manner. The stars of heaven fell one even as a tree can catch her untimely fee when she is shaken by a mighty win. Truly this little baby girl was an untimely thing and who was not allowed to reach her potential. Her life was cut off with the guns and drugs causing so much death and destruction to the heart of the future of our children and death and destruction caused by black on black gun violence. So much evil is manifested in its weight the. Challenge for all of us that live in the city is to engage with those mighty winds and we must reverse the tide that has seen too many things cast out untimely things here in chicago and across our nation. Matt 30 years ago, madam chairman, i had the opportunity in the department of correction. It makes coming into the jail accused of homicides which were predominantly black and were predominantly black as victims and they were abusing alcohol and drugs with the commission of the crime and the perpetrators and the victims were known to one another and that was a relation to because of that relationship the police were able to arrest the perpetrator and the majority of the instance. Today madam chairman, those circumstances are reversed. The majority of homicides at the perpetrator has no relationship to these victims. Those homicides are mostly random and are so often with the courts that challenge and given to rest. Congress must be one that recognizes that in an earlier period of the life of the wouldbe perpetrator, they must receive some type of special crime and prevention. It is not found and could be in the home, in the church but it is found in my examination in the schools. The perpetrator and the future victims were students at one time in the Chicago Public school. If we can create an environment that in those particular schools with teachers and has characters and good citizenship during their informative years we will be able to save hundreds uneven thousands of lives. My brothers and sisters, you who are congressman, we are depending on you today to leave chicago knowing that youre going to do something what plagues us in the city and god bless you. applause thank you mister leak. You have seven does to a higher place for sure. I would now like to recognize last the not least doctor niva lubinjohnson, the past president of the medical association and welcome to you and thank you for being here. You have five minutes for your testimony. Thank you. Thank you to congressman eshoo for the invitation this morning. Thank you to the Committee Members for holding the city in my hometown of chicago. I would especially like to thank some Committee Member bobby rush who is my congressman. As well as congresswoman Robert Kelley who i had the pleasure of working with quite frequently and dating back to the state representative. The other is chicago congressman here today my colleague the honorable danny davis and jesus garcia and our natives of chicago. Im talking about policies and solutions to the Public Health posed by gun violence. Not only as a physician that has practiced here in chicago but the immediate past president of the medical association. It is the largest and oldest organization representing African American professionals and doing so for 50,000 African American positions and our place in the United States territory. And our positions in that voice and a leading voice of justice and medicine. Gun violence has been a key that continues to be on the forefront as it was throughout my residency. As you know, its one of the leading causes where more than 39,000 people died by guns every year and nine fatal injuries. It caused our call to me 290 billion annually and the cause for fire arm includes work laws Mental Health care and emergency transportation and criminal justice activity and insurance claims and decrease quality of life. We know the statistics of whats going on here in chicago and unfortunately, those numbers are decreasing but i want to make a note that chicago per capita is not the highest city of gun violence. We rank about number 15 in the country and definitely not in the top ten. So, what do we do about it . One, as mentioned before, we have to look at where the gums come from. 60 come from outside of chicago. We have to deal with how they get into the city. The november of last year, the association had the audacity to tweet that someone should tell self important anti gun activists to stay in their lane. The college and physicians released a common Health Crisis which included this account and it is our lane. As you heard, more than 40 medical organizations including the joint forces coalition would confront this related death as a Public Health initiative. It hit close to home here in chicago as the tragic shooting of Award Winning doctor Cameron Oneil outside the high school. I was there at the high school and been there over 30 years. We had gone through something i wish i had. They were a graduate that work in the nurses hospital. To physicians i know closely were involved that day and one was around to save my husbands life and was a Breast Cancer survivor that was across the hallway and another who was about over 50 and asked to be the first man to do that and was in a room getting ready to do a procedure on a page patient and had the perpetrator and knocked in the door where he was. Its been a academic of gun violence in the country at large. Were in full agreement in the physicians like gun violence and prevention as a Public Health crisis and we believe it demands a multi faceted approach because as we do although this is a multi faceted problem and in 2017, the physician paper on gun violence and 2018 we develop the gun violence at advocated for our capitol hill from march of this year. In july the, African American professional organizations grab a letter to all of the president ial candidates out lying gun violence in the top issues of concern. On august 4th of this year along with dr. Stewart and dr. Mitchell who was in the task force on cbs sunday morning wrote a story about gun violence and Public Health coalition that was as a result of that tweet. We endorse the house and also advocated for other pieces of legislation that was crafted by the house of representatives. And call on the federal government and Bipartisan Commission to value steps that eventually eliminate gun violence utilizing a Public Health approach. Especially id like to include in this reach urge the fact that its historically black medical schools to see where they could come and help reduce paved. Its in terms of violence and aggressiveness to continue the alcohol syndrome that leading to violence. And in time of my resident i look forward to your