CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The pain of families who lost loved ones to violent crime was front and center Monday as Congress held a field hearing at the federal courthouse in uptown Charlotte.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight convened the hearing, titled “Victims of Violent Crime,” to examine repeat offenders, lenient bail policies, and whether the criminal justice system is failing victims.

The session came just weeks after 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, was stabbed to death on Charlotte’s Blue Line light rail. Zarutska fled a war-torn country only to be killed in her new community. It's a tragedy that lawmakers repeatedly referenced during testimony.

U.S. Rep. Tim Moore, a North Carolina Republican, called Zarutska’s death a preventable failure.

“Absolutely trag

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