[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 185 (Thursday, October 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               EAGLES Act

  On another point, Mr. President, I would like to talk about 
preventing acts of mass violence.
  Yesterday, the shooter at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School 
tragedy in Parkland, FL, a few years ago, pled guilty to multiple 
counts of first-degree murder.
  There were 14 students and 3 school staff senselessly losing their 
lives in just a few minutes when a former student struggling with clear 
behavior problems and mental health issues indiscriminately opened 
fire.
  I hope that his guilty plea brings at least some sense of closure and 
justice for the victims' families. While there is nothing that we can 
do to take back the terrible events of that day, we need to do what we 
can to make sure such horrific acts don't ever happen again.
  That is why earlier this year, in a bipartisan approach, I, along 
with Senators Cortez Masto, Collins, Manchin, Hassan, Rubio, and Scott 
of Florida, introduced what we called the EAGLES Act.
  The EAGLES Act will help fund and reauthorize the U.S. Secret 
Service's National Threat Assessment Center. It goes by the nickname of 
NTAC. An identical bill was introduced in the House by Representatives 
Deutch and Diaz-Balart.
  NTAC studies targeted violence and helps proactively identify and 
manage threats before they result in more tragedies. The EAGLES Act 
also establishes a Safe School Initiative, a national program on school 
violence prevention that will include expanded research on school 
violence.
  When the Secret Service reviewed school shootings, it found that all 
attackers exhibited concerning behaviors before engaging in the act of 
violence. If these signs were recognized early enough, these attacks 
could have been stopped.
  The father of one of the Parkland victims and the president of Stand 
with Parkland--that is an organization--said that NTAC has been 
``essential to thwarting mass shooters and targeted violence.'' He also 
said that ``the EAGLES Act is a critical expansion of the program that 
prioritizes school safety and directs key funding to prevent the next 
mass school shooting.''
  The EAGLES Act is a commonsense bill to fund and reauthorize the 
Secret Service's NTAC that is supported by over 40 State attorneys 
general and representatives from both sides of the aisle. It is a bill 
that, hopefully, honors the lives and memories of the Parkland victims 
by ensuring that such tragedies don't happen again.
  I ask and encourage all of my Senate colleagues to support the bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.