[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2785-S2787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Santa Fe High School Shooting
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, to my shock and surprise, 10 people were
killed Friday in a little town outside of Houston known as Santa Fe, at
Santa Fe High School, about 20 miles northwest of Galveston, TX. As we
know now, a male student walked into an art class with a pistol and a
shotgun that he got from his parents, perhaps without their knowledge.
After stashing makeshift explosives elsewhere, he then engaged in a
killing spree. The dead included eight students and two teachers. A
brave police officer was among the 13 wounded.
When I heard of the shooting, I made plans to immediately go to Santa
Fe, where I met with Governor Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Patrick,
Senator Cruz, and others, and we spoke to the Texas Department of
Public Safety, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the FBI
representatives, as well as the Santa Fe Independent School District
officials to find out what happened. The families there, of course,
remain in shock that something so terrible could happen in their small,
tucked away little community--one that was recently shaken by Hurricane
Harvey last fall and had previously seemed far removed from the
violence that has touched other parts of the country.
As I said last Friday, we have seen this before. Just last fall, we
saw a similar story unfold in Sutherland Springs, outside of San
Antonio, when a man opened fire at a Sunday church service. Then we saw
it in Florida earlier this year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School, in Parkland. Unfortunately, in recent years there have been
plenty of examples--too many examples, actually--with too many lives
lost and far too few solutions for families reeling from the aftermath.
There are two things that strike me are clear, though. The first is
that we need to better protect our students, secure our schools, and
keep weapons out of the hands of those who are a danger to themselves
and others. The second thing is to acknowledge that we haven't yet been
able to do this effectively. Something is wrong, because these school
shootings keep happening.
It is no coincidence that these shootings mostly happen at public
schools--or soft targets--and the shooters are usually male teenagers
who attended these schools. These young people, I should add, are
surrounded by a culture that condemns violence, on one hand,
excoriating public officials for not doing more to prevent it, but
celebrating violence on television, in movies, and in video games,
which at least has the potential to desensitize especially vulnerable
young people.
Many proposals on how to address this pervasive problem focus on the
guns themselves, not on the individuals who actually use them. They
focus on restricting access to guns or banning specific firearm
components for even law-abiding citizens. But any proposed fixes must
also consider the root nature of the problem; that is, the deranged
minds, the twisted rationalizations, and the tragic decisions of the
people who commit these terrible acts of violence.
These shooters are obviously incapable of self-regulating their own
behavior. How could we possibly address that? That is part of what we
need to be thinking about. A gun can kill someone only if a person--a
very sick or a very bad person--pulls the trigger.
So what have we done here in Congress to try to respond, as
incompletely as I know we have? Well, last year, we introduced a bill
called the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act, which was signed by
President Obama in 2016. It is part of the answer. It provides more
resources for communities and schools and mental health providers to
deal with people before they become a danger to themselves or others.
But there is more we can do, certainly in that space. The Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center has expanded the use of technology
that can help us better utilize telemedicine to reach out to those in a
mental health crisis and offer them an alternative course of treatment
when they don't otherwise have access. We should consider that and
other ideas in the days ahead.
The parents that lost their sons and daughters at Santa Fe High
School are obviously still grieving today, and we should be grieving as
well, not only for the people who lost their lives but also for the
state of our Nation--one that continues to watch its young people self-
destruct, engaging in violence that takes the lives of brothers,
sisters, sons, daughters, friends, and classmates.
We have been told in recent days that grief and prayers are not
enough. I agree. It is not enough to send our condolences to
communities like Santa Fe. We need to look the families of the victims
in the eyes and say: Here are the concrete steps we have taken and
intend to take to make sure something like this never happens again.
I believe we did that earlier this year on a broad, bipartisan basis
by passing legislation called the Fix NICS Act. Passing that bill was
important because the last time I saw a major shooting in my State, it
was at Sutherland Springs, where a man who had been discharged less
than honorably from the Air Force for domestic violence convictions
fell through the cracks of our background check system. He was able to
lie and buy a firearm, even though, under existing law, he was
disqualified and prohibited from doing so. But because of the broken
background check system, he was able to get away with it. Our Fix NICS
Act will help to fix that broken background check system. It was widely
supported by Republicans and Democrats. We had 78 cosponsors in the
Senate alone, demonstrating that solutions can enjoy broad bipartisan
support if they actually make sense as opposed to engaging in
ideological battles.
I am glad Congress worked together also to pass the STOP School
Violence Act earlier this year, which I was proud to cosponsor. This
legislation will help to provide our schools with the tools and
resources they need to prevent violence through better equipment,
planning, training, safety infrastructure, and law enforcement presence
on campus. In this year's appropriations bill, we were able to allocate
$75 million to start getting this initiative off the ground.
