Transcripts For CSPAN Gun Violence Hearing In Chicago 20240713

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. It is an honor for those of us that are not from on a very serious issue. This is the very first energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the gun violence epidemic in our country. As a Public Health issue. And this subcommittee has to 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, asking the subcommittee to come here. Congresswoman robin kelly, who is here to my left. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky from the chicago region. And to representative Adam Kinzinger, from the state of illinois, a little further away, and mr. Kinsinger makes this hearing a bipartisan hearing. 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 is the voice of god who i always say is the voice of god, that voice of his. And she we garcia who is here. The vice chair of the energy and commerce to, congresswoman yvette clarke. And i already mentioned congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. On this, on the subject matter today, it ise us 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 things that massacres that have taken place in our country. They have watched families very ury their loved ones. And there are too many who live in fear of what could happen next and some are with us today. They are in the audience, and at the witness table and they are on the dais as members of congress. Congressman rush buried his son as a result of gun violence. I think this collective heart break will move us forward with 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 that is caused by it. We know that a Public Health approach can work. Consider antismoking efforts or preventing injuries from car crashes. We have achieved lifesaving results through funding, data analysis, encouraging research, and adopting common sense product improvements with these epidemics. Another simple yet profound and proven method is listening to people from the communitys most affected by an epidemic and the Public Health it represents. We are here in chicago southside, where so many have lived with the epidemic of gun violence. And for decades. Thank you again, congressman rush, for inviting our committee to hold this hearing in your district and for your years of work to address gun violence. Gun homicide is the leading cause of death for africanamerican boys and men ages 15 to 34, and it is the second leading cause of death for hispanic boys and men ages 15 to 34 as well. Africanamerican men make up 52 of all gun homicide victims, despite only being 7 of the population of our country. Compared to the rate of gun homicide for white boys and men of the same ages, the rate for African Americans is 21 times greater, and the rate for hispanic men is nearly four times greater. Notably, the communities most impacted by gun violence are the most knowledgeable about how to treat it and prevent it. It is why our witnesses include mr. Spencer lake, senior, owner of the familyrun funeral home in the chapel neighborhood who has comforted hundreds, if not thousands of families who have had someone killed by a gun. It is why we are listening to pastor mitchell and norman kerr, who have taken their experience with gun violence and used them to promote common sense, evidencebased policies, and why we are hearing from the physicians who work every day to heal the physical, mental, and generational trauma from shootings and who see the bodies 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 yeah, you can applaud. [applause] rep. Eshoo every member welcomes that. It is a validation of our work. I want to thank her for 1114. Ducing hr this requires the u. S. Surgeon general to provide an annual report to congress on the Public Health impacts you can applaud [applause] rep. Eshoo and the cause of gun violence in america. I hope our hearing helps that bill become closer to becoming law. Thank you, congresswoman robin kelly. Again, i thank each of my Congressional Colleagues. It is an honor to join with you here today in chicago. I want to thank each one of our witnesses for your professionalism and willingness to be here with us today, and everyone else who has joined us, those who are in the audience, thank you for being here today. Collectively, i think your presence and your testimony is going to fuel our action. I now have the privilege of recognizing the gentleman from illinois, mr. Rush, for his opening statement. Rep. Rush i want to thank you, madam chairman and my friends from the great state of california. You and i were sworn in together in congress, back in january 1993, and we have enjoyed each other and our friendship has shone all the way to this day. I want to thank you for convening this important hearing, and the session right here in my district. The kennedy college. [indiscernible] john f. Kennedy and robert f. Kennedy, and dr. Martin luther king jr. Was killed by gun violence. Gun violence, madam chairman, is indeed a national epidemic. Gun violence undermines the Public Health and the Public Safety of all of our communities. This epidemic has had painful consequences for far too many families here in chicago. Including my own family. Far too many families in my district and in districts all across the country have felt the painful consequences. Madam chairman, you mentioned my son. Whose name was qa. Huey. Hueys murder was 10 years ago this very month. The anniversary of his murder was october 31, so 10 years later, we are still fighting, still wanting to try to resolve this matter of this epidemic of gun violence in our nation. In 2017 at awe met hearing such as this to take place here in my district. An important conversation about these things. Just as important, if not more so, is that we have a new conversation right here in the that for so long, has felt the pain of this epidemic. It is for this very reason that i am pleased that we are finally convening today this hearing to discuss this Public Health crisis. This epidemic of gun violence. And i want to thank all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for being here today, and i want to thank the witnesses who have come out at their own expense, sacrificing their own time and resources to make testimony at this hearing. Madam chairman, i am confident that at todays hearing, we will be able to shine a light on the Public Health impacts, the Public Health impacts of gun violence. And i am optimistic that we will walk away and conclude this hearing with tangible ideals and solutions that will protect all communities in the future from this widespread and wholly unrecognized epidemic. Violence, is, gun not just a Law Enforcement issue, madam chairman. It is a Health Care Crisis and our nation. As you stated, it is an epidemic that we must address, an epidemic in our federal government. Madam chairwoman, i look forward to hearing from todays witnesses and with that said, i ask for a unanimous consent to insert in the record the testimony of the individual hearing that i had in washington, an unofficial hearing in the library of Congress Almost three years ago, where dr. Rainey, an emergency physician and chief of affirmed research that the countrys only Nonprofit Institution dedicated to solving gun violence. Public Health Approach. Madam chairman, i want to submit unanimous consent, her testimony for the record. Rep. Eshoo so ordered. Rep. Rush i yield the balance of my time, and again, thank you for holding a hearing on this and other issues. Sep. Eshoo the gentleman yield back. Let me just say, on behalf of my colleagues, we are all very, very grateful to the faculty, to the entire team here at kennedy king for your hospitality, for your warm welcome, for the coffee that came through the door that we had this morning. Let me just say, the words of kennedy and king will always be a source of inspiration to each one of us, and how fitting it is that we are having this hearing in an institution of learning. It is now my pleasure to recognize the gentleman from illinois, Adam Kinzinger, for his five minutes and his opening statement. 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 folks are saying and in some cases, people may mean the worst when they make a position. Going to agree whatever the end result is in the near future. I think there are a lot of areas where we can agree. I think it would begin to talk to each other again and respect each other again and listen to each other again, we might be able to make some progress. That is why im here. I am not here to debate my points or to argue, i am here to listen, to learn more about the people of the community and what is working, and what we can do at the federal level to remedy some of these issues. Whether it is a small town or big city across the nation, americans are terrified by the Mass Shootings they have seen that have sadly become a regular occurrence. Too often, our focus on gun related violence focuses more on Mass Shootings and hardly any goes to the steady stream of devastation happening in chicago and elsewhere. When i 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 Aspect of the gun violence crisis. I believe this aspect is at the heart of a lot of issues we face. I know there have been Community Initiatives in chicago which have made a significant impact. These programs that are often formed by the community and for the community have shown how critical of a role communities can play in addressing this crisis. We really need to make sure we are paying attention to these programs and replicate them when they are successful. Im also interested in the Mental Health aspect