questions and thank you. Thank you very much doctors got niva lubinjohnson me and the comprehensive background check legislation that is now at the doorstep of the United States senate. Now the we pray that that will e taken up because we know the good that can come from that. All of our witnesses have testified with and im going to call on congresswomen robin kelly. I wont start with questioning but i want to make sure that congresswoman kelly and Congress Women kinzinger will get to ask their questions. They both have time orientations today so all set my questions aside for now and recognize the gentlewoman for her five minutes of questioning. You thank you chairwoman eshoo i thank you all for your testimony and its very much appreciated and believe me im not going to call you pastor mitchell and because you call me robyn and thank you so much for testifying today and as you heard me say before. Thank you for being so selfless because you can go in your home enclosure door and not be bothered but you chose to be an advocate and turn youre anger into passion. What do you Want Congress to do . What do you feel like we can do to be helpful to families and communities . I think what we need to do is pass age are eight which would take seriously what is happening in our communities and the blood that is left on the ground that understand that that becomes holy ground for us and its sacred. Even with the lack of resources around trauma care, it took me to almost lose my life three times to realize what i was going through. In addition to that, to be vulnerable enough to remove the stigma of accepting therapy and counseling and to move through the emotions through this experience that were attacking the internal organs and to be able to understand to try to come back and it is lifechanging. I wont even recognize and i had to find myself on my way back to myself. I asked congress to put forth more research into trauma and we talk about trauma to move it from the health issue because i dont and then if i would Mental Health. We are being traumatized with the heart out of my chest and will soar that wont be healed he. Thank you. I dont know if anyone in the audience was there but i want to publicly say all the people that got on to the bus in washington d. C. And i was so very important and i dont know if everyone knows that after the rally was over we took families from kentucky into senator mcconnells office to talk to them about please passing both bills that were sent over in february. Doctor stewart i, wanted to ask you. You stated your testimony that there was addressing the social determinants of health and the impact on violence in our communities. Can you explain the intersectionalities of structural violence and the social determinants of health that as it relates to gun violence in these communities you. Yes yes maam. I talked about that in my statement. As we can just intervene here. inaudible we need to go on with our hearing. Police are, or trying to have a hearing here this. Up the american inaudible college of surgeons if you look at the strategy i was clear what the farm ownership. Order i think we can ask the gentleman to move with the others out of the room so that we can continue with the hearing please. I think its very important to understand that this is not a town hall meeting. This is a Congressional Committee having an official congressional hearing to listen to witnesses that will instruct us in order to address the epidemic of gun violence. Each one of us does town Hall Meetings in our congressional districts. We are thoroughly accustomed to people shouting out at us and being the on screen and hearing from them. But that is not what today is. Today is the hearing with they witnesses and professionals being instructed to the congress of how we can shape tangible legislation thats going to have an effect on addressing this epidemic in our country we hear it having a town hall meeting and a congressional hearing alas my colleague congressman kelly to have the questioning. I thank you for all our patience. We did have members of Congress Come to illinois and did meet with the group that we had with everybody but we met with young folks under 25 and most of them were under 20. We had done things like that also but i dont remember the question. Working to understand and addressed our cause if i lived there is one of our two strategies. We have to get to see what many people have testified and what many of you comment in determinants of health and structural violence. What does doctor rogers mean by structured violence . Its the ways in which we put those people in our community in harms way. Doing things that are not easy to see. We have a colleagues who was saying a fish cant see water so its obvious to us but there are structural issues that need to increase of violence and increase the rates of death. We have a group which is a National Group of experts and addressing social violence and we call that the i save work group. Its our Strategy Team workers that is as safe as reasonably as possible. We understand the root causes of violence. Violence to all just say and feel free to interrupt me but i will say that its a breaker problem than what we realize. It is true that theres 109 at 110 people who die every day from firearm violence. But theres actually 180 to die every day from intentional violence from all activisms. Working to understand it the best of the root cause of violence is critical. Thats just in death and doesnt take into account the magnitude of the Health Burden which is tremendous. What congress in this i believe its critically needed. We will return benefits far beyond them. Thank you doctor stewart and id like to submit on the record my report on gun violence a year ago which includes common sense recommendations to reduce the gun violence epidemic. So ordered. I yield back. The gentlewoman yields back and id like to call on congressman Adam Kinzinger for his five minutes of questioning. We thank him for being here and making our hearing a very important bipartisan one. Thank you madam chair. Thank you for yielding your time and i appreciate that to all my colleagues and thank you for your questions to. Especially to the witnesses thank you so much for being here. Your stories are both emotional and informing so thank you for that. Pastor mitchell, i dont know what to say with my deepest control of this and i appreciate you sharing your story. Because i think its important for all of us to see how it affects family. How family can do the best to overcome and it brings a Human Element that we talk about statistics which we have to talk about statistics but sometimes that