Now, people wonder: Can we possibly do this? Can we succeed in making
our schools a safe place for mothers and fathers to send their children
and where they are confident that everything humanly possible is being
done to protect them? Well, I am not suggesting that we turn them into
an airport, but my colleagues will recall that post-9/11, we have
hardened our airports and our Nation's air travel in such a way as to
make it virtually impervious to terrorist attacks. I think given the
proper
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attention, the creative thinking, and the proper resources, we can also
come together and make our schools impervious to this sort of attack in
the future. If we can do it at our Nation's airports against terrorist
attacks, we can do it in our communities and in our local high schools.
Finally--and thank goodness--we have seen the Justice Department
prioritize firearm prosecutions with the number of defendants charged
with unlawful possession increasing significantly over the past few
years. This is because of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has made
this a priority, and thank goodness for that. It has long been overdue.
U.S. attorneys are now focused on enforcing laws that criminalize gun
buyers who lie on their Federal background check. Previously, somebody
could come in and lie on the background check, get caught, and nothing
would ever happen to them. Now, thanks to the Attorney General and the
U.S. attorneys, people are being prosecuted for lying, acting as a
further deterrent on people who are felons or otherwise disqualified
from legally purchasing firearms. And vehicles like Project Safe
Neighborhoods, which the Senate passed unanimously last week, would
fund task forces that target serious firearm offenders and get them off
the streets.
All of this is a good start, but the shooting in Santa Fe shows we
have a long way to go because every one of these shootings seems to be
a little bit different.
Obviously, in Sutherland Springs, the failure seemed to be a
background check system which allowed the shooter to buy a firearm, lie
on the background check system, and not get caught. In places like Las
Vegas, the bump stock allowed the person to essentially turn a
semiautomatic rifle into an automatic weapon, which was otherwise
illegal. We all learned about bump stocks. As an avid shooter and
hunter myself, I had never heard about it before. Now the President has
taken care of that problem.
We have acted in the wake of Parkland, FL, to try to ensure we get
resources to our schools so they can better protect their students and
deal with other aspects of this challenge, but we need to be more
methodical in figuring out the solutions, then seeing what, if any,
solutions would have actually prevented a shooting, and then look to
see if those same proposals would have prevented other similar events.
In the case of Santa Fe, we know the shooter was somewhat socially
withdrawn, but he was also a high school athlete and involved in his
church. He posted troubling pictures and statements on social media,
but as Governor Abbott said, he was not your typical troubled youth who
people guessed one day might snap.
We also know Santa Fe High School had lockdown drills recently and
that police officers were stationed on campus. Both of these likely
prevented the event from becoming much worse; so good for them for the
lockdown drills and having police officers on campus. We should be
grateful for that, even in the wake of so much violence that leaves us
with so many unanswered questions.
One of the two officers who rushed in to stop the shooter was John
Barnes, who was, himself, shot by the gunman. He is a former Houston
police officer who now works for the Santa Fe Independent School
District. I am told his heart stopped twice while doctors and
paramedics were trying to stem his bleeding, but he is a fighter and he
held on. He is now in critical but stable condition in Galveston. We,
of course, appreciate him and all other first responders and the other
officers who courageously confronted the shooter and saved other lives.
We wish Officer Barnes and his entire family the best as he fully
recovers from his injury.
Another hero who has emerged, from accounts of the shooting, is
Christopher Stone, a 17-year-old junior who, once the shooting started,
blocked the classroom door, protecting his fellow students from the
gunman. Tragically, when the gunman shot through the door, Christopher
Stone was hit, and he did not survive, but we will remember him and all
the other lives which were lost this week as we pledge to do better, to
work harder, to work together, and to find new ways to protect our
schools and our children from harm.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I rise to speak today in the wake of
another tragic school shooting. This time, it was in Texas. Ten
innocent people--eight students and two teachers--were gunned down
Friday when a gunman walked into a high school in East Texas and opened
fire.
Tragedies such as this are becoming too common in our society. At
some point, we have to say enough is enough. How many times have we
said that? Just 3 months ago, I stood right here on the Senate floor
after 17 people were killed at MSD High School in Parkland, FL. I
pleaded with our colleagues to set aside partisan politics and work
together to enact commonsense reforms that will help make what happened
at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School a pivotal moment in our
Nation's history--not because it was one of the deadliest school
shootings, but because back then, 3 months ago, it was the last one. I
hoped it would be the last one.