of gun violence and what we can do in congress to provide the tools necessary to address this component of the problem, like improving access to Community Health centers and those needing medical health. But we need a heart. That is where community and religious organizations can come into play by guiding and giving people hope for a better future. If you do not have hope or any reason to follow a moral code or fear the result of your action, tragedy in many cases follows. Desperation can be a dangerous trigger, and to the extent we can work on helping and healing those who are struggling and 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. I am grateful to the subcommittee for holding this hearing today and for our panelists being here to share their experience, expertise, and insight as we look at the root cause of this violence and Work Together to find Real Solutions to address the gun violence epidemic. With that, i yield back. Rep. Eshoo the gentleman yields back. The chair would like to recognize mr. Butterfield, the vicechairman of the full committee, for his five minutes for an opening statement. Pleasure to recognize. Rep. Butterfield butterfield i know ms. Clark might not take too kindly to that, she is vicechairman of the full committee, i am vice chair of the subcommittee. Rep. Eshoo you just got a raise. [laughter] 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. Wantbutterfield i didnt to leave my friend out. Because she works so hard. Too long, we have handcuffed the federal government from researching the affliction of gun violence in america and its impact on Public Health. We need to marshal the department of health and Human Services and the cdc to understand what the impact gun violence is having on our kids right here in chicago and across the country. We need to know how they will be impacted throughout their lives after they witnessed their loved ones get guns down in the streets or committing suicide with the assistance of a firearm. We need to know why the homicide rate in america is more than 25 times the average of other developed nations. We are going to face the gun violence epidemic had on, and todays hearing will help us in that fight. I now want to yields time to mr. Kautsky to ms. Czajkowski, as she is 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 with red shirts moms against gun violence thank you so much. [applause] i see people who are here that want to help us. They deserve our help. On the panel, i want to thank pastor mitchell especially, because of the feeling of a mom, not only as an expert in our on this to bring that. Mr. Leek, a friend of mine, when we were talking about the number of people killed, a said think about what if it was a virus, what would we be doing . We would be searching. He said, what about if it were terrorism . We would be at war. This is a war that we have to win. Children are hiding in bathtubs in their homes to seek refuge from guns, from bullets that may come through. So this is an opportunity 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 violence epidemic. Congresswoman schakowsky has talked about the statistics of chicago and the area. In chicago, there is a disproportionate number of victims, young africanamerican men, targeted by gun violence. I have introduced, as you have , legislation to the Surgeon General, the nations doctor, to issue a report on gun violence and Public Health. In 20 19, it is time for this Surgeon General to issue a report on gun violence. Addressing the Public Health impacts of gun violence, we cannot be limited to the immediate impacts of bullets on the human body. We know that gun violence takes an emotional and psychological 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 for being here today to be a witness. You have five minutes for your testimony. Dr. Rogers thank you very much, chairwoman, and the entire subcommittee of health. I want to thank all of you, including bobby rush, for all that you do to continue to keep chicago and america safe. We are honored to have you here in chicago and we appreciate that you want to understand the devastating toll that gun violence has on americans, and there are Things Congress can do to protect our friends, children, and country. I serve as a professor of surgery and chair of trauma at the university of chicago medicine. In network, i lead a dedicated staff of specialists to care for people who have been traumatically injured. In our location on the south side oic citys gun violence. Dr. Rogers, can you move for everyone who is going to speak, the most effective way to is to get the microphone really close to your lips, all right . We dont want to miss a word. Dr. Rogers will do. When we think of gun violence in the United States, we think of tragic events, such as Mass Shootings in dayton, ohio or el paso, texas. But in chicago every day, we see smaller examples that are no less devastating. We see a 22yearold man with his girlfriend shot and killed in a carjacking. His crime, he owned a nice car. We see a 36yearold mother of three shot and killed in front of her children in a cell phone store. We see the 11yearold girl killed by a stray bullet in her living room while she planned her Birthday Party the next day. At our hospital at the university of chicago medicine, we have pushed the limits every day to save people, but the bullets lead to death, despite our efforts. When that happens, we have a moment of silence to mourn the loss. However, we soon know that moment will be pierced by screams of anguish, sometimes anger at a life that has been extinguished way too soon. The loved ones plead that there son, their daughter is not dead. They asked me, how could this happen . Why could this happen . I have no answers, but answers are exactly what we need. We need to find answers to the acts of gun violence that have killed over 40,000 americans in 2017, the data that is most recently available. As we noted, 23,000 americans were killed by gun suicides. In february of this year, i joined a medical summit of professional organizations that [inaudible] my colleague, dr. Rod stewart, to my left, will comment on these in his remarks. We must understand this is a Public Health issue and a Public Health crisis, and as much, we should address it with the same urgency that we do for ebola or any other disease we know we can treat. Because when we do that or look at gun violence as a disease that means it can be treated, that means it can be yours. With a meaningful investment in our communities, we can address the issues that have created this epidemic. The coverage in our south side area is more than five times the national average, and 43 of the children of color here live in poverty, more than double the state average. Southside residents suffer significantly higher rates of Chronic Health illnesses, such as asthma, cancer, diabetes, and hiv. In this unhealthy environment, where a daytoday life is a constant struggle, where homelessness and hopelessness are common, is it any wonder that there is such a high rate of gun violence . To address this, we need to develop evidencebased solutions and research to use federal, state, and city dollars towards the study of improved prevention efforts. We also have to address social factors such as education disparities and Economic Opportunities. While these measures will take years to enact and take a fact, there are a number of programs we can invest in it now. Hundreds of programs like her violence or institute for nonviolence chicago, helping to prevent retaliatory violence, and prevention programs in Medical Centers throughout chicago showing to reduce recidivism. These efforts are aimed at prevention, but we must also focus on primary prevention initiatives for people not featured in the first place. Nonviolence might seem like an overwhelming problem. I have seen the pain with my own eyes. I have wiped the blood from my own hands. Yet i am still hopeful, because if we take concrete actions and do the small things and make big changes, it can change the tide of violence that has become way too common and demonstrated problems for so many in our communities and our nation. Thank you for the opportunity for this testimony. Rep. Eshoo thank you, dr. Rogers. Now it is a pleasure to recognize dr. Ronald stewart for your five minutes of testimony, and thank you for being with us. Being with us and traveling the distance to do so. Dr. Stewart thank you, chairwoman, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting us to participate. It is an honor to follow a hero and colleague of mine, dr. Selwyn rogers. I would also like to thank the leadership and staff of Kennedy King College for their terrific hospitality. We are based out of chicago and we are very grateful for the invitation. For 96 years, the American College of surgeons has to improve the care of injured patients in areas of ems, Trauma Centers, and increase the outcome of care for our patients. For the past five years we have focused much of our efforts on implementing a durable Health Approach to reduce gun violence and to increase the resilience of our country and the health of our patients. The acs represents those who care for the patients who suffer from firearm injuries. The hardest part of my work is trying to explain to the family of a child, a child who is the very embodiment of the future or that family, a child who was completely normal at breakfast is now dead. For those in this audience who have lost loved ones, pastor mitchell, representative rush, i know my pain pales in comparison to yours, but i want you to know that we, the American College of surgeons, are committed