[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2805-S2806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



         One-Year Anniversary of Santa Fe High School Shooting

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I rise today to give voice to a town in 
Texas. It is a small town of about 14,000 people. In that town there is 
a high school, a school of about 1,500 students. One year ago, on May 
18, a deeply disturbed and deranged student committed an unspeakable 
act of evil which shook Santa Fe, shook Texas, and shook the entire 
country. It left our Nation weeping.
  Just before 8 in the morning, the shooter began firing weapons into 
classrooms and through doors where his fellow students were taking 
shelter.
  Within minutes, the attacker senselessly murdered 8 students and 2 
teachers. Their names are the following: Jared Conard Black, Christian 
Riley Garcia, Shana Fisher, Aaron Kyle McLeod, Glenda Ann Perkins,

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Angelique Ramirez, Sabika Sheikh, Christopher Stone, Cynthia Tisdale, 
and Kimberly Vaughan.
  I would like us to pause for a moment of silence as we remember these 
brave souls.
  Their names will live on. Their killer's name will not. His name is 
never worth mentioning again.
  Thirteen others were also brutally wounded, including three 
substitute teachers. Flo Rice, one of the substitute teachers at the 
high school that day, was shot five times. I have gotten to know Flo 
and her husband Scott well in the weeks and months since the shooting.
  But that day was not merely a day of great tragedy. It was also a day 
of incredible bravery. Santa Fe police officers did their duty and 
swiftly engaged the shooter. One of those police officers, John Barnes, 
was critically wounded in the process. They shot back, and, ultimately, 
they took the coward into custody.
  Santa Fe students also proved themselves to be heroes. One of them, 
Riley Garcia, made the ultimate sacrifice. He held a door shut to give 
other students time to escape, and he was killed in the process. Other 
students tended to the wounded and to each other.
  In the wake of the shooting, Texans grieved with the families and 
friends of those we lost. We heard stories of terror and stories of 
hope.
  I was at my home in Houston that morning. Santa Fe High School is 
about 45 minutes away from my house. When I got the call as to what was 
happening, I jumped into a truck and headed down there. I spent the 
entire day with families who had lost their children, with first 
responders, with teachers, with school leaders, with a community that 
was grieving mightily. But in Santa Fe, I also saw a boundless spirit 
and hope and unity.
  I remember that afternoon, traveling to the hospital and visiting 
with a number of the students who had been shot and wounded that day. I 
remember meeting Clayton, a young man who had been shot just that 
morning. He had pins in his arm from being shot twice. Clayton 
described how he jumped over the fence, even after having been shot, 
and his friends helped to carry him to safety. This young man described 
how he is a bull rider and a pole vaulter. I asked him if he is a lefty 
or righty. He said he is a lefty, and that was the arm that was 
wounded. But he said with a smile: ``You know, now I gotta learn to 
ride a bull with my right arm.'' That is the toughness and the spirit 
of these students and their entire community.
  All across Texas and all across the country, millions of Americans 
lifted those children and lifted those families up in prayer. You know, 
it has become politically fashionable now to deride thoughts and 
prayers. To suggest that thoughts and prayers are not appropriate, I 
will say this: We should always lift up in prayer those who are 
victimized by violence, by brutality, by terrorism, by murder. I 
believe in the power of prayer, and I will tell you that the community 
of Santa Fe leaned on the power of prayer in the wake of that tragedy.
  Now, thoughts and prayers are not themselves a substitute for action. 
In the days and the weeks that followed, I met with mothers and fathers 
and teachers and students. I hosted Santa Fe students here in the 
Senate Dining Room. We talked with law enforcement and with first 
responders. I sat down with the President, and he traveled down to meet 
with the Santa Fe families. I participated in a roundtable with 
Governor Abbott, families from Santa Fe and other communities 
victimized by violence, and officials at the Federal, State, and local 
levels. We discussed how we could do a better job of protecting our 
schools and protecting our children. We have lost too many kids to 
homicidal action, and it has to stop.
  We have to do much more to keep guns out of the hands of violent 
criminals and to better treat the mentally ill--all while preserving 
and protecting our constitutional rights.
  There was a universal agreement in the wake of Santa Fe that, as a 
State and as a Nation, we had to see justice done and to take every 
step to try to ensure that such an attack never occurs again.
  Soon after, I was gratified to hear that the Department of Education 
announced $1 million in Federal funds for the Santa Fe Independent 
School District through Project School Emergency Response to Violence, 
or Project SERV. It is a crucial first step in Federal funding to help 
the Santa Fe school community to recover and protect all its students, 
but the story doesn't end there.
  In addition to a State prosecution, most of us assumed there would be 
a Federal case against the Santa Fe shooter, as well, because his 
massive assault was on students and teachers in a public school, and, 
crucially, because authorities found explosive devices on the school 
grounds and off campus, including pipe bombs and a Molotov cocktail. To 
any reasonable observer, this would open the case to Federal explosives 
and terrorism charges.
  All of us were committed to seeing the attacker prosecuted to the 
fullest extent of the law. Early press reports, however, indicated that 
Federal authorities were not going to proceed with the Federal case. 
Those press reports dismayed me--dismayed many--in particular because 
the shooter was under 18 at the time of the massacre, which means it is 
likely that the maximum State sentence he would receive is 40 years, 
which means that, if only State charges were brought, the shooter would 
be potentially eligible for release at 57 years old. Releasing this 
mass murderer into society would not be just, and it would not be 
right.
  Thankfully, Attorney General Barr agreed, and it has been publicly 
reported now that Federal charges have come forward to ensure that this 
attacker is brought to justice and faces the full consequences for the 
horrific acts of that morning.
  (The remarks of Senator Cruz pertaining to the submission of S. 1442 
are printed in today's Record under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  Mr. CRUZ. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

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