I am so proud of the students who spoke out and the parents who spoke
out, such as Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was gunned down as she was
trying to flee at the other end of the hall. That bullet from that AR-
15 caught her right in the spinal cord just as she was about to exit
the hall. I thank Fred and others who have been speaking out,
especially the students--so eloquent, so bold.
We all hoped that the shooting in Parkland was going to be the last
one, but it was not. Here we go again. With the tragedy that took place
in Parkland so fresh in our minds, here we go again. Our students
deserve better. You have seen the articles since Friday's shooting
about how students are frightened that their school will be next. Our
schools and our communities deserve better. America deserves better
than this. Our students certainly deserve better.
Since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, this Congress has passed
two bills into law--only two. While this Senator supported both of
those, they alone are not nearly enough. We can and we must do more.
You have heard me say over and over that we need to ban assault
weapons and the long clips. We need to close the gun show loophole. We
need a comprehensive, universal background check for the sale or the
transfer of any firearm, regardless of where it is purchased.
By the way, those comprehensive background checks would have picked
up red flags on the shooter in Parkland, who had some real mental
problems. They would have also picked up the shooter in the Orlando
Pulse nightclub 2 years ago because he had been on the terrorist watch
list and had been taken off. If those kinds of things are picked up in
a comprehensive background search, then--when a person goes to buy a
gun, those kinds of things will be picked up.
We also need to do more to provide our students with access to the
mental health professionals they need. Because of the NRA locking down
their votes, if we are not going to get anything on assault weapons or
the gun show loophole or a comprehensive background check, then surely
we ought to be able to come together in a bipartisan way to do
something about mental health.
I have met with parents and teachers and students across the State of
Florida, and the one topic that keeps coming up is the lack of mental
health services available to our children. How true is that in society
at large? We are talking about school violence perpetrated by other
students.
You will not like this statistic. Florida has 1 school psychologist
for about every 2,000 students. That is according to a report from the
Florida Association of School Psychologists. If you compare that to the
nationally recommended ratio of 1 psychologist for every 500 to 700
students, that means Florida only has about one-fourth of the number of
school psychologists it needs to properly care for its students--one-
fourth, 25 percent. And that
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is just Florida. Nationally, 35 million children in this country have
had at least 1 traumatic experience, and nearly two-thirds of children
have been exposed to violence. That is why we have another piece of
legislation that Senators cosponsored to provide better care to
children and their families who have experienced trauma.
We have finally done something with regard to PTSD and our veterans.
Everybody understands that you don't actually have to get an injury to
have PTSD. As a matter of fact, it can manifest itself years later. We
are getting mental health counseling for our veterans, particularly
those who have come home from a war zone.
Are these children now experiencing a war zone? Is the trauma they
are experiencing at ages 12 through 17, at that tender age, not
comparable to some of the trauma our young soldiers are now
experiencing?
If we are going to be serious about curbing this type of violence
that we are going to continue to see in children's schools--oh Lordy,
we hoped that Parkland was the last one, but it was not, and there are
going to be more. If we are going to be serious about this, we must
hire more school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other
mental health professionals to get ahead of the problem and ensure that
any student who needs help is able to get it.
Later this week, midweek, I will be introducing legislation aimed at
doing exactly that--increasing the number of mental health
professionals in our children's schools across the country. Kids
suffering from trauma or depression or any other sort of mental
problems shouldn't be denied the help they need because the school or
the school district can't afford it.
The bill I will file on Wednesday--I hope with a whole bunch of
Senators sponsoring--will provide grants to colleges and universities
that set up programs to train future school counselors, social workers,
psychologists, and other mental health professionals in the school
districts that need them the most. It will create a Federal student
loan forgiveness program for mental health professionals who take jobs
in the districts that need them. That has often been a problem--not
only the supply but getting the supply in the school districts that
need them. This is not unlike the loan forgiveness we give to
government workers or to, for example, doctors who will serve,
practice, in an underserved area, such as a rural area. We do it for
those professionals; let's do it for the mental health workers who are
desperately needed in underserved areas, such as--which is obviously
becoming apparent--our schools.
When we give our students the tools they need to succeed, such as
access to mental health treatment, everyone is going to benefit. Our
students know this. They have been asking for our help to make these
services more available. Parents, teachers, and school administrators
across the country know this, too, and they are pleading for Congress
to act.
Let's give our schools and our communities the help they need, the
help they have been asking for. Let's start taking steps today to
change the course in which the country finds itself with another school
shooting last Friday. I hope many Senators cosponsor this legislation.
We can't allow what happened in Parkland, FL, and in Santa Fe, TX, to
become the new normal in this country. We have to do more to protect
our kids in school and ensure that any student who needs mental health
services is able to get those services.
I yield the floor.
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. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moran). Without objection, it is so
ordered.