[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S3295]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONOR VICTIMS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE BY ENACTING THE SAFE SCHOOL SECURITY 
                                  ACT

 Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to state that today 
marks the first anniversary since the tragic school shooting in 
Jonesboro, Arkansas. We all remember hearing about the gun shots fired 
by two young boys hiding in the woods--shots that led to the tragic 
death of four of their classmates and a Jonesboro teacher. March 24th 
will forever be ingrained in our memories as the day our children's 
safety at school was threatened in a way we could hardly imagine.
  One of the bills I introduced recently was aimed at keeping our kids 
in school. But solving the truancy problem is only one of the issues we 
must work together to tackle. Not only do we need to keep our kids in 
school, we need to keep our kids in school safe! The Safe School 
Security Act I introduced last week is intended to do just that.
  Children should not have to fear for their safety while attending our 
public schools. At a time when violent crime in the nation is 
decreasing, ten percent of our public schools reported at least one 
serious violent crime during the 1996-97 school year. Because of this 
level of violence, 29 percent of elementary, 34 percent of junior high 
and 20 percent of high school students fear that they will be a victim 
of crime while at school. The school yard fist fight is no longer a 
child's worst fear: 71 percent of children ages 7 to 10 say they worry 
about being shot or stabbed. In fact, 13.2% of high school seniors 
reported being threatened by a weapon between 1995 and 1996. We all 
know that a violent environment is not a good learning environment.
  Educators and law enforcement know that technology is the key to 
preventing and reducing crime in our schools. Most of us understand the 
importance of protecting our assets, yet we have neglected to protect 
our biggest investment of all: our school children. The Safe School 
Security Act would establish the School Security Technology Center at 
Sandia National Laboratory and provide grant money for local school 
districts to access the technology developed and tested by the lab. 
Because Sandia is one of our nation's premier labs when it comes to 
providing physical security for our nation's most important assets, it 
is fitting that Sandia would be chosen to provide security to our 
school districts throughout our nation.
  Increased school security not only reduces violent crime, it reduces 
truancy and property crime. The latest technology was recently tested 
in a pilot project involving Sandia Labs and Belen High School in 
Belen, New Mexico and the results were astounding. After two years, 
Belen High School experienced a 75 percent reduction in school 
violence, a 30 percent reduction in truancy, an 80 percent reduction in 
vehicle break-ins and a 75 percent reduction in vandalism. More 
important, Belen realized a 100% reduction in the presence of 
unauthorized people on the school grounds. Also, Belen saw insurance 
claims due to theft or vandalism at the high school drop from $50,000 
to $5,000 after the pilot project went into effect. Clearly, the cost 
of making our schools safer and more secure is a good investment for 
our nation.
  The School Security Technology Center will partner with the Law 
Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center in Georgia to facilitate 
the transfer of available security technology to schools that could 
benefit the most from such technology. The School Security Technology 
Center will also provide security assessments for schools so they do 
not spend limited school resources on security tools that do not work. 
This bill will authorize $10,000,000 for schools to access the 
technical assistance from Sandia and to purchase security tools that 
fit their needs.
  This one year anniversary of the horrible tragedy in Jonesboro should 
make it clear to everyone that it is time to focus on making our kids 
feel safe in school and ultimately putting kids first.

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