[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 25, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           INTRODUCTION OF SCHOOL SAFETY HOTLINE ACT OF 1999

  (Mr. TANCREDO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today not to talk about the 
horrible tragedies of the Columbine shootings, though they linger in 
all of our minds. Rather I would like to speak of the good that has 
come from the ashes of this horrid event.
  All around my home community of Littleton, Colorado, we have seen a 
spirit of coming together. In Littleton our churches have been crowded 
to the walls with those turning to their faith for answers. Across my 
district, people of all colors, classes and backgrounds have embraced 
in the comfort of a mutual loss.
  Unfortunately, many children still do not feel safe to go to school. 
As the school year ends, attendance rates across the district are still 
horribly low. Students and parents feel helpless in controlling the 
safety of their learning environment.
  In Denver, on Friday, we announced another coming together. We 
brought together leaders from business, State and local governments 
into a partnership to create the School Safety Hotline, an anonymous 
hotline for students, parents and teachers to report violent or 
threatening behavior to authorities.
  It is my sincere hope that this initiative will give our students a 
sense they can control the safety of their environment by calling in to 
report threatening behavior. For that reason, I would like to offer the 
School Safety Hotline Act of 1999.
  This bill will allow state and local agencies all across the country 
to apply for federal grants to help create and maintain public-private 
partnership hotlines similar to ours in Colorado. Furthermore, Mr. 
Speaker, I would like to encourage all of my colleagues from both sides 
of the aisle to support this modest, but important, legislation. I ask 
my colleagues to use this legislation as the first step to reach out to 
your own community and business leaders, so that we may give back to 
our young students the feeling that they can do something to ensure a 
safe and healthy learning environment.

                          ____________________