[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10980]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                           SCHOOL SAFETY ACT

  (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, today the House will consider the School 
Safety Act authored by Congressman Porter of Nevada. This bipartisan 
legislation will help make every classroom in America safer.
  Recently, Michigan officials found that while the schools check their 
own State criminal records before hiring a coach or a teacher, 2,500 
felons were still hired by Michigan's schools because they had out-of-
state arrest records.
  In 1998, President Clinton authorized States to share arrest records 
in compacts, and 25 States have done this but 25 have not, including 
Illinois.
  John Porter's bill will link the criminal records for all 50 States. 
It will give school boards the tools they need to prevent a felon with 
an in-state or out-of-state arrest record from being put in charge of a 
classroom or team.
  Americans have a right to safe, gun-free classrooms, and this bill 
will help make that happen.

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