Cruz’s office announced in a press release that $17.5 billion in unused American Rescue Plan education money would be used to recruit 15,000 additional school mental health specialists for K–12 institutions and increase the number of trained school resource officers countrywide.
Cruz stated, “This country has experienced far too many school shootings, and it is past time for Congress to take action to address this issue.
“Our ‘Safe Kids, Safe Schools, Safe Communities Act’ would concentrate on making schools safer by increasing the number of appropriately trained school resource officers on campus who can deter and, if necessary, stop school shooters before our kids are harmed, increasing the number of school mental health professionals who can identify at-risk children and ensure that those children get the help they need before they become violent, and providing funding to improve the physical security measures at schools.”
Cruz stated, “Our measure also focuses on reducing gun violence by enhancing NICS, prioritising law enforcement, criminalising people who unlawfully purchase guns, and expanding Project Exile to more successfully prosecute people who commit violent crimes with a handgun.
“The left and right need to be able to come to terms with these challenges. Our measure will safeguard the constitutional rights of millions of law-abiding Americans while also preventing school shootings.”
The proposal calls for an audit to ensure that records that would prevent someone from buying or owning a firearm are included in NICS and authorises $200 million to strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
The legislation would also increase the penalties for stealing from gun dealers, forbid gun smuggling schemes, authorise $150 million to hire extra federal prosecutors to prosecute firearm offences, $29 million to fund safe school task forces and fight juvenile firearm offences, and $75 million to equip every handgun in the country with child-safety gun locks.
All of us want to do our part to stop tragedies like the one in Uvalde, according to Barrasso. “My priorities have always been improving school safety and mental wellness. This is precisely what the “Safe Kids, Safe Schools, Safe Communities Act” that Senator Cruz and I are working on focuses on.
By securing schools and providing mental health specialists to recognise and manage our students’ behavioural health problems, our legislation will have a positive impact. This is a chance for Congress to take significant action to improve community safety while continuously defending American citizens’ fundamental rights.”
Under this Act, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program of FEMA for securing schools will be increased. The measure would mandate research into the factors that lead to mass shootings and a report to Congress from the National Institutes of Justice and the National Academy of Sciences.
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This legislation will enhance research on preventing school violence and information dissemination to communities and schools.
According to Barrasso, we all want to do our share to prevent tragedies like the one in Uvalde.
