House Passes Horsford's Break the Cycle of Violence Act

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4118, the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, by a vote of 220-207. Congressman Steven Horsford introduced the legislation in June 2021. Today's action comes after portions of the legislation were included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed in June.

"We need to focus on preventing crime before it ever starts. And that is exactly what my Break the Cycle of Violence Act will do," said Congressman Horsford on the House floor. "My bill invests $5 billion in anti-violence programs and $1.5 billion to provide workforce training and job opportunities for opportunity youth ages 16-24. This money invests in proven, community-based violence intervention programs to build safer communities. This is about saving lives and preventing crime – and our constituents are counting on us to get this done."

The Break the Cycle of Violence Act would provide federal grants to communities for evidence-informed community violence intervention and prevention programs designed to interrupt cycles of violence.

Research has shown that a combination of community-oriented intervention programs and commonsense violence prevention policies can cut gun violence rates in urban cities in half in as little as two years. In our nation's urban centers, homicide rates are nearly 20 times the national average, which has a disproportionate impact on young people of color. In fact, Black men and boys, who make up just 6 percent of the U.S. population, account for 63 percent of all homicide victims. This violence disproportionately impacts young people of color. From 2015 to 2019, Black children and teens were 14 times as likely to be shot to death as their White peers. Hispanic children and teens and Native American children and teens were both about 3 times as likely to be shot to death as their White peers. Over this period, 72 percent of children murdered before their 18th birthday were people of color, and 50 percent were Black.

While the human cost of gun violence is agonizing, the economic costs for communities and taxpayers is similarly staggering. Gun violence costs the United States $280 billion every year—with each American bearing $700 of this cost annually. A single gun homicide costs taxpayer $448,000 in medical and criminal justice expenses. The Break the Cycle of Violence Act would be an effective solution to saving both lives and taxpayer dollars.

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