Political Quotes

“I thank Chairman Goodlatte, Majority Leader McCarthy, and Congressman Rutherford for their leadership on this important legislation. Over the years, our Nation's schools have become soft targets for any would-be killer who has gotten access to a gun. We need to do a better job of protecting both students and faculty from these increasingly frequent threats. This legislation combines school safety provisions included in two bills, one originally introduced by Mr. Rutherford, and the other by me. Together this proposal represents a collection of commonsense solutions to better help protect our students, our teachers, and other faculty in our schools. H.R. 4909 reauthorizes the COPS Secure Our Schools grant program and more than doubles its annual budget from $30 million to $75 million annually. Of that $75 million, not less than $50 million per year will be made available for evidence-based strategies and programs to prevent violence in public or private schools over the next decade. Among the security measures for which these grants may be used include additional training to ensure the health and well-being of students, the development of more robust threat reporting systems, and investments in more advanced security technologies. Additionally, the COPS Secure Our Schools grants can be used in conjunction with the COPS Hiring Program to ensure that our schools have both the security measures and personnel in place to prevent future violence. On Monday, U.S.…”