[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 38 (Monday, March 5, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1340-S1341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Rubio, Mr. 
        Blumenthal, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Grassley, Mr. 
        Nelson, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Heller, Ms. Heitkamp, Mr. 
        Cassidy, Ms. Baldwin, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Brown, Ms. Murkowski, 
        Mr. Udall, Mrs. Ernst, Mr. Jones, Ms. Collins, Mr. King, Mr. 
        Young, Ms. Smith, Mr. Daines, and Mr. Peters):
  S. 2495. A bill to reauthorize the grant program for school security 
in the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, 1 week ago today I stood here and urged my 
colleagues on both the left and the right to lay aside their 
differences and work together to prevent future tragedies like that in 
Parkland, FL.
  It has been nearly 3 weeks since the murder of 17 students and staff 
at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. While time will continue to 
march on, our resolve to do something about school violence must grow 
only stronger.
  Over the past 3 weeks my colleagues have put forth a number of 
legislative proposals. Some are recycled versions of earlier proposals, 
while others propose creative new ideas. Some enjoy broad bipartisan 
support, while others have not been widely embraced. We have seen much 
discussion and debate but little legislative progress. To break the 
impasse, we must unite on the issues where we agree.
  Let today be the day that we come together to take a meaningful step 
toward legislation that has the potential to prevent school gun 
violence, save lives, and restore the sense of peace and security that 
all children should enjoy when they walk through the doors of their 
respective schools.
  Today I come together with my partners on both sides of the aisle to 
introduce the Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School 
Violence Act, or STOP School Violence Act. As I outlined on the Senate 
floor last week, the bill will make Department of Justice grants 
available to fund four initiatives. Last week I outlined those four 
initiatives, and today I would like to describe them in even greater 
detail.
  First, the bill will provide grants to be used for evidence-based 
training to prevent student violence against others and self, including 
training for local law enforcement officers, school personnel, and 
students.
  One kind of training this bill would fund could prevent many 
incidents of school violence. Over the last 25 years, research has 
revealed that in 7 out of 10 acts of gun violence, a friend or someone 
else was told that an act of violence would be committed before it 
happened. In one study, it was reported that in four out of five school 
shootings, the attacker had told people of his plans ahead of time.
  We must ensure that everyone in the school ecosystem is educated to 
recognize the signs of a potential threat and likewise--students, 
teachers, and administrators--take action and follow up when they see 
warning signs. By building a culture in which students and teachers 
understand the importance of reporting possible threats of violence, 
this bill will save lives and help keep our communities safe.
  Second, the bill will fund evidence-based technology and equipment to 
improve school security and prevent school violence.
  After the shooting at Columbine High School nearly 19 years ago, I 
authored legislation that made Department of Justice grant funds 
available for metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent 
measures. The Secure Our Schools Program, which ran from 2002 through 
2011, was the only Federal school safety program that exclusively 
provided direct funding for the purchase and implementation of security 
technologies to improve school safety. The legislation I am introducing 
today will reauthorize and build on that program to provide funding for 
proven school security infrastructure improvements consistent with 
schools' individualized needs and industry best practices. While we 
certainly don't need to turn our schools into fortresses, we must do 
more to protect our children from harm.
  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. These 
multidisciplinary teams--based on existing staff of school personnel, 
administrators, law enforcement, and mental health professionals--can 
implement proven, evidence-based approaches like the Virginia Student 
Threat Assessment Guidelines. These guidelines, which have been 
documented to be effective in field tests and controlled studies, 
provide schools with a safe, structured, and efficient way to respond 
to student threats of violence. Used at thousands of schools across the 
country, these are the types of proactive, preventive solutions that 
should be available for all schools.
  Fourth, the bill will authorize funding for continued coordination 
with local law enforcement.
  These four initiatives do not operate in isolation but together are a 
comprehensive approach to improving school security and reducing 
student violence. Training students and teachers to identify and report 
warning signs is critical to stopping acts of school violence before 
they happen.
  As we saw in Parkland, having folks identify warning signs is not 
enough. There must be a process for acting on this information when it 
is brought to the attention of school administrators or law enforcement 
officials. The school threat assessment and crisis intervention teams 
that could be funded through this bill will ensure that schools have an 
effective procedure for evaluating and responding to potential threats 
of school violence.
  Unfortunately, no amount of prevention will ever be able to stop 
every act of school violence before it happens. For those hopefully 
rare instances where we cannot intervene ahead of time, this bill 
ensures that funding is available to assist schools with commonsense 
security infrastructure improvements to harden schools and make it more 
difficult for attackers to succeed. Through each step of this process, 
local law enforcement has an important role to play in partnering with 
school personnel to prevent and respond to incidents of school 
violence.
  States are already taking the lead in these areas to ensure that our 
schools are safe and secure. Last week I highlighted the Safe Utah 
smartphone app, a statewide service that provides real-time crisis 
intervention to youth through texting and a confidential tip program. 
Since the app was unveiled in 2016, 86 planned school attacks have been 
stopped. Utah and other States across the country are rolling out 
proven solutions that prevent and reduce student violence.
  We must respect the leading role of the States in this space, and we 
must do what we can to ensure that proven, evidence-based solutions are 
available to protect all students nationwide. The STOP School Violence 
Act will complement and magnify those efforts at the State and local 
level. With a requirement that States and localities contribute to the 
cost of these programs, my bill will authorize $75 million in fiscal 
year 2018 and $100 million

[[Page S1341]]

each year for the following 10 years. In total, that is more than $1 
billion to secure our schools and train our students, teachers, and law 
enforcement.
  Many of my colleagues have called for reforms and restrictions 
related to firearms--something this bill does not address. Those are 
important discussions, and I look forward to continuing to work with my 
colleagues on these and other issues. In the meantime, we need to work 
with what we have, and what we have in the STOP School Violence Act is 
good, commonsense legislation that can save hundreds of lives. I will 
not pretend that my bill is a catch-all solution to the problem of 
school violence. It is not, but it is a start. Indeed, this bipartisan 
proposal is the catalyst to a critical conversation that will take 
place in the weeks and months to come.
  For far too long, we have allowed politics to get in the way of real 
reform. For far too long, we have been holed up in our partisan 
foxholes, ducking the difficult issues of the day in hopes that the 
problem of school violence would solve itself. For far too long, we 
have clung to our rhetorical weapons, but now is the time to lay those 
weapons aside. Now is the time to reconcile our differences for the 
good of our Nation and for the good of our children. As I said last 
week, 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.'' I thought that was a good 
statement.
  Mr. President, I wish to emphasize the singularity of the opportunity 
we have in front of us. My bill represents a respite from the anger and 
acrimony that far too often pervade our politics. It is a symbol of the 
great good we can accomplish when we come together in common cause. 
Already, dozens of my colleagues from both the left and the right have 
signed on to support this bill. The STOP Act is just the start we need 
to prevent violence in our schools, so let's come together to get this 
done, and I hope we can.

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