to let no one die or suffer in vain. And we know that by working together, we can prevent injury and violence and we are driven to make this goal a reality. Over the course of the five years, we have developed our strategy around three guiding prince was. One, address gun violence as a Public Health problem, not a political problem. This means serving community and basing our actions on scientific truth as best we can determine. Two, search for prevention programs and best practices. Implement these programs through our network of Trauma Centers across the u. S. What do we mean by implementing violence prevention programs . Is it possible to prevent or cure violence . Well, yes it is. For those that believe this is really too difficult a task, to me it is definitely not more difficult than managing a complex viral epidemic. With the will, it is possible to prevent and cure violence. To get this right requires the full commitment of all medicine, along with partnerships at the local, state, and federal levels. The people right now, here, this community, communities across the United States who are working to make this a goal, to make this goal a reality, need our full support and our full commitment. Three, foster and provide a forum for collegial, civil dialogue centered on reducing unnecessary death and suffering related to firearm injury. In a very interesting way, this principle has led us to realize that achieving the goals of the first two are not as difficult as we initially thought. I told you the hardest thing about my job, i also know your job is difficult. We the voters send you conflicting and mixed messages. But i have learned that the message on firearm violence is not as mixed as many would guess. If we can actually talk about the problem we have been intentionally inclusive in our discussions. I have talked to more people who met us on both sides of the political firearm debate than anyone. I have talked to people from texas to california, from chicago and little rock, arkansas. We have extensively surveyed ourselves, surveyed medical organizations, held town halls, put together a group of surgeons that are firearm owners, chicago consensus one. These recommendations are contained in my testimony, and i ask you to review these recommendations to give you a real feel of what we can do to Work Together. In february, as dr. Rogers noted, we posted a summit on prevention in chicago. This consisted of the largest medical and Public Health organizations in the United States, 47 leading medical organizations. The group identified many areas to collaborate. These 47 all support nine consensusbased recommendations published this month in the journal of the American College of surgeons. A written testimony includes this entire document, which i ask you to carefully consider, because it provides a comprehensive overview of what we mean by a Public Health approach. Wrapping up, this is the most neglected Health Problem in america. Crime violence is a Public Health crisis, but i am optimistic. If we commit to addressing intentional violence in the same way we did with Motor Vehicle related injury and death five decades ago, we can and we will make dramatic progress. This means working together to one, they firearm ownership as safe as reasonably possible for those who own firearms and those who do not. Two, Work Together to understand and address the root causes of violence. In summary, this is the core of Public Health approach to firearm violence prevention. Our country currently appears paralyzed by political polarization. We hope our recent work of building consensus amongst diverse stakeholders and moving to action will provide a hopeful guide. We understand there is no simple solution to complex problems, but we know we use the power of partnership, innovation, science, these complex problems are completely manageable. Yes, even curable. We are fully committed to working with you. Thank you for the opportunity to present today. Rep. Eshoo thank you very much, dr. Stewart. I think each one of you gives us hope with your testimony. I now have the privilege of recognizing mr. Kerr, who is here today. We welcome you. He is the director of violence prevention for the city of chicago. You have five minutes for your testimony, sir. And welcome. Kerr thank you. So great to see the illinois delegation here this morning and to be on the great campus of Kennedy King College. I would like to thank the committee for holding this important hearing on Community Responses to gun violence. Let me start by introducing myself. My name is norman kerr. I am the new director of violence prevention under mayor lightfoot. Since day one, mayor lightfoot has been clear that her highest i already and greatest highest priority and biggest responsibility as mayor is ensuring peace and chicagos neighborhoods. Every day since may 20, the opposite 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 dramatic increase in shootings and homicides more severe than that experienced 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 the thousands of nonfatal shootings that occur each year. Estimates of the indirect and direct economic costs run into billions of dollars per year. Since 2016, the trend has improved. Shootings and homicides have seen doubledigit yearoveryear decreases two years in a row. In fact, over the past summer, we saw an accelerated decrease in Violent Crimes with june, july, and august seeing the lowest number of shooting victims since 2014. And while Many Organizations are tackling gun violence independently of city leadership through various privately funded frameworks, the experience of cities shows that Violence Reduction efforts are far more successful through effective coordination of resources, policy, and management decisions across all stakeholders. Mayor lightfoots commitment to reducing gun violence is evident in our deputy mayor of Public Safety, susan lee, who leads the firstever office of Public Safety. As the mayors point person for all antiviolence efforts, the deputy mayor is responsible for public city oversight and operations with activities grounded in three areas. Leading a comprehensive Violence Reduction strategy by collaborating with outreach and other communitybased antiviolence organizations while ensuring coordination with city agencies and the police department. Public Safety Agency operations, including Chicago Police department, chicago fire department, office of Emergency Management and communications, civilian office of police accountability, and police board. Managing consent reform priorities. Liaising state and county governments and core components of its initial efforts, the Mayors Office has convened regional coordination meetings on the west side and south side. Facilitated, broad, yet targeted collaboration across city agencies through mostly Public Safety cabinet meetings and launched an unprecedented collaborative effort with the u. S. Department of justice, the cook county states attorneys office, the office of cook county sheriffs, and other major partners that is designed to trap gun offenders to identify and strengths and trends and weaknesses in the criminal justice system. We have embarked on a proactive strategy that looks at gun violence as a Public Health crisis, which is what it is. While we continue to see consistent reductions of Violent Crime throughout the city, mayor lightfoot, she would be the first to say we have much more work to do. Together, we have to restitched our broken safety net. We have to work on providing Wraparound Services and job training in the neighborhoods that have been under siege and economically distressed for decades. We recognize the fact that this will not be solved overnight, but by investing in neighborhoods and addressing the root causes of gun violence, we can continue to make meaningful gains in Public Safety and communities throughout the city. We will continue working with chicago and serve every neighborhood and background, from block gloves and faith groups to businesses and school communities. They have joined us hand and hand hand in hand to our comprehensive approach to reduce violence in our city. This will also take cooperation by all levels of government. I look forward to working with this committee to further policies and programs that create and maintain safe communities for families to thrive. I thank you and i look forward to continued work. Rep. Eshoo thank you, mr. Kerr. Please give the best of all the Committee Members to the mayor. Thank you for being here this morning. The chair now recognizes mr. Leek for his five minutes of testimony. Thank you for being with us. Mr. Leek thank you, madam chairman. Would it be out of order if i give honor to god, my maker, my creator this morning as we approach the most important hearings where our congressmen who represent us well who are here today, hundreds men garcia, congressman congressman garcia, congressman schakowsky, and congressman bobby rush, who gave us the invitation to come here, i thank you for this privilege. I want to say to you that i am the ceo of an 85yearold Funeral Service organization. No week goes by, members of congress, that i dont service the families of at least two gun violence victims. I have to service them and then tried to counsel them and didnt try to answer the question that is invariably ask by the mothers and fathers of the children that i service, and that question is one word why, mr. Leek . Mr. Leak . Why. Of all the families i have serviced, one comes to mind this morning. Let me share with you. March 12, 2013, the mother and father of sixmonthold shinny go watkins came to our funeral sixmonthold shanika watkins came to our funeral home seeking our service. The city of chicago had to lay rest. Recious child to her death touched my heart, even though i am a professional funeral director. When i think about her short life span, a verse of scripture found in the book of revelation, the sixth chapter and the 13th verse seems to define her in a profound manner. As the stars of heaven fell onto the earth, even as a fig tree cast her untimely figs when she is shaken by a mighty wind. Truly, this baby girl was an untimely fig who was not allowed to reach her potential. Her life was cut off by the mighty winds of guns and drugs causing so much death and destruction to the hearts of the future of our children. Death and destruction caused by black on black gun violence. So much evil is manifested in its wake. The challenges of us living in this city, as well as this nation, is to engage in those mighty winds of adversity. We must reverse the time that has seen too many figs cast out, untimely figs here in chicago and across our nation. 