Letter to Rochelle Walenksy, Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health - After Worst Year for Gun Violence in Decades, Phillips Demands Status Report on Gun Violence Research

Letter

Directors Walensky and Collins:

Even while our country continues to grapple with the public health crisis posed by the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, recent events have forced us to again confront another urgent
public health crisis facing America: gun violence.

As you know, Congress voted in 2018 to authorize the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct research into the root
causes of America's gun violence epidemic and identify potential solutions to help address it. In
2019 and 2020, Congress appropriated $25 million in each year to fund such research, split
evenly between your two organizations.

We understand that after decades of disinvestment the work will not be easy, and answers
will not come quickly. We write, however, to request a status report on how that funding is being
used, when that research may yield actionable information for policymakers, and what -- if any --
limitations you face due to budgetary or other constraints. This research has the potential to save
scores of innocent lives, and we stand ready to do what is necessary to make sure it can be done
expeditiously, effectively, and comprehensively.

America can confront any challenge when we band together in common purpose and with
a common goal. When we wanted to reduce the alarming number of fatal motor vehicle
accidents, we did it. When we wanted to reduce smoking-related illnesses and deaths, we did it.
And we believe all Americans -- no matter their political affiliation or interpretations of the
Second Amendment -- want to see fewer people killed by guns in this country. We can do that,
too -- and we thank you for your leadership in helping to make that dream a reality through
rigorous research and scientific investigation.

Thank you for all you and your organizations do to help save lives, no matter the threat. We look
forward to your continued engagement on this urgent public health and public safety crisis.

Sincerely