is missing and i appreciate you doing a very difficult thing with bringing human face to that in my deepest condolences are to you. I dont have any questions but i wanted to make a point. Thank you for your testimony as well. Evil is a very real thing map and we dont talk a lot about it. Forever reason there is a generation of young people and i think it transcends race and transcends income and boundary lines that are listening to the whisper in their ear and doing really terrible things at a young age. I attribute that partial evil to Mental Health and bringing that up. The question is to dr. Rogers. You mentioned in your testimony that the university of chicago developed the program eithers Life Experiences beloved connect trauma and families with services that is Mental Health counseling and other social services. Can you elaborate further on how this kind of hospital based intervention in outreach to other individuals has teachable moments and prevents future violent injuries . There is a network of intervention programs which 30 hospitals invented these programs. Do you take people that are injured by violent injuries with stabbings or assault and use that to intervene in our lives. We think about violence as a disease that is a cute of that and the effect of that is people come in to existing social issues he and educational disparities and Economic Opportunities which are not taking advantage of. Being able to invest in people through these adventure programs i found a significant decreasing in this current injury and the tolerant tory violence. Its preventing people from entering someone else and saying that her people are her people. When we think about the opportunity that hospitals and Health Systems have now to reconvene in peoples lives to prevent the violence which is very important. I want to add to that. A lot of people dont know this about me but my father was the director of the organization that help the homeless. One of the things that they really took as a way to do that is to understand that homelessness was not just a fact they dont have shelter overhead a night. There is a lot of other things that lead to that and how do you wrap that around. I think this comes to violence people comes into a hospital with a gunshot wound. Obviously youre priorities to heal that person and make sure they continue to live. If theyre pushed out the door or not giving any other opportunity you will likely see that person back in the same position. Its how we integrate that and i appreciate you bringing that up. Doctor stewart, youre the lead author of a study called in which you discuss where we have some Common Ground on solutions with vital harm. Number five in the consumption statement as a firearm owners and population is at risk. Can you elaborate further on the new age of humidity firearm and why it has that solution. Its a critical piece of Public Health approach which is to engage engage people who are at risk and part of the knowledgeable stakeholder and if youre going to do a Safety Initiative in the neighborhood, we will have the data with expertise and will have all that. One of the things we would do right away is engage in the bicycle riders and engage with them further expertise and further knowledge and further buy in. Weve done that in the past and we know we learn from those Safety Initiatives and bicycle helmets were not cool and not formally cool and they wont virtually cool. We had helmets and were culturally cooler and see people wearing bicycle helmets. Thats always been a surprise to me. We had the word bicycle helmets and we have a lot of questions and thank you all for being here in my time is up and madam chair i yield back. And the gentleman yields back and i know both of the members that were just questioned by other commitments that need to leave with the committee and the witnesses and everyone that here today thanks both of you for your leadership and your ongoing work and your attendance today. He may have noticed that we were leaning over and whispering to each other its part of our Team Building so travel safely and thank you for being here today. Lets applaud them. Wasnt he here now say. The chair recognizes herself for five minutes. Is there anyone on the panel that does not agree that gun violence is an epidemic work and will work through the Public Health lens to address it. Is their agreement across the panel on that . I think i heard all of you. I see everyone nodding because that what this hearing is addressing itself to. But hes in the work of the congress, if you were to advise us in this legislation, what are the top three are top five initiatives to be that you would recommend to us. I think at the top of the list is that we need to first secure data that can be shared when theres an epidemic with the and i h which developed the information so we can work off of facts and its very important and the Scientific Community that we have facts. We have already as i said in my Opening Statement had congress which appropriated 50 Million Dollars and if you divide that by 50 states its not a lot of money. But it is a start and you have to start somewhere and we can build on that. Aside from that, what would you recommend to us that we take back to d. C. With us and build into legislation to address this epidemic and the Public Health lane them. Whomever would like to go first. So, with an epidemic you have to go through the population thats most effective and in this case you have to go through the population and there is no way around it and you have to develop that relationship with them and change their trajectory. You have to provide opportunities and guidance but and that vaccination will take an will be on a different trajectory. Were not opposed to prevention programs that i think it all has to be in a competition between recalls. You have to look at what the data says and that is most violent. If we do not develop a relationship with them that, change is going to be minimal. This is something that we have to invest in and that this population is not a throwaway population. They can change and individuals and ive been on a certain path with them and change what theyre doing and are working for the program and helping others to make that change as well. Its something thats really thought out and after a look at the ecosystems. Its not just working with the individual but what is there a home life look like and what are the people in their social networks our Family Networks looking like because they impact that individual. They doctors want to lean in on this . All lean in and add that there is a lot of investment to reverse these communities and communities