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Time to STOP School Violence

March 14, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C.—House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined a press conference applauding passage of H.R. 4909, the STOP School Violence Act, introduced by Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.) and cosponsored by Congressman Scalise. The Whip's advocacy for this legislation follows personal meetings with Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school students, including a discussion this morning with student Kyle Kashuv.

Click here to watch his full remarks.

Remarks:

"At a time when people are asking Washington to do something, Congress actually took action today to not just do something, but to start addressing the problem with a strong bill, the STOP School Violence Act that gives students, teachers and law enforcement more tools to actively identify a potential shooter before a tragedy happens. What we saw in Parkland was an example of so many breakdowns in governmentat the federal level with the FBI, at the local level with local law enforcementwhen so many students knew this was going to happen. I think the thing that irritates people the most is that something wasn't done to stop it before it did happen. We need to focus on stopping those tragedies before they happen, as Sheriff Rutherford said. I want to commend Sheriff Rutherford for his leadership to put a coalition together that was incredibly bipartisan. What you saw today was a 407 to 10 vote to specifically start addressing the problem to stop school violence. I think that overwhelming bipartisan vote shows how serious this bill is. Clearly, there are more things that need to be done, but this is one of those things that actually gets to the heart of addressing the problem to stop school violence before a tragedy happens."

Background on the legislation (Courtesy of Rep. Rutherford's office):

To curb violence at our nation’s schools, the STOP School Violence Act provides a multi-layered approach to identify threats and prevent violence from taking place on school grounds.

  • Provides resources to train students, teachers, and law enforcement on how to recognize and respond to warning signs
  • Creates an anonymous reporting system for tips
  • Authorizes funding for technology to improve school safety