U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, released the following statement on the Dickey Amendment's, which bans gun violence research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), inclusion omnibus bill:
"The inclusion of this rider is outrageous. 30-plus people are being killed every day by someone using a gun, and House Republicans refuse to even take the most basic steps to help lesson this loss of life. Here's how you know the Dickey Amendment needs to be thrown out: medical professionals say so, scientific researches say so, and Jay Dickey himself says so.
"No one can offer one good reason to keep this ban in place. This rider has prohibited experts at the CDC from researching the causes and best ways to prevent gun violence for nearly 20 years. The omnibus bill gave us a chance to fix that, but once again Republicans refused to simply get out of the way and let our experts do what they do best -- conduct research that will save some lives."
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT