[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 34 (Monday, February 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S1206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            School Violence

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today marks nearly 2 weeks since the murder 
of 17 students and staff in Parkland, FL. May today also mark the 
moment that we resolved to do something about school violence. May it 
mark the moment that left and right determined to lay aside their 
differences and work together to prevent future tragedies.
  To keep our children safe from harm, there is no panacea, no one 
legislative solution, and it disheartens me when I hear talk about what 
can't be done. It is time to focus on what can be done.
  Fortunately, solutions on the State level--including in my home State 
of Utah--can help show us the way forward. Working in the realm of the 
possible, Utah State legislators have come together to forge bipartisan 
solutions to stop school violence. When I was in Salt Lake last week, I 
learned firsthand about the Safe Utah smartphone app. The Safe Utah 
crisis text and tip line is a statewide service that provides real-time 
crisis intervention to use through texting and a confidential tip 
program. Licensed clinicians from the University Neuropsychiatric 
Institute at the University of Utah Health respond to all incoming 
chats, texts, and calls 24/7 by providing supporting or crisis 
counseling, suicide prevention, and referral services.
  The Safe Utah Program--developed with funding from the Utah State 
Legislature in collaboration with the University Neuropsychiatric 
Institute, the Utah State Office of Education, the Utah Office of the 
Attorney General, and the Utah Anti-Bullying Coalition--is a testament 
to what can be done when mental health, education, and law enforcement 
agencies work together to prevent student violence.
  Not only is the app innovative, it works. Since the app was unveiled 
in 2016, 86 planned school attacks have been stopped. Think about that, 
86 school attacks stopped in a relatively small State. That number 
translates to dozens of lives saved and hundreds of heartbreaks spared. 
For thousands of families across the State, this simple app made a 
world of difference. Imagine the potential if these kinds of 
technologies were available to students across the country. We could 
quickly get help for those who need it and, in the process, save 
countless lives.
  That is why, later this week, I will introduce the Students, 
Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act, or the STOP 
School Violence Act. My bill makes Department of Justice grants 
available to States to fund programs designed to reduce school 
violence.
  To that end, the STOP School Violence Act will fund four initiatives. 
First, it will provide grant funding for evidence-based training to 
prevent student violence against others and self, including training 
for local law enforcement officers, school personnel, and students. 
This is not just active shooter training but training designed to give 
students and teachers the knowledge to recognize and properly respond 
to warning signals or signals to stop school violence before it occurs.
  Second, the bill will fund evidence-based technology and equipment to 
improve security and prevent school violence. This includes the 
development and operation of anonymous reporting systems like the Safe 
Utah app, as well as improvements to school security infrastructure to 
deter and respond to threats of school violence, and, when prevention 
efforts fall short--as they unfortunately will in some cases--locks on 
classroom doors, reinforced entryways, and other commonsense security 
infrastructure improvements will help.
  Third, the bill will provide funding for the development and 
operation of evidence-based school threat assessment and crisis 
intervention teams, which may include evidence-based training for 
school officials in responding to mental health crises. Again, school 
personnel need the tools to assess and respond to threats before they 
materialize, including those threats that originate from individuals 
struggling with mental health issues.
  Finally, the bill will provide funding for continued coordination 
with local law enforcement. Law enforcement alone cannot prevent school 
violence--just as no amount of prevention training, security 
infrastructure improvements, or mental health resources would be able 
to singularly prevent tragedies like that in Parkland, but law 
enforcement, and in particular those officers who already staff 
schools, have an important role to play in any comprehensive solution 
to prevent school violence.
  Now, some of you may point out something my bill will not address, 
and that is guns. On this issue, many reforms have been proposed over 
the last 12 days--some old and some new. I believe we can find common 
ground here, too, such as that outlined in the bipartisan Fix NICS Act, 
which ensures that our background check system is operating as 
designed.
  A background check is only as good as the records in the database. 
The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System is 
currently incomplete because many Federal agencies and States have not 
provided all records that establish someone as prohibited from owning a 
firearm under current law, especially those related to mental health 
adjudications and involuntary commitment orders.
  The bipartisan Fix NICS Act will ensure more of those records make it 
into the database by holding Federal agencies accountable for uploading 
relevant records and incentivizing States to upload all relevant 
information. Including these missing records will help ensure more 
accurate and complete background checks, thereby keeping dangerous 
weapons out of the hands of felons, fugitives, drug addicts, persons 
with serious mental illness, and other prohibited persons.
  I will be the first to admit there is no single, perfect solution--
not the STOP School Violence Act and not the Fix NICS Act, but both of 
these bills can help save lives. Remember the 86 planned school attacks 
since the Save Utah app was unveiled and remember the 26 lives that 
might have been spared if the domestic violence offense of the shooter 
in Sutherland Springs, TX, had been properly entered into the FBI 
background check database.
  Now is not the time for argument but for action. Rather than letting 
the perfect be the enemy of the good, I implore my friends on both 
sides of the aisle to come together for the safety of our children. 
Rather than resorting to recycled talking points, I ask my colleagues 
to heed Minority Leader Schumer's call to ``pass real legislation that 
makes a difference.'' Rather than retreating to our partisan foxholes, 
I call on Republicans and Democrats alike to surrender their rhetorical 
weapons. For the good of the Nation, and the good of our children, all 
of us must look beyond the horizon of our political differences to find 
common ground.
  Is this legislation enough to solve the problem of school violence? 
No. Quite frankly, it is not enough, but it is a start, and it is a 
start upon which we can all agree. We will not solve the problem of 
school violence overnight, but with incremental efforts--such as the 
legislation I have proposed--we can make a lasting difference and even 
save thousands of lives.
  So let's not delay any further. We owe it to our children, and to all 
of those affected by gun violence, to take decisive action in those 
areas where we do agree. This is important stuff. We can't just throw 
in the sponge and act like we have this problem solved when we still 
have work to do. So I hope we will take heed to what I have just 
suggested--I think it can be very helpful to us--and we follow the 
suggestions I have made here today.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.