of color that are affected by violence we. Way too often violence can be generational and i meet with families every day who say that not just their cousin or their father or their brother have been impacted by gun violence. Ather, p multiple people over generations. Without even thinking about psychological, emotional toll that that takes upon families and how it leads to secondary trauma in people. We will not be able to make a lasting impact. Many in ways it is so long standing and will make a deep and concentrated effort to make an impact. If i could make any recommendation to congress, it is not going to be a simple bandied solution. It will take years of commitment over time to reverse whats been present for decades. And listening to pastor mitchell talk about all of what she went through physically and the depression that surrounded her and deepens her grief even more. We do a lot through the department of defense relative and the Veterans Administration relative to ptsd. It seems to me that youre your a witness and someone that has experienced that. I think it needs to be a part of what we do. I was on a town hall and make death and the question is, what was the one thing that were not speaking about or addressing in terms of gun violence initiatives. They laws we know how important they are and have not made it to the senate floor for reality to be our experience. We realize that there is devastation in our community and has not been addressed as rogers has stated. It is nothing that has happened overnight but i believe with the research that happens in our community, there also has to be things that deal with the social Economic Issues as well as the devastation to have more resources out there. When we have insurance and i had the luxury of being able to go through my issues. Not everyone has that luxury and fortunately its not even available for most cases with creating the narrative with that trauma and with the most recent need to be more work and support driven in those avenues. Thank you very much my, time is expired and i would now like to recognize the gentleman and the gentleman he is mr. Butterfield from north carolina. Thank you very much madam chair. Let me begin by reiterating what chairwoman said a few minutes ago. This is not a town hall meeting from time to time. This is a congressional hearing bug this i make the point that this is not a political exercise, this is serious business. Congress of the United States spends billions of dollars every year and discretionary spending. We were to invest in this issue and invest in methods of gun prevention and the other issues that we care about including education. Weve got to build a congressional and thats what this is all about today. We are building this information in a verbatim copy of what is being said here today as placed in a congressional record and take this information back to our committee. Our committee will then have further hearings and mark the administration and some point will be presented for a vote. I will now go on record to make it known that whole not fully understand the scope of what were doing today. The statistics show madam chair that firearm related fatalities in 2017, 39,000. 83 children injured or killed by guns each day. And action is not an option. Even more disturbing is the way in which we fail to treat this as a Public Health issue. We have not invested federal dollars in Public Health research to. Better understand how to prevent firearm related injuries but we have invested in criminal justice initiatives and not invested significantly in Public Health research we. We were able viewings go to approve the legislation in the house to provide 50 Million Dollars to support this research and is just beginning. Let me ask all the witnesses and ask our medical expert about how we share how you think this investment could help us better understand and address this crisis and the impact that it has on your patience in your friends. Lets start with dr. Rogers. Everything every day im struck by the fact that gun violence as a devastating effect on those who are not only killed the left behind. Those people or left behind or provide much in the way of any services and echoing your comments mr. Butter field we, have to invest in research to better understand what works and even for returning veterans the stress is a very difficult problem to fix the. Has Miss Mitchell noted, it has long ranging affects for decades after a dramatic event. We have to find ways to address this in a more lasting way. Only through research have we found incredible ways to the addressing of the aids epidemic. People can live for decades and have to find ways to intervene peoples lives and find solutions to the problem. They greatest a society are not going anywhere. I think if that focus happens through this hearing it will be important. In the last minute i have remaining, first mr. Stewart and then he schakowsky. And the things that we talked about it would be things that are more resilient and being more free. It is critical to make this investment and do it and the entire spectrum of gun violence. Thank you dr. Johnson. The investment is important for our nations and communities and their families who are remaining whether they have their loved ones who are killed. Ive taken care of two patients that know that her daughter was killed going to the Grocery Store and left her son behind. They heard from during the week and the relationship secure the child on the weekends and ended up obtaining her job through those programs and are left behind me and full experience those new and have families because we have structural violence and Structural Racism. We have to level the Playing Field in the education and health care that these victims and their families have to go through also. My time has expired, thank you for your response i, yield back. The gentleman yields back and its a pleasure to recognize mr. Rush whose district we are in today for his five minutes of testimony or questioning him. Thank you madam chair. I want to associate my remarks with my friend pell inaudible i want to reiterate and saying that this is not we a hearing where will have a lot on the and inaudible it wasnt intended and and this is a summer gathering of witnesses so we can do the work and we will use federal resources to solve the problems and expressing in the name and the epidemic of gun violence. We eliminate that they threaten some of the summary and the pain of those families in those communities in that nation. But it is living in an epidemic of gun violence. I want to ask my friend who ive known for many years. And will realize so many of the