[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S597-S598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE MEMORIES OF THE VICTIMS OF THE SENSELESS ATTACK AT MARJORY 
           STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL ON FEBRUARY 14, 2018

  Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, it is hard to forget the 14th of February 
in the year 2018, when I was actually here in the U.S. Senate when news 
reports began to emerge that there had been a shooting at a school in 
South Florida, where I live.
  I was at the time--or I am still now, but at the time, all four of my 
kids were in school in South Florida, and as a parent, the first thing 
that flashes in your mind is, Where? Which schools was it?
  Fortunately, we were blessed by God's grace that it was not any of 
the schools that my children were in, but, sadly, there were other 
Floridians on that day who were impacted in ways that I think will 
clearly forever change their lives, but I think it has also impacted 
the Nation.
  It is now well known what happened on that terrible day, a day of 
complete horror that shocked the Nation, and today, we stop and 
remember those who lost their lives on that day and those whose bravery 
saved lives on that day.
  We have learned much since that day about the things that went wrong 
with law enforcement, with the FBI, with local authorities, and with 
the school district, and that work continues. The monster who committed 
this act is now facing the justice of the Florida court system and will 
soon be sentenced.
  But I wanted to spend the brief time we have to talk about it here 
today focusing on what has happened since that day and, in particular, 
the extraordinary work of some of the parents of those children who 
lost their lives on that tragic day, because they have turned their 
pain into activism in ways that have had concrete and meaningful 
impact.
  One in particular is Max Schachter and his family, who, as they dove 
into this, realized that there was no place where school districts 
could go and learn about the best practices for how to safeguard a 
school or any facility, for that matter. Everyone was off doing their 
own thing, being pitched contracts and ideas by different companies 
that said: We can add this, and we can give you that. But there didn't 
seem to be a single place where you could go and learn the best 
practices to ensure the safety of our students.
  That began to change because of his work. He lost a son, Alex, on 
that day, but from that pain, he has become a national leader on the 
issue of a Federal clearinghouse, which now exists.
  The previous administration, the Trump administration, took executive 
action on it. Today, there exists a

[[Page S598]]

clearinghouse that I hope we can put into statute through the Luke and 
Alex School Safety Act to make it permanent. It has become a resource 
where schools across the country are now able to, on an ongoing, real-
time basis, see whether what they have in place is the highest standard 
and the most effective. Every time there are improvements, it is 
updated. It has had a meaningful impact. There are schools across this 
country that had vulnerabilities they didn't recognize. Those 
vulnerabilities aren't just about physical hardening of buildings and 
so forth; it is about identifying and getting ahead of these problems.
  Sadly, what we learned from many of these tragedies is that, well 
before that day, there are clear signs that something is about to 
happen.
  I think one of the things that most struck me is that multiple 
families told me that as soon as the news came out that this had 
happened, everyone knew who it was. Without even having heard the name, 
everyone knew who did it because the signs had been there and they had 
been missed.
  The ability of school districts to now recognize that and get ahead 
of it is just one of the many innovations that are now in place because 
of the work of Max and his family in honor of their son Alex and of all 
those who suffered greatly on that day.
  So I think it is important not just to obviously remember the 
extraordinary pain and horrific events of that moment but also to 
remember how these brave American families have since that day taken 
their pain and turned it into action and that today, across this 
country, many of our schools are better positioned to prevent this from 
ever happening to anyone else because of what they have done with this 
tragedy.
  I wanted to take this moment today to commemorate and recognize their 
hard work and the work they and other families are doing not simply to 
raise awareness but to spur real, concrete action that makes a 
meaningful difference.
  I now want to turn it over to my colleague from Florida, who was 
Governor on that terrible day and dealt with this all firsthand.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Shaheen). The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, almost 4 years ago, on 
February 14, 2018, the world witnessed a senseless attack at Marjory 
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.
  I am proud to join my colleague Senator Rubio to introduce this 
resolution which honors the 17 victims of the tragic shooting: Alyssa 
Alhadeff, Scott Beigel, Martin Duque Anguiano, Nicholas Dworet, Aaron 
Feis, Jaime Guttenberg, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina 
Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, 
Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup, and Peter Wang.
  I often think of these innocent lives who were lost way too early. 
They were sons, daughters, parents, and partners. Some were educators, 
athletes, musicians; many of them, just kids with a life full of 
promise ahead of them. My heart breaks knowing that they will never get 
to pursue their dreams and that their families will always have a piece 
of their heart missing.
  Since that horrific day, I have worked closely with many of the 
victims' families to ensure no family has to experience that again.
  While I was Governor, we passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High 
School Public Safety Act to make sure our State does everything 
possible to ensure this does not happen again.
  Now as a U.S. Senator, I am fighting for improvements on the Federal 
level, including the Luke and Alex School Safety Act, named after Luke 
Hoyer and Alex Schachter, which builds on our work to keep schools 
safe.
  I am also working with my colleagues to pass the bipartisan EAGLES 
Act, which improves school safety for our students and teachers and 
provides more resources to law enforcement to prevent future tragedies 
from happening.
  While, unfortunately, we cannot bring back the lives lost on that 
tragic day nearly 4 years ago, I will always work to honor them and do 
everything in my power to protect our students and educators and ensure 
they have a safe environment to learn and succeed.
  Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous 
consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 508, which 
is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 508) honoring the memories of the 
     victims of the senseless attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas 
     High School on February 14, 2018.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the 
motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with 
no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 508) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I yield the floor.

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