30 years ago, madam chairman, i had the honor to be the director of the Cook County Department of corrections. Inmates coming into the jail accused of, besides of homicides were predominantly black. The perpetrators were predominantly black, as well as the victims. They were abusing alcohol and drugs during the commission of the crime, and finally, the perpetrators and the victims were known to one another. That was a relationship. Because of that relationship, the police were able to arrest the perpetrator in the majority of the instances. Today, madam chairman, those circumstances are reversed. In the majority of homicides, the perpetrator has no relationship to the victim. These homicides are mostly random violence, and so often render the police and the courts that challenge in seeking an arrest. The role, i believe, of Congress Must be one that recognizes that unless in an earlier period of the life of the would be perpetrator, they must receive some type of special crime prevention. It is not found as it could be. A 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 schools. If we can create an environment that in those particular schools, that teaches morals, character, good citizenship during their formative years, we will be able to save hundreds, even thousands of lives. My brothers and sisters, you who are congressman, we are dependent on you today to leave chicago, knowing that you are going to do something about what plagues us as a city. God bless you. [applause] rep. Eshoo thank you, mr. Leak. You have summoned us to a higher place, for sure. I would now like to recognize, last but not least, dr. Johnson, the immediate past president of the National Medical association. Welcome to you and thank you for being here. You have five minutes for your testimony. Dr. Johnson thank you, and thank you, congresswoman, for a for the invitation this morning. To all of the subCommittee Members holding this hearing today in my hometown of chicago, i would especially like to thank subcommittee member congressman bobby rush, who is my congressman, as well as congresswoman robin kelly, who i have had the pleasure of working on aquite frequently marriott of issues when she was a state myriad of issues when she was a state representative. The other chicago congressman here today, my colleague in health care, the honorable danny k davis, and to mr. Garcia and ms. Schakowsky. Also fellow natives of chicago. Im here to talk about solutions to the Public Health threat posed by gun violence, not only as a physician who has practiced internal medicine for over 30 years here in chicago, but as the immediate past president of the National Medical association. This is the largest and oldest organization representing africanamerican professionals, doing so for over 50,000 africanamerican physicians and our patients in the United States and its territory. We are the collective voice of africanamerican physicians and the leading force of parity and justice in medicine. Violence continues to be on the forefront this year, as it was throughout my presidency. As you know, it is one of the leading causes of death in america, where more than 39,000 people die every year and 85,000 more suffer nonfatal injuries. It costs our economy 29 billion annually and publications costs include job loss, police and criminal justice activities, Health Care Costs and decreased quality of life. We know the statistics about what has gone on in chicago, and fortunately those numbers are decreasing. I also want to make note that chicago per capita is not the highest city of gun violence. I believe that we ranked number 15 in the country, not top 10. So, what do we do about it . Theave to look at where guns come from. They come from outside chicago and we have to deal with how they get into the city. November of last year the National Rifle association had the audacity to tweet that someone should tell selfimportant gun violence doctors to stay in their lane. This is our lane. , over 40ard organizations joined forces as a coalition to confront this is a Public Health initiative. Tragic shooting of dr. Tamron oneill outside mercy have been on staff there for over 30 years. I did not know dr. Oneil, but wish i had. She had been a graduate student for the hospital. My husband is a Prostate Cancer survivor going across the hall when he heard the shots. Im over 50 and i needed a colonoscopy, the first man to do that was getting ready to do a procedure on a patient and had to lock himself in the room when the perpetrator knocked on the door where he was. Beenrganization has long an advocate of preventing gun violence. Is aiolence prevention Public Health crisis and week think it demands a multifaceted approach. As we all owe, this is a multifaceted problem. There are different types of violence. In 2017 week published a paper on gun violence and in 2018 we developed an faq sheet on gun violence. Developed during the march of this year, and in july, with 10 other professional africanamerican organizations we crafted a letter to all of the president ial candidates outlining gun violence as one of our top issues of concern. Andlf along with dr. Stuart dr. Roger mitchell can were on cbs sunday morning with a story about gun violence and a Public Health coalition that had formed as a result of the nra tweet. We have endorsed the house advocated and have for other pieces of legislation that have been crafted by the house of representatives. We call on the federal government to immediately convene a Bipartisan Commission to eventually eliminate gun violence using a Public Health approach. Especially i would like to them include in the research the fact that we are now researching our historic black medical schools to see where they can help in this space. Also to study the effects of lead in violence and aggressiveness and to continue the work of dr. Carl bell in terms of fetal alcohol syndrome. All for theank you opportunity to be here this morning on behalf of our president , oliver brooks, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for the support that you just expressed for hr eight, comprehensive background check legislation that is now at the doorstep of the u. S. Senate. We pray that that will be taken up, because we know the good that can come from that. All of our witnesses have testified. I am going to call on congresswoman robin kelly. That she ande sure congresswoman kensinger get to ask their questions. They both have time limitations today. I will set my questions aside for now and recognize the gentlewoman for her five minutes of questioning. Thank you, chairwoman. Thank you all for your testimony. We are listening, believe me. Im not going to call you pastor mitchell. Im going to call you brenda because you called me robin. Thank you so much for testifying today and as you have heard me say before, thank you for being so selfless. You could go into your home and close the door and not be bothered. You chose to be an advocate and turn your pain into passion, so thank you so much. Im going to cut to the chase. What do you Want Congress to do . What do you think that we can do to be helpful to help families and communities . No, no. Ms. Mitchell im talking about the Senate Taking seriously what is happening in our communities and the blood left on the ground in our communities, understanding that it becomes holy ground for us. Its sacred. Even with lack of resources around Trauma Informed Care, i am most had to lose my life three times to realize what i was going through and be vulnerable enough to remove the stigma of accepting therapy and because of the emotions that i was experiencing that were attacking my internal organs and to be able to understand what it is to try to come back to yourself, because thats lifechanging. I had become someone i didnt even recognize or know anymore and i had to find myself coming back to myself. I asked congress to put forth more research into trauma. When we talk about trauma, to it from being a Mental Health issue, because i dont identify with Mental Health, but i do identify with being traumatized and having my heart ripped out of my chest. A sword that i know will never be healed. Rep. Kinzinger rep. Kelly rep. Kelly thank you. I want to publicly thank all the people that got on the bus to come to washington, d. C. , that was so very important and i dont know if everyone knows, but after the rally was over we took amalies from kentucky into senator mcconnells office to talk to them about please passing both hills that we sent over in february. Ask you,t, i wanted to you stated in your