Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On The School Safety And Law Enforcement Improvement Act
August 2, 2007

Today the Committee will take up the School Safety and Law Enforcement Improvement Act, which responds to the tragic deaths that occurred this past April on the campus of Virginia Tech.  Obviously there is no magic Congressional response that will be guaranteed to prevent another horrific school tragedy.  Working with a number of Senators, we are originating this bill to combine five legislative pieces into a more comprehensive strategy.  In particular, I wish to acknowledge the hard work and initiative of Senator Boxer and Senator Jack Reed from outside this Committee and the leadership of Senators Specter, Feingold, Schumer, and Durbin here.    

Our Committee-originated bill seeks to enlist the States as partners in the dissemination of critical information, to distribute Federal dollars to improve the safety and security of our schools and institutions of higher education and provide equitable benefits to law enforcement serving those institutions, and to ensure that law enforcement officers may answer the call of duty wherever they may be. 

A number of law enforcement and other organizations have signaled their support for this package.  The Fraternal Order of Police, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics (SEARCH), the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, and campus police forces from around the country have all worked with us and contributed to this package.  I thank them for their strong support.  I will make their letters of support part of our record.   Support from this cross section of organizations is a good start to building a solid bipartisan consensus for this legislation, and I hope all Senators will join in supporting this bill. 

In the aftermath of the events last April at Virginia Tech, Governor Tim Kaine convened the Virginia Tech Review Panel to provide an independent, thorough, and objective incident review, and to make recommendations for improved campus safety.  I commend Governor Kaine and the work of the panel and look forward to their final report.  In the meantime, to order to do what we can in connection with school resuming in the fall, I hope that we will move forward today.  I first listed the bill in our notice of July 5 for our business meeting on July 12.  We circulated the text of the measure on July 11 expecting to allow until July 19 for all Members to be familiar with it.  Nonetheless, the matter was held over on July 19, and not enough Members came to last week’s business meeting to make a quorum.  I hope that we can finally complete our work on this important and timely measure today.

Here is a brief outline of what the bill does: 

Title I – the School Safety Enhancements Act – would improve safety and security of students both at the elementary and secondary school level, and on college and university campuses.  The K-12 improvements are drawn from a bill that Senator Boxer introduced in April, and I want to I want to thank Senator Boxer for her hard work on this issue.  I also want to thank Senator Durbin for his commitment to this issue.

This title allows existing Justice Department grants to now be used for tip lines, surveillance equipment, and capital improvements to schools.  It increases authorized federal funding to ease the burden on local school districts for implementing security enhancements.  These improvements will make our elementary and secondary schools safer by funding much-needed infrastructure improvements, and they will enable students to report potentially dangerous situations to school administrators before they occur. 

The tragic events at Virginia Tech underscore that we must be vigilant at all levels of government to ensure that our more than 4,000 colleges and universities are safe and secure.  Institutions of higher education are home to more than 15 million students.  They serve not only their students, but also the wider community.  Campuses also contain some of our most prized and sensitive assets, such as world-class research facilities and nuclear reactors.  There is a strong federal interest in ensuring the safety and security of colleges and universities.  According to the Congressional Research Service, however, there is currently no federal funding targeted to help these institutions comply with existing campus security requirements, let alone to fund new campus safety initiatives. 

To address the new realities of campus safety in the wake of the events at Virginia Tech, and in an era of increased risk of terrorist attacks, the bill creates a matching grant program for campus safety and security to be administered out of the COPS Office of the Department of Justice.  The grant program allows institutions of higher learning to apply directly for federal funds to make school safety and security improvements.  The program is authorized to be appropriated at $50,000,000 for the next two fiscal years.  While this amounts to just $3 per student each year, it will enable schools to more effectively respond to dangerous and emergency situations on campus.  It is encouraging that the Higher Education bill and perhaps other bills include similar provisions and may make additional federal funds available for college and university safety improvements. 

