Connecticut’s U.S. Senators are asking leaders of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for help funding gun violence research.
Senator Richard Blumenthal says the 20-year-old Dickey Amendment stops the Centers for Disease Control from using federal funds for research to “advocate or promote gun control.” Blumenthal says this bill is different.
“The research on gun violence is to know the facts. Not necessarily to advocate, although it can be used that way. So there is the potential to interpret the Dickey Amendment so that it can be used for research right now.”
Blumenthal is one of 24 Democratic senators and one Independent who signed a letter asking the Committee to consider a bill that was introduced last year. The bill would secure $10 million in funding for gun violence research.
The head of the CDC says the agency would do the research if it had the resources. Senators ask that the bill be included in the committee's next executive session agenda.