Prepared Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Executive Business Meeting
May 24, 2018
Before we begin, I want to say a few words about the tragic events of last Friday at Santa Fe High School in Texas. Ten died and thirteen others were wounded in a cowardly display of violence against innocent and unarmed victims. Though the loss of life was horrific, we should all be thankful for the brave law enforcement officers that quickly engaged the shooter and prevented additional loss of life.
We all want to act to prevent school shootings. But this is not a shooting that could have been prevented by the gun control measures many have argued for. The firearms used are in common use and were taken from the shooter’s father, who obtained them by legal means.
To prevent crises like this, we must work to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, and we must do more to make our schools safer. That is why I supported the STOP School Violence Act which will provide funding to strengthen their infrastructure to make it harder for shooters to enter schools and to take lives. That is why I supported the Fix NICS Act, which improved the background check system. Of course it will take some time for these bills to go into effect.
I also introduced the EAGLES Act, named in honor of the victims of the Parkland shooting, which will help the National Threat Assessment Center to train school systems, mental health professionals, and law enforcement officials throughout the country to identify troubled individuals and get them the help they need so they don’t resort to violence.
And that is why I continue to explore other bipartisan solutions to this problem of targeted school violence with my colleagues on this committee.
Turning now to today’s agenda, we’re scheduled to vote on several nominees and six drug-related bills. Six judicial nominees are on the agenda for the first time. They will be held over a week, at the minority’s request. We have one circuit court nominee and five district court nominees. We’ll also vote on one U.S. Attorney and one U.S. Marshal. We already extensively discussed and debated these at last Thursday’s meeting.
We’ve got a lot to take care of today. We also have a number of competing markups going on, which could make attendance challenging. So I’ll try to keep my remarks short and would appreciate it if my colleagues could do the same.
Opioid addiction, abuse, and overdose deaths continue to devastate our communities all across the country. The impact that the opioid crisis has caused cannot be solved with only one change, one law, or one committee. Congress is trying to address the problem in different ways. I am honored to lead the Judiciary Committee in contributing multiple pieces of legislation today. These bills will help support efforts to combat this epidemic.
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