House Energy & Commerce Committee advances Kinzinger’s bipartisan anti-violence bill

A bipartisan trauma-prevention and anti-violence bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) received approval from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Sept. 9.

“Without question, we have a violence epidemic here in America, and I believe the community plays a critical role in addressing this crisis,” said Rep. Kinzinger. 

The Bipartisan Solution to Cyclical Violence Act of 2020, H.R. 5855, which Rep. Kinzinger cosponsored in February with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) to expand hospital-based violence intervention programs nationwide, now heads to the full U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

“I’m glad to see my legislation with Rep. Ruppersberger pass through the House Energy and Commerce Committee today,” Rep. Kinzinger said last week, adding that the bill supports the lawmakers’ “effort to fund violence intervention programs and putting us on a path to stop the vicious cycle of violence plaguing too many of our communities.”

If enacted, H.R. 5855 would provide $10 million in federal grants to hospitals that offer services to victims of violent crime while they are recovering from their injuries, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Kinzinger’s office.

The bill is modeled on the Violence Intervention Program at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, where program participants have shown an 83 percent decrease in re-hospitalization due to intentional violent injury, a 75 percent reduction in criminal activity, and an 82 percent increase in employment, according to the congressman’s staff.

The bill would require the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to select such programs from across the country to receive federal grants ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 to expand services or study effectiveness, according to the bill summary. At the end of a three-year pilot, each hospital would be required to report its findings to the federal government.