School Safety

Floor Speech

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Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, Nelson Mandela once said: ``Education is the best weapon with which to change the world.''

Today, this morning, 51 million students woke up and went to a public school in the United States. Each student carried a spark with which to light up the world in their futures. Unfortunately, today, given the realities that we have seen over the last few years, some of these students are at risk.

Last week was designated as America's Safe Schools Week. It was meant as a time to reflect on the steps we are taking to protect our children every day. Upon reflection, however, one thing has become very clear: In many cases, considering the current realities, our public schools have not been designed physically to deal with the student safety issue.

The consequences of this are heartbreaking. We have heard this story too many times: Parkland, FL, 17 lives; Newtown, CT, 27 lives; Columbine, CO, 13 lives. These were some of the darkest days in our country's history. None of us will ever forget the terror, the tears, and the devastation that these and other communities have felt. For the parents and the relatives of those affected, it is a nightmare from which many will never wake up.

This can't be allowed to continue. There is an implicit agreement that when we drop our children off at a school, we know they are going to be kept safe. In many cases today, we are not fulfilling that agreement. There are a lot of steps we must take in order to face this crisis. I am confident that if we come together in a bipartisan fashion and focus on doing what actually works, we can make our schools safer.

The U.S. Senate has a chance to get this started right now. Last month, in a bipartisan effort, Senators Doug Jones, Thom Tillis, and Shelley Moore Capito joined me in sponsoring the School Safety Clearinghouse Act. This bipartisan bill is a critical first step that will help to protect students and faculty in our public schools in America.

The School Safety Clearinghouse Act will codify a recommendation from President Trump's Federal Commission on School Safety to create a Federal clearinghouse containing all of the best practices for designing safer schools. The techniques contained in the school safety clearinghouse will come from the brightest engineers, architects, researchers, and educators in the country. It will be like a library that schools can trust when making critical decisions and when talking about physical upgrades in their environment. It is imperative that schools have the best design information because design flaws in school buildings are placing our students and faculty at risk every day.

When drafting this bill, our office met with Max Schachter, whose son, Alex, was tragically killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, FL, not that long ago. On that awful day, the murderer fired through the window in Alex's classroom door and murdered Alex and two of his classmates. Senselessness. Had the glass been stronger or had the window been designed with an obstructed view, Alex might be alive today.

Madam President, fixing design flaws like these are simple matters that we need to take a step toward today to make our schools safer. Most schools understand this, and they are doing everything they can to close the security lapse.

In August, I saw this firsthand when I toured Mashburn Elementary School in Forsyth County--with Georgia's First Lady Marty Kemp--which has taken incredible steps with grants from the State, that the Governor made available, to enhance their safety measures.

Using this grant money made available by Governor Brian Kemp, Mashburn has restructured all their entryways, reinforced the doors to every classroom, and launched new emergency readiness protocols. As a result, Mashburn is better able to prevent tragedy from occurring.

And the best thing, it has in recent years actually developed a very close relationship with the local police force and sheriff's department. At Mashburn, they have a sheriff's deputy in school every day.

Every school in the country wants to upgrade their safety. The problem is that many schools don't simply have the information they need to make the best choices. The School Safety Clearinghouse Act will close this information gap once and for all.

This is not a top-down government program by the way. The School Safety Clearinghouse Act will never have an unfunded mandate or make any recommendations or force any school to take any action it doesn't want. Rather, the School Safety Clearinghouse Act will empower them to make the decisions for themselves.

Here in America, it doesn't matter if you have big dreams or humble ones; this is the land of opportunity. Everyone has the right to pursue their own happiness. A good education, as we know, is the best way to start that.

I learned that from my parents, both of whom were public school teachers. I see it happening today through my three grandkids. In this country, we promise all of our kids a good education. We now need to promise a safe education as well.

The School Safety Clearinghouse Act is a step that we can take right now, right here in this body, to fulfill that responsibility. We have no time to waste. Every day, students across the country attend schools to learn, grow up, and build their lives. The longer we wait to secure our schools, the higher the chance that some of those students will not come home.

This is not all we need to do; this is just a first start, Madam President. If this bill helps to make one school safer or saves one life, it will be worth it. Let's get it done. Thank you.

I yield back.

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