family mr. Leak there is a significant demographic change and that you recognize up the families in this particular era of the epidemic of gun violence. He what do you see a significant change in law of your gun violence victims play which is twice a week . Normally used to mike please with. What ive seen congressman rush is that the perpetrator and the victim as ive said were African American. What ive seen is that there was there is not a relationship between perpetrator and victim that resulted in successful do dictation of the particular perpetrator. The reason that there are not seeing that as we did 30 or 40 years ago is the fact that there is no relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. Random violence is what we are seeing now. Violence as we talked about with a six month old baby. That baby was not targeted it was just random violence that plagues us and theres only one solution. We i mention the men in an him in the late seventies there was a young man and by the name of davis and he was shot down two lanes and he might of been on his way to school that morning. Since that time, there have been more and more younger people where as a general alarm with a young man who was murdered. But now at the incidences of young people being killed has increased. As ive said, do you agree that unlike many when we become an adult, most are from our own Family Members and will die of natural causes. But today, its not the same. Has there been a significant switch that most people now we inaudible but young people who die of gun violence or other type of violence. Do you see that . Yes i do see that. Congressman, i should not have to be talking to the family of a six month Year Old Girl. I should be serving the families where the deceased person is my age. I should not be servicing family who have lost their loved ones through homicide, suicide drug, overdose. I am seeing more of that now than i had in the past and ill say to you that i must reiterate that the congress have an effect upon the schools of our city. Federal violence comes from washington to our city and all due respect to my friend who represents i am saying to you that check back to washington in this story. Two young kids were acting up and were sent to the principles office. The principal asked them to come in one by one in the first one came in and the principal asked him and said johnny, where is god in your life . He told him to ask jimmy to come in here. They went out and said jimmy you are in big trouble. God is missing and the principal principal things you have something to do with it. God is missing from our schools and we have a lot to do with it. Im asking you, when you go back to washington d. C. Send some money here and bring got back into our schools. Thank you. May i want to ask you. You made a statement that you made a declaration in your statement and he said violence is a pivotal issue and a disease. It means it can be treated and it can be cured. Can you expand upon treatment and they cure and what we knew as members of congress to provide the federal resources to cure this epidemic. Ill start by saying there is so much about gun violence that we dont understand. Weve made tremendous progress and the ability to do surgical procedures to fix physical parts of human beings with broken bones that were put back together and damaged organs. We havent really done much to figure out how to help people souls and minds. Investing more in the mental Health Impacts of violence are those that have been directly impacted by violence physically but also those who are in close contact is a secondary trauma. To everyone who is in with that individual that was shot or killed. We will eventually create Mental Health support for individuals who have been victimized by violence and also theyre close contacts. I want to ask if i could that mr. Stewart, you stated. I yield back the balance of my time. I thank the gentleman. I understand you are being driven to ask more questions because you care so much about this issue. But now id like to start recognizing our colleagues that are here as guests of the committee today. All members of congress and all from the great state of illinois. And will recognize first my friend and colleague we have congressman with jan schakowsky. She has for many years served as our Health Committee and is now on another one. She turns up religiously to our committee here and has to wait for Everything Else to her questions and then its her turn and the same today. She is here and cares enormously and its a pleasure to recognize her and welcome her once again to the committee with this work. Thank you chairman. Its a privilege to be on the House Committee so i dont mind waiting and i thank you for the opportunity. I want to ask a question of everyone here today. How many of you have lost a loved one to gun violence that are here in this room . Raise your hand. Its affected a good chunk of this room for the panel to know and the people behind you including weve talked about bobby rush but those waves that was at the funeral for davis and the grandson. I want to talk more about the issue of trauma and informed care. His image you raised pastor mitchell and the intersection with race. Which is in many ways the elephant in this room and on this issue. We know that children and teens are 14 times more likely than white children and teens to die because of gun violence. That black men make up 52 of all gun homicide victims. When you are talking about how its people around those that have been killed, i think were talking about coal communities. Whole communities where our children in particular and children of color, will put it that way, with brown children are traumatized just from the time they are aware in this world of the dangers of their communities. Racial disparities we, know for example that women of color in illinois or six times more likely to die it related to childbirth then white women. Yes these disparities in health care but are a real challenge. I wanted to ask him doctor lubinjohnson got and anyone who wants to answer what has been successful in dealing with informed and Cultural Capital in care as we look at solutions to these problems. Did you want to start dr. . Thank you for the question congressman schakowsky and im not a trauma surgeon so ill leave that to the others but to the culturally informed care. I think we really need to start with what i alluded to for the Structural Racism in our country and thats affecting our communities and health care which those residents live and education they receive and the house they live in. We understand and recognize that there is disparity there