Trent Lott: “if I might respond, this is about elementary and secondary education. Obviously, there is a lot we need to do to be of…”

“if I might respond, this is about elementary and secondary education. Obviously, there is a lot we need to do to be of assistance to administrators, teachers, parents, and children at the elementary and secondary education level. Certainly, the local and State officials need to do more. We need to improve the quality of our schools, they need to be child centered, and they need to be safe and drug free. But I think it is about elementary and secondary education, and amendments should be germane to this area. I think it is a far stretch to say that a Lautenberg amendment which has to do with gun shows relates to elementary and secondary education. I think we should be sensitive to that area. We should do what we can to provide safety for children, and to make sure children don't get guns, have access to them, or make use of them. But I also think one of the things we can do that I supported, and which is in the juvenile justice bill that we passed earlier, and was in the making for 3 years--that included assistance for schools and dealing with these safety problems--for instance, funds would be available for metal detectors. A lot of schools are now doing that. They have a greater need for assistance. That is why I wanted to get the juvenile justice bill through. While I still plan to urge the juvenile justice conference report be completed, and it be brought back to the Senate, that is the place where this issue or these issues should be dealt with.”