On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blocked a school safety bill that Republican leaders and families of the Parkland School Shooting have been trying to pass for years.
After the tragic mass shooting this week at a Texas elementary school, which left 19 children and two teachers dead, Sen. Ron Johnson requested the Luke and Alex School Safety Act to be passed by unanimous consent.
Senate Bill 111 (SB111), named after Parkland High School shooting victims Luke Hoyer and Alex Schachter, would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a “Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices.” The clearinghouse would be employed by state and local educational institutions, law-enforcement agencies, health professionals, and public service entities.
According to SB111, the measure would require DHS to “collect clearinghouse data analytics, user feedback on the implementation of best practices and recommendations identified by the clearinghouse, and any evaluations conducted on these best practices and recommendations.”
The basic outline of the clearinghouse is already available at SchoolSafety.gov for public review.
Schumer opposed the bill, claiming on Twitter that the legislation “could see more guns in schools.”
“The truth: There were officers at the school in Texas,” Schumer tweeted. “The shooter got past them. We need real solutions—We will vote on gun legislation starting with the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act.”
During the discussion in the chamber, Schumer noted that he would reconsider the bill if Republican lawmakers would support his Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act.
Senator Johnson called Schumer a liar, noting that he was blocking legislation that had been the focus of victims of the earlier Parkland school shooting.
He said, “Dems aren’t looking for solutions; they want wedge issues that they hope will keep them in power. Sick.”
Senator Rick Scott also called Schumer a “liar” and a “hack” after blocking the bill he helped create for victims of the same sort of violence that impacted Texas this week.
While Schumer may speak about ending such violent attacks in schools, he has directly blocked legislation that would help provide solutions.