that leads further to the socioeconomic differences between our communities and others that really serves as a violent way to occur. Well i have become someone who is a proponent of bias training and starts with terms of helping to him in eliminate these issues in our country. What is implicit bias . It is biased that were not conscious of. But gets exhibited in various ways. Were discovering that they mention the issue of total mortality in African Americans. If Sabrina Williams can get the hair she needs and postpartum, who can . Because of that we have developed the states that have eternal mortality and we need a fatality review board. I municipalities the take a look at the systems with at risk youth and the victims of the perpetrator of violence. There are programs sorry i, do want to ask doctor rogers. Nothing addressing the point with care. It basically involves meeting people where they are and not really want them to be. Oftentimes when you face people who have been the victims of violence you dont think about these nurses that these people of had and how it impacts and how they relate to the trauma that theyre experiencing. They trauma is not the event that happened today but something that happened a week ago or a year ago or a generation ago. We often do not find ways to incorporate that with an individual patient. Im sorry to, let me just asked mr. Mitchell finish. When you talk about the Trauma Informed Care is to identify thought there is a need for that in our community. And the communities of color you identify with Mental Health or trauma care. There is this stigma of seeking counsel and as a pastor. It is very difficult to say because within the congregation they believe if god and i cant fix this theres nothing to be done. Pastor, as i stated before, wir it as an assessment to be vulnerable as the knowledge would increase and be able to accept the knowledge that is before us and to move ourselves towards all of this. I want to say one more thing why i agree with all of you. It is going to take time but also want the tee shirts which are in demand inaction. I think whether its going to take long or short. The people want to see now is steps and concrete steps that represent action thats going to address this problem of gun violence in our community and thank you all that. Gentlewoman yields back at i would like to recognize the gentlewoman from new york, congressman matt yvette d. Clarke and thank you for traveling from new york to be with us here today. You have three minutes or five minutes for your questioning. Thank you so much madam chairwoman and thank you for doing this hearing where we think the illinois delegation for welcoming the east coast brooklyn for this hearing and thank our expert witnesses who have come to testify for us today and dr. Rogers in the colloquialism and is a lot of levels up. And you have mentioned and repeated what they are today but that Brenda Mitchell want you to know that we are on the same wave length. We are going to give you names in james davis and Gabriel Gifford and stephen. All of these are colleagues and one is in the past tense and his name is james davis. He was gunned down in the new york city council. I walk with that trauma every day. Every single day and as you spoke of your experience my experience is sitting in a bubble and there is a lot of walking wounded. There are many levels to this in proximity to what happens with the individuals involved in the community. We have not really wrapped up our arms around the extent to which americans are being subjected to the pain of violence in our communities and how our nation is involved. It may not even be someone who is in their families. It may be a colleague in congress who is gunned down and were able to survive. But we still havent acted and one republican and one democrat. All of us or looking around and knowing that our colleagues were gunned down. So my question is, im going to open this to the panel. In a comprehensive approach from health and wellbeing standpoint. How does a gun access and availability through trafficking create a dynamic for those who are looking to commit violence. What is the social economic what is the social Economic Indicator that we will look at in terms of education and the opportunity gaps that help to fortify us against future action. It is a multipronged approach but id like to get your take because i think that were only scratching the surface of the many levels that we addressed through legislation and behavior. Anything i think that im also on the school board in my community and so i get to see the disparity in terms of the Education System and what children are protecting themselves with by coming into the classroom. I also get to see the socioeconomic and the institutional racism that denies access to individuals unless we take care of all of the different layers because its not a one size fits all. There is trauma and gun violence and theres a lot of action on to the senate who want things like the firearms and all of those things law theyre not taken care of are still a reality. Until doctor roger says will deal with a Different Levels of gun violence with these products of gun violence which are doing a disservice to the people. We only got a couple of minutes. Does anyone else want to touch that issue . Id like to add something to that issue in terms of the sexually and what careers with the violence and the socioeconomic status. One thing we talk about is the childhood experiences and this is one of those and others that have housing and access to food etc. They are interrelated and even those stressful childhood experiences are carried into adulthood with the rates of heart disease, die abilities and high plug brush or. We have programs to take all of that into account. Even the increased dress of a mother would lead to this as she is pregnant. This is why we have to look at how all of these things in terms of adverse experience and social determination will play a part in any of its crafted help. I didnt want to get what you response very quickly. I do think as you say its a multi level and its not going to be any one simple solution to this problem. We have to be willing to tackle it and i made a comment earlier that race patterns knit and gun violence was affecting only white people then it would be a different impetus for this. If you look at the issue across the United States we dont talk about the impact on suicide and guns are suicide by peoples lives that or a silent burden that always is bear. We need to be more open about the effect that has throughout the country. Madam chair i yield back. They chairwoman neil to. It is now an honor