testimony that there was a working group to address the impact of violence on vulnerable is. Can you explain the intersectionality of structural violence and social determinants on health as it relates to gun violence and underserved communities . Stewart yes, maam. [indiscernible] rep. Kelly the chair talk about that in my statement. The chair could have [indiscernible] well, we need to go on with our hearing. Congresswoman ellie, you have floor. Kelly, you have the floor. Please, sir, we are trying to have a hearing here. [indiscernible] dr. Stewart yes, maam. You want me to just answer . If you look at the strategy for the American College of surgeons, i was clear with respect to that. Order, order. Why dont we just pause for a few moments . [man indistinctly yelling] hearing. Congressional you are not here in the bubble. You are in the same place as me. Ask, if weif we can can ask a gentleman to move with the others out of the room so that we can continue with the hearing, please . [no audio] [man indistinctly yelling] 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 instructses that will us in order to address the epidemic of gun violence. Does town Hall Meetings in our congressional districts. Toare thoroughly accustomed people shouting out at us and being unrestrained and hearing from them. Is. That is not what today with thethe hearing witnesses, professionals all, being instructed to the congress on how we can shape tangible legislation that is going to have an effect on addressing this epidemic in our country. Important to delineate the difference between a town hall meeting and a congressional hearing. I would ask my colleague, congresswoman kelly, to resume questioning. Thank you for your patience, everyone. I wanted rep. Kelly to add to that with did have members of Congress Come to illinois where we went we met with everybody, specific young folks under 25, mostly under 20. We have done things like that, also. ,r. , do you remember doctor do you remember the question . Dr. Stewart understanding the root of violence is part of our twopronged strategy. That means we have to get to what many people have testified to and what many of you commented on addressing, social structure of violence. What does dr. Rogers mean by structure of violence . Its the ways that we put individuals in the community in harms way. Things that are not easy to see. Colleague, they would say that a fish cannot see water. It may seem obvious to us, but there are structural issues that lead to increased violence and rates of death. So, we have put together a work group, a National Work group of experts to address the health and structure of violence. We view that as complementary to our strategy work, making firearm ownership as safe as reasonably possible while trying to work to understand the root causes of violence. Just say, and feel free to interrupt me, but i would say that its a bigger problem than what he realized. Its true that there is there are 109 to 110 people who die day from firearm violence. There are actually 182 who die every day because of intentional violence from all mechanisms. Working to understand and address that is critical. Hats just the depths it doesnt take into account the magnitude of the Health Burden that is tremendous. In an investment by congress i believe it is critically needed and i think it will return benefits far beyond that investment. Rep. Kelly thank you, dr. Stewart. I would like to include my common sense policies for reducing the gun violence epidemic. So ordered. Rep. Kelly i yield back. I would like to now call on congresswoman Adam Kinzinger for his five minutes of testimony. Thank you to him for being here and making our hearing very importantly a bipartisan one. Thank you, madam chair. Again, thank you for the time. Robin, thank you for your questions and especially to the witnesses, thank you for being here. Your stories were both emotional and informing. So thank you for that. Pastor mitchell, i dont know what to say except my deepest condolences. I appreciate you sharing my sharing your story. Its important for all of us to see how it affects family and how family can do their best to overcome. It brings a Human Element that sometimes when we talk about statistics, which we have to talk about, statistics, but sometimes that gets missing and i appreciate you doing the difficult thing by bringing a human face to that. My deepest condolences to you. I dont have any questions for you, mr. Lee, but i wanted to make a point, thank you for your testimony as well. Evil is a very real thing. ,e dont talk a lot about it but for whatever reason there is a generation of young people, and i think it transcends race, income, and boundary lines that are listening to the whispers in their year and doing really and doing really terrible things at young ages. You mentioned the testimony about people with similar Life Experiences have helped to connect trauma patients and families to Wraparound Services like Vocational Training and other social services. Can you elaborate further on how this kind of hospitalbased intervention and out reese outreach presents a unique teachable moment to improve outcomes and prevent future violent injuries . There is a Network Across the country, approximately 30 hospitals have invested in the programs. They take people who have been injured by violent injuries, gun violence, stabbings, or assault, they use the moment to intervene in their lives. Think of violence as a chronic disease. In the context of that, people often come in to existing social need, that they educational disparities and Economic Opportunities that have not been taken advantage of. Being able to invest in people through these programs, they have found a significant effect in decreasing recidivism rates. The other aspect is preventing people from injuring someone else. Theres a common saying that hurt people hurt people. When you think about the opportunities that hospitals and Health Systems may have to intervene in the lives of people who have been hurt, its an important dimension. Rep. Kinzinger i want to add to one of the things they really isk as to understand that the fact that homelessness is not just not having a shelter over your head at night, theres a lot of things for it if someone comes to the hospital with a gunshot wound, your ensure that they live. If they are not given an opportunity, they will in backup homeless. Number five in the consensus statement raises the importance of engaging firearm owners and those at risk. Can you elaborate . It is a critical piece of the approach which is to engage people who are at risk. One of the things we would do is engage with bicycle riders for their expertise, knowledge and we have done that in the past bicycle helmets were not cool thermally or culturally. Now we see people wearing bicycle helmets. Thank you. I yield back. I know both of the members that questions have other commitments that need to leave the committee, witnesses and everyone here today, thank you both for your leadership and your ongoing work today. You may have noticed that we were leaning over and witnessing each other. It is part of our teambuilding. Cattle safely and thank you for being here today. The chair now recognizes herself for five minutes to ask questions. Is there anyone on the panel that does not agree that gun violence is an epidemic and we work through the Public Health lens to address it . Is there an agreement across the panel on that . That is what the hearing is addressing itself to. In the work of the congress, if you were to advise us on shaping legislation, what with the top three or five initiatives the that you would recommend to us . I think at the top of the list is we need to first secure the kind of data that can be shared when there is enough epidemic, certainly the cdc developed the information so we can work off of facts. It is very important that we have facts and as i said in my opening statement, congress has appropriated 50 million. It is not a lot of money, but we have to start. Aside from that, what would you recommend that we take back and build into legislation and address this epidemic in the Public Health lane . Whoever would like to go first. With an epidemic, you have to go through a population that is most affected and this case, you have to go to a population that is violence and theres no way around it. You have to develop that relationship with them and change their trajectory. That will take and be on a different trajectory. Im not opposed to prevention programs. I think it all has to be in competition, but we have to look at where the data says. This is a group that is most violent and if we dont develop a relationship with them, that change is going to be minimal. This population is not a throwaway population, they can change. We have seen this an intervention is with them and then they change what they are doing and now they are working with the program and helping others make that change as well, but it has to be something that is really thought out and also we have to look at their ecosystems. What did the people that in their Family Networks look like because they impact the regional . Doctors, do you want to lean in on this . That could be a lot of investment in communities, especially communities of color that have disproportionately affected us in violence. I meet with families everyday say not just their cousin, not just the father, parent or brother has been impacted, but multiple people and their families have been impacted and without thinking about the psychological and emotional toll takes on families and, we will not be able to make a Lasting