[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 72 (Friday, June 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1054]]
           REGARDING CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON SCHOOL VIOLENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. HAROLD E. FORD, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 5, 1998

  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, today, I will introduce a sense of the 
Congress resolution in the House calling on the President to use the 
imposing power of his office to make the issue of school violence a top 
priority in the United States.
  In the last year alone, at least a dozen students and teachers have 
been killed, and many more wounded, by young people who have come to 
school with guns rather than books. And until recently, few if any 
Americans, ever could have imagined or expected that such shootings 
would become common place. The incidents in the last year demonstrate 
that school violence is not an isolated problem--confined only to poor 
schools or forgotten neighborhoods. In fact these communities have 
struggled with this problem for years. It is a problem that is plaguing 
urban, rural and suburban communities alike. It is an American problem.
  Nor is this a manufactured crisis as some have claimed. According to 
the National School Safety Center, the number of persons who have died 
in school violence incidents has increased 30% over last year. As a 
public policy maker, I wish that new laws and regulations alone could 
bring an end to these tragedies. Rather the solution, like the problem 
runs much deeper.
  My resolution simply calls upon the President to use his bully pulpit 
to bring together those who can make a difference on this issue. First, 
it urges the President to initiate a series of town meetings with 
school superintendents, principals, students and parents to explore 
solutions to the problem. Second, I am asking the President to call 
upon States and local communities to improve communication between law 
enforcement officials and students, parents, and teachers by 
establishing violence prevention hotlines to inform law enforcement 
officials when threats of violence are made at schools.
  A phone call from one student who heard Kip Kinkel's threats may have 
saved lives. The same is true for every other fatal shooting that has 
occurred over the past year. If a school violence hotline saves one 
life, then these hotlines will be worth the time, effort and expense. 
Currently the resolution has 6 original cosponsors. I am also pleased 
that the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the largest 
union in the AFL-CIO has endorsed this resolution and I look forward to 
working with other national school advocacy organizations on this 
issue.
  The President has eloquently expressed his sympathy and concern over 
the recent shootings in Springfield, Oregon, and I believe his 
leadership on this issue would serve to galvanize communities to 
establish this and other effective violence prevention programs in our 
nation's schools.

                          ____________________