to recognize our colleague, congressman denny davis. Who said earlier was the voice of god we. The sorrow of tragedy since losing a Family Member be and a burden is being carried by the congressman and his family when. When they buried their grandson. It is a very important day that is with us and he will work to be part of the solution from the witnesses you have and your five minutes to question my friend. Thank you very much chairman eshoo and i want to thank you for bringing this hearing to chicago. As far away as new york might be it is further. I want to thank you congressman rush for requesting the entire committee for being in that request. I am so pleased that so many members of the committee of newcomers are here to participate. We also have these kind of discussions throughout the country but oftentimes we dont have these many individuals who come from their districts to participate because they are things going on where they are and so madam chairwoman, him this is an absolute great day for us. I want to thank all of the expert witnesses who have come and as i have listened and thought of the fact that less than two months ago, two young individuals were tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. For the murder one of my grandson, 15 years old. Their families are traumatized as much as our family. My son was amazed at one of the eulogies i said that i havent been hurting for the families of the individual who shot the gun he. He asked me and said daddy, did you mean what he said . I said, yeah, i really did because they are going to be empty spaces and our thanksgiving dinner table when. They are going to be empty spaces and use their thanksgiving dinner table. And he said the only thing i have to say is that youre a better man than i am. Thats one of the reasons i am so pleased to introduce what senator inaudible is a Trauma Informed Care field do not will hopefully move us in the direction of providing the greater access for individuals and experience in dramatic events as weve heard all of us one way or the other have been collectively and individually on having these experiences. So, yes, we need resources. But when it comes to Public Health from, my mother taught us that prevention was worth much more you than care. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. We know there are things that we can do in order to reduce the presence of guns. For example, on the days of Mental Health and tried to recognize its impact. If a person is feeling a certain kind of anxiety, and all theyve got is a toothpick. They cannot kill the trail it through the second or less. We must find a way to reduce the presence of guns in our society we. applause we must find a way. We must find a way to a limited access to these automatic and semiautomatic weapons. That shouldnt be in the hands of anyone except military and perhaps in some instances Law Enforcement. We know that we must have the will to do it if there not been a gun presence in a conversation that my grandson is friends and they were having he would be alive today. They would not be traumatized and imprisoned. So recognizing what to do and then doing it. My question and my comment condolence is a crisis but so is poverty. A Health Crisis you may, so is economic oppression. I understand the young man over here whos talking about jobs and he has come to believe that of all the issues. Especially when we talk about the stats and the groups that had the most homicides, half of those individuals who react then our world dont have a job, dont go to school, are not engaged in a kind of training program. This also contributes to their utilization of the forces to do what they do. So my question mr. Ford leak, and my attention to many of these Services Provided if. We see each other pretty much on a regular basis almost every weekend. There is one week. How do we comprehensively face the issue that we have and try to make sure that we can seriously reduce gun violence and provide the help that individuals need to have once they have experienced it . Thank you congressman davis this. Let me say that i have found that if we can change the mindset of the individuals that we have and these groups that are being talked about. When i was director of the jail i was telling the doctor that 50 of the inmate population where there because of Mental Health. What can the jail do about Mental Health other than to detain . And i submit that we have not brought into play the correctional systems federal state and county of our nation. When i was director of the jail i did not congressman davis, thing that my job was to contain inmates or to confine them. My job was to correct them. What i tried to do in that jail is to correct the individuals who come to us and have no confined and therefore they are individuals that may change their life style. Thats one area but i cannot reiterate to you and all of the congressman here that is when i sit down with those mothers of those children killed in violence, i can come up with anything comprehensive and i cant be profound and i can only put my hand on that mother and and say a prayer thing. Its the only thing that will get them through this crisis in violence in general is he is that we must be be a faith based solution and i know that there are those that say its unconstitutional we should and should separate church and state. But i say to you that we have to change the mindset and the only one that is change the mindset is the one who changes them. Thank you again chairman eshoo i really do from a personal Vantage Point wolf thank you congressman and the entire committee for bringing this tremendous view to chicago and i yield back. The gentleman yields back and should know that we all hold you in the center of our hearts that we thank you very special. With how id like to say to mr. Leak, that when you see a picture of the floor of the house of representatives and the speakers chair there is a grave over it in the following words, in god we trust. I would not like to recognize last but not least, certainly our colleague see what chuy he can win garcia and thank you for joining us today and for your patience and we have five minutes for questions. Thank you madam chair and other members of the committee and the panelist and all of you as are aware the unbalance is ravaging our communities and its sad to think how normalized gun violence has become in our city and across the country. Its time for the government with the nra that can do something about it. The applause im sick of seeing headlines of shooting after shooting all over our country. This week marked the two Year Anniversary since my wife was coming