[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 95 (Tuesday, July 8, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S7021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SAFER SCHOOLS ACT OF 1997

 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my 
colleagues to support legislation introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan 
and myself--the Safer Schools Act of 1997--which will ensure that 
students who bring guns to school can be suspended.
  This legislation was originally introduced late last session in 
reaction to a startling ruling by an appellate court in New York that 
said a student should not have been suspended from school because the 
weapon he was carrying was uncovered during a search without a warrant.
  We have reached a crisis in this country--a crisis which makes it 
difficult for parents to see their children off to school in the 
morning, for fear they will never see them again.
  Each day in America, it is estimated that 100,000 guns are brought 
into American schools. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 2 
in 25 high school students, or 7.9 percent, report having carried a gun 
in the last 30 days. In Los Angeles, according to an ACLU survey 
conducted earlier this year, 49 percent of high school students said 
they have seen a weapon in school, many of them guns.
  In response to these types of alarming figures, Senator Dorgan and I 
introduced the Gun Free Schools Act in 1994 to set a zero-tolerance 
policy to keep America's schools gun-free. The goal of this legislation 
was to remove firearms from all public schools in the United States.
  Although we still have a way to go to make all schools gun-free, this 
zero-tolerance policy is working to make our schools safer. A 
preliminary report recently released from the U.S. Department of 
Education provides irrefutable proof that this law is well on its way 
toward meeting this important goal. I am told that a full report on all 
the States will be due out sometime later this summer.
  The Gun Free Schools Act has been responsible for the expulsions of 
more than 6,276 students in 29 States caught during the 1995-96 school 
year for trying to carry guns to school. This means there were 6,276 
fewer opportunities for a child to be killed or injured by gunfire at 
school in the United States. According to the California Department of 
Education, there were 1,039 firearms-related expulsions in public 
schools in California during this same period. The entire State of 
California has 1,043 school districts. Amazingly, this translates into 
an average of one expulsion for every district in my State.
  Today, each and every one of the 50 States and the District of 
Columbia have complied with the Gun Free Schools Act by passing laws 
requiring schools to expel--for at least 1 year --students who are 
caught carrying a gun.
  But the ruling of an appellate court in New York threatens to 
undermine the progress we have made in setting a zero-tolerance policy 
for guns in schools.
  The appellate court in this particular case applied the same 
evidentiary standards that apply to criminal proceedings in what was a 
school disciplinary action. The school, however, refused to lift the 
student's suspension and as a result, their action was upheld by the 
State Court of Appeals.
  Mr. President, I believe that common sense was cast aside with the 
appellate court ruling. Incredibly, what the appellate court's decision 
said was that this student should not have been expelled from school 
and that his record should be expunged from any wrongdoing in the case.
  Our legislation states very clearly that the exclusionary rule should 
not be applied in school disciplinary proceedings. What the legislation 
says is that you cannot exclude a gun as evidence in a disciplinary 
action in school.
  This common-sense legislation does not violate the constitutional 
rights of children. This bill does not exonerate school officials who 
conduct unreasonable or unlawful searches and persons who have been 
aggrieved will have every right to pursue judicial or statutory 
remedies available.
  The Safer Schools Act of 1997 will prevent kids who do bring a gun to 
school from slipping through a school's reasonable disciplinary 
process.
  Fortunately, last September's court ruling that a gun can be excluded 
from use as evidence in an internal school disciplinary proceeding was 
ultimately reversed. But a similar ruling could be made in another 
State.
  This legislation would send a clear signal that guns have no place in 
the hands of our children or in the hallways and classrooms of their 
schools. All children should be able to go to school without fearing 
for their safety.
  This legislation also would say to school administrators throughout 
the Nation that it is perfectly legitimate to conduct a disciplinary 
proceeding in cases where a student has brought a gun to school. The 
schools can conduct a fair and reasonable proceeding that allows them 
to ensure the safety of their school grounds.
  The bottom line is that the Gun Free Schools Act has helped reduce 
the threat of guns from our Nation's schools. With the Safer Schools 
Act of 1997, we give school officials and teachers much needed 
flexibility to ensure that America's schools are safe havens so that 
children can escape the violence that engulfs so many of their lives.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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