[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 20, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                E X T E N S I O N   O F   R E M A R K S


                            GUN-FREE SCHOOLS

                                 ______


                           HON. KARAN ENGLISH

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 20, 1994

  Ms. ENGLISH of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out 
against a serious problem for our Nation's children: violence in 
school. Our students and teachers are routinely being threatened by gun 
violence. These attacks obviously put our children in harm's way and 
ruin their ability to concentrate on what they are suppose to be 
learning in the classroom.
  Many of us have been reading our local newspaper's headlines 
reporting the increasing number of violent incidents in school. 
Students that used to be discipline problems are now turning into 
criminal problems since more and more fights are being settled by a 
loaded gun.
  In Arizona, gun violence in schools has become much more frequent. A 
recent Phoenix Gazette article highlighted the wave of violence and use 
of guns in our schools. In the 1993-1994 school year, the Phoenix 
School District had 24 guns confiscated in the high school. In Mesa, 21 
students were expelled for carrying weapons to school. Already this 
school year, a student in Red Mountain High School held a loaded gun to 
his head and threatened another student in the school's hallway. A 
drive-by shooting at the Mesa High School and double suicide of two 14-
year-old girls with a gun brought to Apache Junction High School has 
scared students, teachers, and parents. These horrifying incidents 
reflect the problem nationally.
  A Centers for Disease Control report found that every day 1 in 20 
high school students carries a gun to school.
  Sixteen percent of high school seniors say they have been threatened 
with a weapon at school.
  The American Medical Association reports the leading cause of death 
for both black and white teenage boys is gunshot wounds.
  Every school day 40 children are either killed or injured by 
firearms.
  Only 29 percent of parents believe that most children are safe from 
violence in schools according to a Joyce Foundation report.
  There is a clear need for short-term and long-term solutions to 
violence in school. As a member of the Education and Labor Committee, I 
helped adopt legislation which will take a long-term approach in 
dealing with school violence. I have also been advocating for a strict, 
short-term response in dealing with guns in school. I voted for a gun-
free school amendment in the debate on the reauthorization of the 
elementary and secondary education bill, H.R. 6. This amendment would 
require schools to adopt a policy where students would be expelled for 
a year if they brought a gun onto school property. As a member of the 
House-Senate conference committee on the elementary and secondary 
education reauthorization [ESEA], I will be fighting to keep the gun-
free school amendment in the conference report.
  This amendment incorporates flexibility for local school districts by 
allowing school superintendents to make an exception on a case-by-case 
basis. The gun-free school amendment also would allow for placement of 
an expelled student in an alternate education setting and would give 
States with less restrictive policies a 1 year grace period.
  Students, teachers, and parents whom I have been meeting with have 
asked me to support tough penalties such as the gun-free school 
amendment. Students do not want to question whether their fellow 
classmate may be sitting next to them with a loaded gun. Most 
certainly, parents do not want to have to wonder whether their children 
may be gunned down in the classroom. Teachers and school administrators 
have enough to deal with now that they do not want to fear for their 
safety and that of their students.
  In Congress, we have responded through various legislative 
initiatives to reduce the problem of school violence. I have helped 
enact the Safe School Act which will provide Federal assistance for 
schools to develop model programs promoting school safety. We passed 
GOALS 2000 legislation that will provide Federal resources to try to 
achieve the goal that every school will be free of drugs and violence 
and offer an environment conducive to learning by the year 2000. As 
part of the crime bill, Congress passed the youth handgun ban outlawing 
the possession or sale of a handgun to a person under the age of 18. 
Finally, I am working to include the gun-free school amendment in the 
conference report on ESEA.
  I recognize that there are no easy answers for curbing violence in 
school. We need to take steps that will help reduce the level of 
violence in school. I have been working with our local communities to 
find out what types of programs and policies the schools have initiated 
to deal with this problem. Many schools have developed policies for 
student conduct including those similar to the gun-free school 
amendment. They also have initiated conflict resolution, peer mediation 
and other prevention programs. But, many schools have too few 
resources. They are spending their education budget to pay for security 
guards to patrol the hallways and metal detectors to greet our children 
at their schools' entrances.
  In order to reduce school violence, it will take a concerted effort 
involving students, parents, teachers, school administrators, law 
enforcement officials and the entire community to stem the tide of 
violence in school. Schools have been developing effective programs in 
combating school violence. Their efforts need to be supported at the 
Federal level so local school districts will have the resources to 
continue working to curb school violence.

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