[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 10, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SUPPORT THE SAFE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, 
unfortunately, violence has struck our schools again. Unfortunately, 
this has been an increasing trend. In the past several years, we have 
seen countless incidents across the Nation.
  School violence is not limited to urban areas. Acts of bullying and 
other violent crimes occur in schools across the Nation on a daily 
basis. We must do something to stop this growing trend.
  Our current reporting system on school violence is severely flawed. 
Under current law, school violence stats are collected through surveys 
and self-reported data. This data is not the most current data 
available and does not provide an accurate view of the situation.
  The FBI has developed a system of reporting that is both 
comprehensive and up to date. This system is referred to as the NI-BERS 
System. It collects the data, details of crime incidents, and is a much 
greater tool to prevent school violence. Accurate data is valuable to 
addressing this issue. It allows our school administrators to see the 
true impact of school safety programs and it provides the basis for 
need-based school funding.
  In response to these issues, I have introduced the Safe Schools 
Against Violence in Education Act. My bill, referred to as the SAFE 
Act, moves reporting data from surveys to real crime stats in the NI-
BERS System. This move will allow schools to accurately address school 
safety issues.
  It will also ensure that funding is allotted to the schools that need 
it the most. Our schools do not have the resources that they need to 
combat school violence. President Bush has constantly cut funding for 
the Safe and Drug Free Schools Program. These cuts have left our 
already-overburdened schools without the money needed to stop school 
violence.
  The SAFE Act will restore funding for our schools through a need-
based grant program. Schools that do not have a safe climate will 
receive grants from the Department of Education. That money will be 
used to update school safety programs to curb the needless acts of 
violence and make our schools safer for our children. If we are serious 
about school safety, we must not only implement new reporting measures 
but must fully fund our schools.
  The SAFE Act is endorsed by the National Parent and Teachers 
Association, the American Federation of Teachers and the National 
School Safety and Security Services.
  Congress has sat and watched as schools across the country have 
attempted to deal with school violence with insufficient data and 
little to no funding. We tried to correct this in Leave No Child 
Behind. So as we reauthorize Leave No Child Behind this year, I am 
hoping we will be able to implement a better program. We have an 
opportunity to change the way we handle school violence in this country 
and truly make our schools safe.
  We see and hear every day about the violence, when our children are 
in school and do not feel safe, and I have talked to so many teenagers 
and middle school students that say that many times they do not feel 
safe in school. We can do something, but we need a better way of 
reporting it.

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