In 1996, the Macarena was the number one song in the country, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls set a record for the most wins in a season, President Clinton was running for re-election, and our federal government studied a specific public health crisis that kills thousands of people a year for the last time.

That crisis is, not was, gun violence.

That changed this week after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.4 trillion budget agreement with $25 million earmarked, $12.5 million going to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and $12.5 million going to the National Institutes of Health, to study gun violence.

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That’s $25 million more than was dedicated to this problem last year and for the past 23 years.

With the Senate having passed this budget and the White House has signed it, we must call this what it is: a direct result of last year’s elections.

Gun violence has been growing as a top issue for Americans. That culminated in 2018 as advocates and candidates called for meaningful action to end gun violence and for bipartisan, common-sense reforms, backing that up by showing up to the polls.

Candidates are not winning in spite of their positions on gun violence prevention; they are winning because of these positions.

We elected a gun-safety majority to the U.S. House of Representatives, and that is why preventing gun violence was a priority right out of the gate, with bipartisan bills H.R.8 and H.R.1112 to strengthen and expand background checks sent to the Senate in the first 100 days.

Now, the federal government will fund research by the CDC and NIH into gun violence.

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This is why elections matter. Voters demanded action. And, this funding is another step towards the solutions they want.

It’s no secret why voters demanded action to examine and address gaps in our nation’s gun laws. When approximately 100 people are killed by guns in the United States every day, we know this is a public health crisis. It demands to be studied.

Federal research into these questions will build upon and connect the superlative private funding that has filled this gap over the past 23 years. Adding to this body of work will help to establish baselines for further study and link researchers across the country to help find connections and, ultimately, comprehensive solutions. This is the first step towards creating an evidence-based approach to solving America’s gun violence epidemic.

This funding will turn on a spigot to research issues like how storing firearms affects incidents of family fire, how firearms licensing restrictions contribute to or prevent issues of domestic violence, or how practical gun safety education classes are in mitigating accidental shootings.

For example, death by suicide accounts for over 60 percent of gun deaths in the United States. Researching this evident and pressing problem will help to find patterns, solutions, and policies that can save lives.

This funding and the new information we will gain from it were obstructed due to an NRA-backed provision in the 1996 omnibus spending bill, known as the “Dickey Amendment.” The rule forbids the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from allocating appropriated funds to “advocate or promote gun control.”

For 23 years, this meant that the CDC and other government research agencies did not study gun violence.

Here again, we see that elections have consequences.

Last year, the gun safety majority in the House of Representatives clarified that this amendment, which remains federal law, did not prohibit research into gun violence, clearing the way for the funding passed today.

This is the progress that voters are looking for and are looking to build on. When Congress breaks for recess, these members can tell their constituents that they are making progress on issues that matter.

And, those that can’t think about how those constituents can hold them accountable next year.

In 2020, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, 35 seats in the U.S. Senate, 11 governor’s mansions, and over 40 state legislatures will be on the ballot.

Imagine the difference it would make to our laws and, yes, to our federal funding if every single one of were a pro-gun safety candidate.

We’ve seen today the difference that demanding that elected officials champion public safety makes.

Thankfully, in our democracy, we’ll have the opportunity to make that demand again.

Christian Heyne is a survivor, activist, and the vice president of policy at Brady, where he leads all legislative efforts at the federal and state level and works to ensure survivor voices are genuinely heard and reflected in each stage of this work.