Impact and in many ways because this is so longstanding, we will have to make a concentrated effort to make an impact and i think if i can make a recommendation to congress, it is not going to be a simple bandaid solution. It will take years of commitment over time to reverse what has been present for decades. In listening to pastor mistral talk about all that she went through physically and the depression that surrounded her and deepened her grief even more, we do a lot through the department of defense and the veterans a ministration relative to ptsd. It seems to me that you are a witness and someone that has experience that. I think it is part of what we do. Do. The question was asked what was the one thing you are not speaking about or dressing in terms of Gun Violence Initiative and the bonds, we know how important it is. We realize the devastation in our communities and those things have not been addressed. It is not anything that has happened overnight, but i believe with the research that has to happen in our communities, there also has to be dollars that deal at the socioeconomic issues as well as the devastation and to have more resources out there. I had the luxury of having insurance and being able to talk insurance and being able to talk through my issues. We are not even creating the narrative around narrative around trumpcare, but their stillness needs to be other avenues create the tear traumad, still needs to the other avenues. I would like to recognize the gentleman and the gentleman he is, mr. Butterfield from north carolina. Thank you. Let me just begin by reiterating what the chairwoman said a few minutes ago. This is not a town hall meeting. All of us have our individual townHall Meetings. This is a congressional hearing. This is not a political exercise, this is serious business. The congress of the United States spends billions of dollars every year on defense and nondiscretionary spending. We have got to build a congressional record and this is what it is all about today. We will take this information and a verbatim copy of what is being said today is being placed in a congressional record and we will take this information back to our committee and our committee will have further hearings and at some point, it will be presented to the house of representatives for a vote during wanted to go record for making it known the may not fully understand the scope of what we are doing today. These statistics show 39,000 firearm injured or killed each day. An action is not an often. Even more disturbing, the way we fail to treat this as a Public Health issue. We have not invested federal dollars in Public Health research to help prevent firearm related injuries and death. We have not invested significantly in Public Health research. We were able a few weeks ago to approve appropriations in the house to provide 50 million for research and that is just the beginning. Thank you to all six of the witnesses, but for me ask all the medical experts. Can you share half you think this would help and better understand and address the crisis and impact it has on your patience and friends . Lets start with dr. Rogers. Behind do people left understand those services are here in services. Echoing your comments, we have to invest in research to better understand what works and doesnt work. As ms. Mitchell noted, it has had longer aging affects decades after the dramatic traumatic event. We have found incredible ways of addressing aids and it is a chronic illness that people can live with for decades. We have to find solutions to problems that the greatest society are often ignored if that can happen through this congressional hearing, it may be important. In the last minute i have remaining, dr. Stuart . I would say the impact on our patients would be that if we invest in these things that we talked about, it would be healthier, more resilient, stronger and more free. It is critical that we make this investment and do it across the entire spectrum of violence. Thank you for that question congressman butterfield. I have took care of two patients that i have come to know. One, her daughter was killed at address restore and left a child behind. The father to care of the other of the other child on the weekend and she ended up taking care through her job and Employee Assistance program, but i think other programs need to be available to those who are left behind, but also we need programs for those who remained in the families because part of it is Structural Racism and we have to do something to level the playing field. Thank you for your response. The gentleman yields back. Mr. Ross, whose district we are in today, his five minutes of questioning. Thank you. I associate my remarks with my friend, mr. Butterfield for butterfield. Want to reiterate and say this is not the kind of hearing where we have a lot of rah rah. This is a sober and somber gathering of witnesses so we can do the work that we were elected to do and that is to try to provide several resources to several departments that we have discussion with today and that violence,demic of gun eliminate suffering and pain of families and communities nations affected by this senseless epidemic. With that, i want to ask my friend who i have known for many years so many families, including my family. A significantn and striking demographic change youryou recognize [indiscernible] knowing this particular era of violence, do you see a significant change in the demographics . [inaudible] use the mic please. What i have seen is that the perpetrator and the victim as i said were africanamerican and what i see is there is not today a relationship between perpetrator and victim that resulted in a successful arrest and adjudication of the particular perpetrator and the reason we are not seeing that as we did 30, 40 years ago is the fact there is no relationship between a perpetrator and the victim. Random violence is what we see now. The sixmonthold baby, that they did was not targeted, it was just random violence that plagues us and i say theres only one solution to that. Let me just say. I remember in chicago in the late 1970s, there was a young man and he was shot down on the ground. I think he might have been on his way to school and since that time, there have been born more younger people who were killed. Here was a young man who was murdered, but now the incidents have increased. Im saying do you agree now . Newest journals, which were older than the members that god from Natural Causes come up but today is it the same today or has there been a significant switch that most funerals now are not from Natural Causes, but young people who die of gun violence or some other type of violent behavior . Do you see that . Yes, i see that. I should not have to be servicing the family of a sixmonthold girl. I should be servicing families where the deceased person is my age. I should not be servicing families who have lost their loved ones through homicide, suicide, drug overdoses. I am seeing more of that now that i have in the past and i say to you, i must reiterate and i ask that you have an effect on the schools of our city. It comes from washington to our city and all due respect to my friend who represents there, i say take back to washington this story, two young kids who are acting up and sent to the principals office. They principal asked them to come in one by one. He said johnny, where is god in your life . He went out and said [inaudible] god is missing from our schools and we have a lot to do with it and am asking you when you go back to washington, d. C. , send some money here and most of all put god back into our schools. , thank you. Statement, a a declaration in your statement. Health issuee is a and disease, it means it can be treated and it can be cured. Can you expound upon treatment and the cure for it . What can we do as members of congress to provide federal resources to cure this epidemic . I will start by saying there is so much about gun violence that we dont understand. We have made tremendous progress surgical procedures, to fix broken bones or put back together damaged organs, but we have not done much to figure out how to help people souls and minds and investing more in the Mental Health impact of violence, both on people who have been directly impacted violence physically, but also those who are in close contact because there is secondary, to everyone who is in close contact with an individual who has been shot or killed. And think about ways that we can impacted by gun violence. Dr. Stuart, you have seen it. Gentleman hank i thank the gentleman and understand here you are being driven to ask more questions because you care so much about this issue, but now i would like to start recognizing our colleagues as yes of the committee. All members of congress, all from the great state of illinois, i want to recognize my friend and colleague congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. For many years, she served on the sub Health Committee. She turns up religiously and wait for everyone else to ask their questions and then it is everyone elses turn. She cares enormously and it is a pleasure to recognize her and welcome her once again to the committee and this work. Thank you. It is a privilege to be able to wave on the sub Health Committee and so i dont mind waiting. 