HHS Secretary Alex Azar voiced support for CDC gun violence research while speaking to the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Thursday, according to a Politico report.
Mr. Azar addressed the 1996 Dickey Amendment, which stipulates the CDC may not use funding to advocate or promote gun control.
"My understanding is that the rider does not in any way impede our ability to conduct our research mission," he said, according to the report. "We're in the science business and the evidence-generating business, and so I will have our agency certainly working in this field, as they do across the broad spectrum of disease control and prevention."
Attempts at reversing the amendment have been unsuccessful, which has restricted gun violence research. During his remarks, Mr. Azar referenced Wednesday's shooting tragedy at a Florida high school that left 17 dead and others injured. He said his agency would be proactive on gun violence research.
"We believe we've got a very important mission with our work with serious mental illness as well as our ability to do research on the causes of violence and the causes behind tragedies like this," he said, according to the report. "So that is a priority for us."
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