Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5855, the Bipartisan Solution to Cyclical Violence Act of 2020. I want to thank our colleagues, Representatives Ruppersberger and Kinzinger, for putting forward a meaningful solution to address violence in all of our communities. This legislation provides Federal grants to hospitals and trauma centers for intervention services for victims of violent crime. Violence in America disproportionately impacts urban and underserved communities where poor social determinants of health can contribute to structural violence. Hospital-based intervention programs help reduce violence because they reach high-risk individuals recently admitted to a hospital for treatment of a serious violent injury. Hospitalization presents a unique and, frankly, teachable moment when an individual may be open to help, in turn, breaking the cycle of violence by immediate intervention. Currently, many hospitals are left with nothing but simply discharging gunshot injury patients without any strategy in place to reduce the risk of recidivism or retaliation. However, according to the American College of Surgeons, those who received violence intervention at the hospital, Madam Speaker, were significantly less likely to be reinjured and to get involved in crime in the future. So it works.…”