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 due to gun violence and are here in this room . Raise your hand so i can see that. It has affected a good chunk of this room. ,e have talked about bobby rush but i was at the funeral for danny daviss grandson. I want to talk more about the issue of trauma and informed care which you raised, but also the intersection with race which is in many ways an elephant in this room and on this issue. We know that black children are 14 times more likely than white teens to die because of gun violence and that black men make up 52 of all gun homicide victims. When you are talking about people around those that have been killed, you think we are talking about whole communities where black children, and in particular black and brown children are traumatized just from the time they are aware in this world and the dangers of their communities. Racial disparities, we know, for example, women of color in illinois are six times more likely to die related to childbirth than white women. These disparities in health care are a real challenge. I wanted to ask dr. Johnson, anyone who wants to answer this to share what has been successful in dealing with trauma informed and culturally competent care as we look at solutions to these problems . Did you want to start with the did you want to start, doctor . Thank you for the question. In terms of the culturally informed competent care, i think we need to start with what i alluded to before which is Structural Racism that is affecting our communities where those residents live, education received, the housing they receive and understand and recognize there is a disparity due to the socioeconomic differences between our communities and others that really serve for violence to occur and so i have become opposed to implicit bias training. We are discovering the issue with Maternal Mortality and it just planted basis and it. If someone cannot get the health care they need and because of that, we have developed where most states have a Maternal Mortality review board and take a look at the systems and who are victims of the perpetrators of violence and that will work. It there are programs that do that. I want to ask anyone, dr. Rogers, addressing the point on Trauma Informed Care, it meets people where they are, not where you want them to be. Often times, you dont think about the expenses that the law and how that impacts how they are experiencing. We often do not find ways to incorporate that. Let me just say pastor mitchell finished. When you talk about from a informed care is to identify theres a need for that in our communities because in the communities of color, we dont identify with Mental Health or trauma care. Theres always the stigma of counseling and therapy. As a pastor, it is difficult to say. And to be able to accept the knowledge before us and move towards wholeness. I want to say while i agree with all of you that it is going to take time, i also want to, the tshirts are moms demand action and whether it will take long or short, what people want to see now is concrete steps that represent action that is going to address this problem of gun violence in our communities. Thank you, i yield back. I would like to recognize the gentlewoman from new york, congresswoman yvette clarke. Thank you for traveling from new york. Today, we have five minutes for your questioning. Let me thank you for doing this here. Let me thank my colleagues for welcoming and east coast sister from brooklyn and let me thank our expert witnesses who have come to testify before us today, dr. Rogers is a colloquialism of the new yorker. It is one of the things you mentioned repeatedly through your testimony today, represents Brenda Mitchell. I want you to know that we are on the same wavelength. I will give you three names, james davis, gabrielle gifford, Stephen Kurtz Police Stephen police these are colleagues of mine, one of them is past tense and that is james e davis. There is a lot of walking wounded and there are many levels to this. It is proximity that happens, relation to the individuals, community and we have not wrapped our arms around the extent to which americans are being subjected to the pain of violence in our communities and our nation overall because for many, it may not even be someone who is immediately and their families. It may be a colleague. I have had to colleagues now in congress gunned down. They were able to survive, but we still have not acted. One republican, one democrat. All of us, walking around, knowing our colleagues were gunned down before us. How does gun access and availability to trafficking created dynamic . What is the socioeconomic indicators that we need to look at in terms of education and the opportunity gaps that help to fortify us against future action . It is a multi pronged approach that i would like to get your take on. Because i think we are only scratching the many levels on the surface. I think im also on the board, so i see the disparities in the education system. It is also good to see the socioeconomic and institutional racism that denies access to individuals, so unless we take care of all the different layers, there is trauma and violence and to move on things like firearms. All of those things are taken care of and until we deal with the Different Levels of gun violence and the byproducts of gun violence, then we are doing a disservice to the public. We only have a couple minutes. Anyone else want to a dress that issue . Something like to add to that of the intersectionality that occurs with victims of violence. One thing is, we talked about childhood expenses and this is one of those and also others are housing and access to food, etc. During all of these things are interrelated. Violence can carry over into adulthood and i think we have to develop a program and take all of that into account, even the increased stress of the mother could lead to preterm births as she is pregnant. I think we have to look at the play aod experiences and part in any program crafted to good health. As you said, i think it is multilevel and not any one simple solution to this problem, but we have to attack on multiple levels. I think if gun violence is proportionally affecting only [indiscernible] similarly if you look across the United States, we dont talk about the impact of gun suicide and we need to be more open on the effect that it has throughout the country. The gentlewoman yields back. It is now an honor to recognize our colleague, congressman danny davis. I said earlier, the voice of god and the sorrow of the tragedy of losing a family member, that burden is being carried by the congressman and his family when they buried their grant on, so it is very important to us that he is here with us today and he will work to be part of the solution. You have your minutes to question. Thank you. I really want to thank you for bringing this hearing to chicago. I want to thank congressman rush and the entire committee. Im so pleased that so many members of the Committee Energy and commerce are here participating. We often have these discussions throughout the country, but often times, we dont have as many individuals who come from their districts to participate because there are things going on where they are in so, this is an absolute great day for us. I want to thank all of the witnesses who have come and as i have listened, less than two months ago, two individuals were tried, convicted and sentenced to prison for the murder of migrans on, 15 years old. Their families are traumatized as much as our families and my son was amazed when one of the relatives, i said i am hurting for the families of the individuals shot him and he asked me, he said did you mean what you said . I said yes, i really did because just as there are empty spaces at our thanksgiving table, there will be empty spaces and their thanksgiving table. At their thanksgiving table. He said the only thing i can is i think you are a better man than i am, but that is one of the reasons i am so pleased. [no audio] i am big on Mental Health and recognizing its impact spirit impact. If all they have is a toothpick, they cannot kill 30 people correct we must find a way to reduce the presence of guns in our society. Way. St find a we must find a way to eliminate to these automatic and semi automatic weapons that should not be in the hands of andne except military perhaps in some instances, Law Enforcement. Do, but we must have the will to do it. Had there not been a gun presence in the conversation that my grandson and his friends were having, he would be alive today and they would not be traumatized and facing prison. And so, recognizing what to do and then doing it. My question is, and my comment, gun violence is a crisis, but so is poverty a health crisis. So is economic oppression. I understand the young man over here who is talking about jobs. He has come to believe that of all of the issues, because when we talk about the stats in the group has the most homicides, half of those individuals are out of work, dont have a job, dont go to school, are not engaged in any kind of training program. So this also contributes to their utilization of other forces to do what they do. Spencer, my question, mr. Leak, and i have attended many of those services you are providing. And we see each other pretty much on a regular basis almost every weekend there is one. How do we comprehensively face the issue we have and try and make sure we can seriously reduce gun violence and provide the help that individuals need to have when they have experienced it . Thank you, congressman davis. Let me say that i have found that if we can change the mindset of the individuals of the groups we are talking about. When i was director, i was telling the doctor that 15 of the population was there because of Mental Health issues. What can the jail do about Mental Health other than to contain . But i submit that we have not brought into play the