Our schools should be as safe as the halls of Congress. This week, we made strong progress toward that goal by passing two bills that I’ve been pushing forward:
The STOP School Violence Act will improve coordination with law enforcement to help prevent this from happening again. The bill also includes resources to strengthen school security and improve intervention efforts so that school personnel can respond to threats before they materialize.
And, The Securing Our Schools Act strengthens school safety by authorizing new resources for schools to improve direct coordination with local law enforcement in case of an emergency.
These bipartisan bills are a good start, but more must continue to be done. We must make sure that our concerts, night clubs, churches and other community areas are just as safe. Inaction is not an option.
The president, House of Representatives, Senate, every state legislature, sheriffs, police officers, school boards, students and parents must unite with one mission: that no one will ever be murdered in school again.
We won’t accomplish this without a comprehensive approach that addresses security, mental health and gun violence. That’s why I also introduced several new bills this week to do just that.