home from going to visit a friend and parking her car in the garage and heard for gunshots. She ran to the front of the house to check to see what had happened. A 26yearold was shot while standing over his bike you. She called me to the home because this had happened. And this is just one more testimonial that other members have shared that none of us are immune to gun violence in our country today. The Mass Shootings have captured the National Attention but are in fact a small share of the gun violence in our country that is no stranger to the gun violence. It is demonized by the president and is a talking point for those that claim gun control doesnt work. There is a big difference between the factors that create the conditions for shootings and our city and matt shootings and other places. The black and latino communities have been harden for generations by this investment and poverty and gang violence. Alaska doctor rogers, why is it important that Research Identifies the causes of gun violence and distinguishes the Mass Shootings in the attacks of gun violence we witness in chicago . For the congressman garcia, as noted we represent less than 1 of total shootings in the United States which disproportionately gets all the Media Attention daily people die from gun violence and suicides without getting the same attention. Its only through dedicated research where we understand exactly what works and is saver guns and hand printed ways of protecting who actually fires the gun for example and thinking more about the primary and secondary provision of what we can do to prevent people from being injured by firearms but in the United States. Very briefly, how do we get stakeholders to get within the media and Law Enforcement to properly and responsibly report and highlight these differences you. I think one of the things that happened today that we are trying to listen and important way it respects peoples different viewpoints. I think thats an important starting point. With very well. Recently, we had the reason devastating racially motivated attack in a modern american history. But this is not an isolated incident. In fact, nationally from 2016 to 2017 there was a 24 increase in hate crimes against latinos fueled by White Supremacy and hateful rhetoric coming from the white house. I visited el paso in the wake of the shooting and had the community that mourned we understood that the president is not contributing to protecting these incidents. Hes contributing to encouraging that violence. I want to ask the doctor in my final question, with doctor kerr what, kind of resources and Community Engagement over the city and they knew administration will provide in canada these more to fact it by gun violence in chicago. Ill ask if this is a National Panel but looking at what cities are doing in response to the gun a pandemic. Sure. As i mentioned earlier this, mayor lightfoot investment in violence is something that is a big issue. We are poised to work with other organizations and entities because this is an all hands on deck approach that needed to address this issue. We are doing an inventory of programming to be sure that we have ample prevention programs and also a comprehensive way we have unique intervention. We have the comprehensive approach that will go along so we need to be at the table with the family and state and federal will conclude our local problems in that process. Weve been able to have a different town Hall Meetings over the past few months to engage organizations and to engage residents to be on board and to have their input and to contribute to the strategy because you know its important to have them available on the ground. Diff thank you madam chair and i think my time is up. The gentleman yields back. I think that this now concludes the time of questioning on the part of members. On behalf of every member of the subcommittee we want to thank each one of view, the witnesses and chicago is known as the windy city. But i think here today we have really put some wind at our back to address his issue that we are grappling with a nice cause so much grief not only here in this community but in communities across this country. The damage to peoples lives and the loss of life but what we can do about this relative to Public Health in the epidemic that really represents. Each one of us are extraordinarily grateful in what you have given to us which will be the foundation to build registration on legislation and we have a lot to work with because you have given us examples of whats happening in Medical Centers here and whats happening in the Medical Center in texas i could be highly instructive to us and will wrap around services and pastor mitchell when you referenced and other witnesses. This is a rich record that you have reviled for us and are grateful to you for it. I want to remind members that these Committee Rules and each member have ten Business Days to submit additional questions to the witnesses and help that you will respond in a timely matter. Because that part of the record is important to us as well. They will all be captured and i trust that you will do that. I would not like to have consent into the record with the letter of support from the association of american medical colleges. We thank the association for that and hearing no objections so is that nice i can say that . It was my little magic wand when. Again again, here to everyone thats here and in the audience, there are advocates here that give so much of their time to push and to push. To push and to push it your time is not wasted. You are you are forming a National Core of patriots to address gun violence in our country and are so deeply grateful to those who had suffered the losses in your family and had said in the beginning that you are in your grief more than fuels the effort that were taking on and care you with us and want you to know that. To all the press that is here and also want to salute and thank the committee staff. It is not an easy thing to do to take a committee on the road and to get everything set up. They have not only worked in washington d. C. But they came here before the members arrived and to get everything organized and i think that we can show our appreciation by applauding them and taking them. Thank you. applause and with that, at this time with the committee. I also want to acknowledge the work of my own district staff who were handinhand to make sure that this was set up. Thats how closely they worked with the committee staff, thank you. applause with that the lets go to the front and take a group picture, please, to show our power. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org]