correctional systems state and county of our nation. When i was the director of the jail, i did not think 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. They are confined, and therefore they are individuals we may change their life set. That is one area there. I cannot reiterate to you and all of the congressman here that when i sit down with those mothers of those children killed in violence, i cannot come up with anything comprehensive. I cannot be a profound i can only put my hand around that mother and say to her, lets have prayer. And the only thing that will get us through this crisis in gun violence and violence in general is we must there must be a faithbased solution. I know there are those that say it is unconstitutional, we should separate church and state. But i say to you that weve got to change the mindset and the only one who can change the mindset is the one who changes not. Thank you again, chairman. I really do from a personal Vantage Point thank you, congressman rush, and the entire subcommittee for bringing this tremendous hearing to chicago. And i yield back. The gentleman yields back. You should know we all hold you in the center of our hearts and think you are very, very special. I would just like to say to mr. Leak that when you see a picture of the floor of the house of representatives and the speakers chair, what is engraved over it are the following words, in god we trust. I would now like to recognize last but certainly not least, our colleague from the chicago area. Thank you for joining us today and for your patience. You now have five minutes to question. Thank you, madam chair, and to all the members of the committee and of course all of the panelists. As all of you are keenly aware, gun violence is ravaging our communities. It is sad to think how normalized gun violence has become in our city and across the country. It is time for our country to stop cowering to the n. R. A. And to start doing something about it. This week marks two years since my wife was coming home from going to visit a friend and parking her car in the garage and heard four 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. She called me to hurry home because this had happened. This is just one more testimonial to others that members have shared that none of us are immune to gun violence in our country today. Mass shootings have captured the National Attention but are in fact a small share of gun violence in our country. Chicago is no stranger to gun violence. It is constantly demonized by the president. It is a popular talking point for those who claim gun control does not work. But there is a big difference between the factors that create the conditions for shootings and our city and Mass Shootings other places. Our black and latino communities have been hurt for generations by disinvestment, racism, poverty, and gang violence. Let me ask dr. Rogers, why is it Important Research properly identifies the root causes of gun violence and distinguishes Mass Shootings from the types of gun violence we witness in chicago . Thank you, congressman garcia. Accidents represent less than 1 in the country. Daily, people die from gun violence and suicides by guns without getting the same attention. It is only through dedicated research that we will understand exactly what works. Safer guns, hand imprinted ways of protecting who actually fires a handgun, or thinking more holistically. There are primary and secondary prevention efforts we can do to prevent people from being injured by firearms in the United States. Very briefly, how do we get stakeholders, including the media, Law Enforcement, to properly and responsibly report and highlight these differences . I think one of the things happening today is to listen in a way that respects peoples different viewpoints. I think that is an important starting point for dialogue. Very well. Recently, our country witnessed the deadliest racially motivated attack targeting latinos in modern American History in el paso. But this is not an isolated incident. 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 as our community mourned, we also understood the president is not contributing to preventing these incidents. He is contributing to encouraging this kind of violence. What types of resources and Community Engagement will the city and the relatively new administration commit to providing communities most afflicted by gun violence in chicago . I ask that understanding this is a national panel, but we are also looking at what cities are doing in response to the gun epidemic. Sure. As i mentioned earlier, mayor lightfoots investment in violence is something that is a big issue for her. We are poised to work with other organizations and entities because this is an all hands on deck approach that is needed to address this issue. We are doing inventory of our programming, making sure we have ample prevention programs but also thinking and a comprehensive way. We need prevention and intervention. We need that comprehensive approach to go along partners. Who needs to be at the table . City, county, state, federal, but also including our local partners in the process. We have been able to have different town Hall Meetings over the last few months to engage organizations and residents to be on board, to give their input, to contribute to the strategy, because we know it is important to have them available on the ground. Thank you, madam chair. I think my time has run out. The gentleman yields back. I think 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 you, the witnesses. Chicago is known as the windy city. But i think here today, you have really put some wind at our back to address this issue we are grappling with that has caused so much grief, not only here in this community but in communities across our country. The damage to peoples lives, the loss of life. But what we can do about this relative to Public Health and the epidemic that it represents. Each one of us are grateful to you. What you have given to us will be foundational for us to build legislation on. I believe we have a lot to work with because you have given us examples of what is happening at the Medical Center here, at the Medical Center in texas. That can be highly instructive to us, that we have Wraparound Services, pastor mitchell, for what you referenced and other witnesses. This is a rich record you have provided for us. We are very grateful to you for it. I want to remind members that pursuant to committee rules, each member has 10 Business Days to submit additional questions to the witnesses. We hope that you will respond in a timely manner because that part of the record is very important to us as well, that all of it be captured, and i trust that you will do that. I now would like to ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the letter of support from the association of american medical colleges. We thank the association for that. Hearing no objections, so order. Isnt it nice that i can say that . It is like my little magic wand. Again, to everyone that is here in the audience, there are advocates here that give so much of their time to push and push and push. Your time is not wasted. You are you have formed a National Core of patriots to address gun violence in our country, and we are so deeply grateful to you. To those who have suffered the loss is in your family, i said in the beginning that your grief more than fuels the effort that we are taking on. We carry you with us and we want you to know that. To all of the press that is here. I also want to salute and thank the Committee Staff. It is not an easy thing to do to take the committee on the road and get everything set up. They not only work in washington, d. C. , but they came here before the members arrived to get everything organized. I think we can show our appreciation by applauding and thanking them. Thank you. [applause] with that, this time, the subcommittee yes . Acknowledge myto own district staff, who were hand in hand with me in this. How closely they worked with the Committee Staff thank you. With that, the subcommittee is now adjourned. 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] today, House Speaker nancy pelosi issued a statement after President Trump announced the withdrawal of u. S. Forces from northern syria. She writes, once again, President Trump is deserting an ally and a foolish attempt to. Ppease a strong man President Trump has abandon our kurdish partners. This poses a dire threat to regional stability and security and sends a dangerous message to iran and russia, as well as our allies, that the United States is no longer a trusted partner. And a statement by mitch mcconnell. Precipitous withdrawal from syria would only benefit russia and the assad regime, and would increase the risk that isis and other terrorist groups regroup. President trump is scheduled to sign u. S. Japan trade agreements at the white house, and he may talk about syria and the impeachment inquiry. We will have live coverage from the roosevelt room when the signing begins. This afternoon, former cia director and retired general David Petraeus will talk about u. S. Military strategy in afghanistan. We will have that live here on cspan. Canadas political leaders will take part in a debate in quebec ahead of elections in two weeks. Live coverage of todays debate starts at 7 00 p. M. Eastern. We will have that here on cspan. This opening day of the 2019 term of the supreme court, we discussed aggressive efforts at federal court reform. Viewers might recognize you from work in the obama administer ration justice department. You have found it demand d demand founde