Title I also authorizes appropriations for the creation of a National Center for Campus Public Safety.  The Department of Justice COPS Office recommended the creation of a National Center after its 2004 National Summit on Public Safety, in order to support research, sharing of best practices, and strategic planning.  A national clearinghouse for campus safety information is needed now more than ever.  

Title II of the bill seeks to improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as the NICS system.  The senseless loss of life at Virginia Tech revealed deep flaws in the transfer of information relevant to gun purchases between the States and the Federal Government.  The deficiencies in the current system permitted the perpetrator of this terrible crime to obtain a firearm despite the fact that a judge had declared him to be a danger to himself and thus ineligible under federal law.  Sueng-Hui Cho was not eligible to buy a weapon given his mental health history, but he was still able to pass a background check because data was missing from the system.   We are working to close gaps in the NICS system.

This bill will correct these problems and should dramatically improve the NICS system.  It incorporates the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, which was recently passed by the House.  Senator Schumer has been the Senate sponsor on this measure.  I have worked with many of the Senators on the Committee over the past few weeks to address concerns with this and other parts of the bill.

For the first time, this bill will create a legal regime in which disqualifying mental health records, both at the State and Federal level, would regularly be reported into the NICS system.  This bill would require Federal agencies to report mental health and other disqualifying records into NICS, and would create significant new incentives for States to report this information. 

For the States, the bill is structured with funding rewards for States that substantially comply and penalties for States that do not, in order to encourage every State to reach realistic compliance targets in reporting to NICS.  To accomplish these important goals, the bill authorizes up to $400 million a year for 5 years to allow States to make the costly technological improvements necessary to improve the NICS system. 

If we are serious about improving the NICS system, the Federal Government must work in partnership with the States, and we must provide the resources necessary to assist the States in making these changes.  We must avoid unfunded mandates that would hinder this partnership. 

Title III of the bill includes a measure to make sworn law enforcement officers who work for private institutions of higher education, as well as rail carriers, eligible for death and disability benefits, and for funds administered under the Byrne Grant program and the bulletproof vest partnership grant program.  Providing this equitable treatment is in the best interest of our nation’s educators and students, and will serve to place the support of the Federal Government behind the dedicated law enforcement officers who serve and protect private colleges and universities across the country.  I commend Senator Jack Reed for his leadership in this area.

Title IV of the bill makes improvements to the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2003.  This Committee recently ordered these provisions reported.  These amendments to existing law will streamline the system by which qualified retired and active officers can be certified under LEOSA.  Congress passed the 2003 bill in recognition of the fact that law enforcement officers are never off duty and face lasting dangers due to the nature of their profession.  It serves us all when we permit qualified officers, with a demonstrated commitment to law enforcement and no adverse employment history, to protect themselves and their families wherever they may be. 

Finally, Title V incorporates the PRECAUTION Act, which Senators Feingold and Specter asked to have included.  I thank them for their work on this important piece.  The national commission created by this provision will identify the most successful violence prevention and intervention strategies that can be used in schools and will issue a report for local law enforcement and school boards to utilize when deciding how to keep their students safe.  This provision also creates a program through the National Institute of Justice that funds grants to further develop cutting-edge prevention and intervention programs for our schools.  Of course, keeping our students and communities safe does not stop at the schoolhouse doors, so the PRECAUTION Act also provides funds for this important work in community-based programs and programs run by the police.  I have long been a supporter of crime prevention and intervention programs, and these programs nicely complement the school safety provisions in this bill.

I recognize that there is no panacea to end the sad phenomenon of school violence.  The tragedy at Virginia Tech should remind us all that we need to remain vigilant, and that we need to respond in realistic and meaningful ways when we are presented with such challenges.  I hope we can reach a consensus and move this bill forward to invest in the safety of our students, who are our nation’s future, improve the NICS system, and support law enforcement officers across the country.       

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