Mike Levin: “After years of consideration and a hard legislative battle, the bipartisan vote this bill received reflects the…”

“After years of consideration and a hard legislative battle, the bipartisan vote this bill received reflects the overwhelming support the bill has from the American people. Over the next several months we will continue to discuss the importance of reforming our health care system to make it more affordable and more accessible to the American people. But as we debate the subject, we must not ignore an issue that is often overlooked as a public health problem. I'm talking about gun violence. Because, Mr. President, accompanying the tremendous human costs of gun violence are enormous public health costs that we cannot afford to ignore. According to a 1999 report from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, every day in the United States, 93 people die as a result of gunshot wounds and an additional 240 sustain gunshot injuries. The report states that 'the fatality rate is roughly equivalent to that associated with HIV infection--a disease that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recognized as an epidemic.'”