[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 26, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S1196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SCHOOL SAFETY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. Presdient, since my last statement on the need for 
prompt congressional action to address incidents involving threatening 
conduct and, too often, deadly acts of violence at our schools and 
college campuses nationwide, the violent incidents have continued, with 
tragic results.
  In the week between February 8 and February 15, there were at least 
four incidents at schools and universities resulting in death or 
serious injury to victims of all ages.
  On February 8, a female student killed two other students, and then 
herself, inside a classroom on the campus of Louisiana Technical 
College in Baton Rouge. Three days later, a student at Mitchell High 
School in Memphis, TN, was left in critical condition after a violent 
incident in the school's cafeteria. The day after that, a 15-year-old 
boy at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, CA, was critically wounded by 
a classmate. He was later declared brain dead.
  Then, on February 14, tragedy struck at Northern Illinois University. 
A former student opened fire in a geology class, killing 5 students and 
wounding 16, before killing himself. As hundreds of mourners remembered 
one of the Northern Illinois University victims at a funeral service on 
February 19, more than 1,000 Virginia Tech students gathered in 
solidarity for a candlelight vigil in Blacksburg, VA.
  It has been over 10 months since the horrific incident at Virginia 
Tech resulted in the tragic deaths of 32 students and faculty members, 
and serious injuries to many other innocent victims. During that time, 
we have seen a barrage of new incidents at our schools and college 
campuses nationwide.
  The Judiciary Committee reported out the School Safety and Law 
Enforcement Improvement Act of 2007, S. 2084, more than 6 months ago to 
address these incidents. Regrettably, the Senate has failed to take up 
and pass that bill to improve school safety. This comprehensive 
legislation should be considered and passed without further delay.
  In originating the bill more than 6 months ago, the Judiciary 
Committee showed deference to Governor Tim Kaine and the task forces at 
work in Virginia, and sought to complement their work and 
recommendations. Working with several Senators, including Senators 
Boxer, Reed, Specter, Feingold, Schumer, and Durbin, the committee 
originated this bill and reported it at the start of the 2007 academic 
year. My hope was that Congress would adopt these critical school 
safety improvements last fall.
  The recent incidents at E.O. Green Junior High, Mitchell High School, 
LA, Technical College and Northern Illinois University are just a few 
of the tragic events that have claimed the lives or resulted in serious 
injuries to students in the past few months. Since this bill was 
reported out of the Judiciary Committee, we have seen tragic deaths at 
Delaware State University and the University of Memphis, and grievous 
injuries sustained by students and teachers at SuccessTech Academy in 
Cleveland, OH. We have also seen numerous lockdowns nationwide as a 
result of threatening conduct in our schools, including recent 
lockdowns at Fern Creek High School in Louisville, KY, and St. Peter's 
College in Jersey City, NJ.
  The School Safety and Law Enforcement Improvement Act would address 
the problem of violence in our schools in several ways. The bill 
authorizes Federal assistance for programs to improve the safety and 
security of our schools and institutions of higher education, provides 
equitable benefits to law enforcement serving those institutions 
including bulletproof vests, and funds pilot programs to develop 
cutting-edge prevention and intervention programs for our schools. The 
bill also clarifies and strengthens two existing statutes--the 
Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act and the Law Enforcement Officers Safety 
Act--which are designed to improve public safety.
  Specifically, the bill would improve the safety and security of 
students both at the elementary and secondary school level and on 
college and university campuses. The K-12 improvements are drawn from a 
bill that Senator Boxer introduced last April, and I want to thank 
Senator Boxer for her hard work on this issue. The improvements include 
increased funding for much-needed infrastructure changes to improve 
security as well as the establishment of hotlines and tip-lines, which 
will enable students to report potentially dangerous situations to 
school administrators before they occur.
  To address the new realities of campus safety in the wake of Virginia 
Tech and more recent college incidents, the bill also creates a 
matching grant program for campus safety and security to be 
administered out of the COPS Office of the Department of Justice. The 
grant program would allow institutions of higher education to apply, 
for the first time, directly for Federal funds to make school safety 
and security improvements. The program is authorized to be appropriated 
at $50,000,000 for the next 2 fiscal years. While this amounts to just 
three dollars per student each year, it will enable schools to more 
effectively respond to dangerous situations on campus.
  The bill would also make sworn law enforcement officers who work for 
private institutions of higher education and rail carriers eligible for 
death and disability benefits, and for funds administered under the 
Byrne grant program and the bulletproof vest partnership grant program. 
Providing this equitable treatment is in the best interest of our 
Nation's educators and students, and will serve to place the support of 
the Federal Government behind the dedicated law enforcement officers 
who serve and protect private colleges and universities nationwide. I 
commend Senator Jack Reed for his leadership in this area.
  The bill helps law enforcement by making improvements to the Law 
Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2003, LEOSA. These amendments to 
existing law will streamline the system by which qualified retired and 
active officers can be certified under LEOSA. It serves us all when we 
permit qualified officers, with a demonstrated commitment to law 
enforcement and no adverse employment history, to protect themselves, 
their families, and their fellow citizens wherever those officers may 
be.
  The bill focuses on prevention as well, by incorporating the 
PRECAUTION Act at the request of Senators Feingold and Specter. This 
provision authorizes grants to develop prevention and intervention 
programs for our schools.
  Finally, the bill incorporates the Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 
2007, at the request of Senator Kennedy.
  The Senate should move forward and act. The Virginia Tech Review 
Panel--a body commissioned by Governor Kaine to study the Virginia Tech 
tragedy--has already issued its findings based on a 4-month long 
investigation of the incident and its aftermath. This bill would adopt 
a number of recommendations from the review panel aimed at improving 
school safety. We must not miss this opportunity to implement these 
initiatives nationwide, and to take concrete steps to ensure the safety 
of our kids. I hope the Senate will promptly move forward to invest in 
the safety of our students and better support law enforcement officers 
across the country by considering and passing the School Safety and Law 
Enforcement Improvement Act of 2007.




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