Today,
I want to speak about the tragic shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018, and the Justice
Department’s response to it.
But,
before I get to that, I want to express my deep condolences to the victims and
families of the school shooting in Michigan last month.
The
shooting was an act of evil. I pray for all the affected families.
Recently,
the Justice Department reached a settlement with the families involved in the
Parkland shooting for a reported $130 million.
The
school shooting was another evil act. It took the lives of 17 innocent students
and teachers.
Many
others were wounded and suffered trauma.
Based
on reports, the Justice Department settled because the FBI failed to properly
investigate tips warning federal law enforcement about the coming attack.
This
was a concern of mine from the beginning.
Even
though the department has settled the matter, the department hasn’t been fully
transparent with Congress.
I’m
going to highlight some of the oversight steps that I’ve taken and how the FBI
still hasn’t done what they need to do.
Two
days after the shooting, while chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I wrote
to the FBI asking about its failure to act on tips that it received about
the shooter.
I
also wrote to Google about the threats made in a YouTube comment that the
shooter apparently made.
Then,
I brought the FBI in to brief the full Judiciary Committee on February
23, 2018. I did the same with Google and Facebook staff to discuss their
cooperation with federal law enforcement.
On
March
14, 2018, I led a full committee oversight hearing to hold the Justice
Department and FBI accountable for its failures.
In
the FBI briefing, and at the committee’s March 14, 2018, Parkland hearing,
then-FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said that the FBI had begun a review of
the internal process failures.
Those
failures related to the intake procedure for call-in tips and what transpired
in the Parkland case.
For
months after the hearing, my staff asked for updates regarding the FBI’s
investigation report.
In
May 2018, they were told it would be final by approximately mid-June 2018.
On
August
27, 2018, I wrote to FBI Director Wray noting that up to that point, “Committee
staff have requested a copy of the report seven times from the FBI.”
Here
we are in 2021, and the FBI still hasn’t produced the report to Congress.
Time
and again, the Justice Department and FBI have failed to live up to the
standards of transparency required of them.
The
Parkland shooting and the department’s response to it is another example from a
growing list.
Simply
put, there’s no basis for the department and FBI to withhold the Parkland
report from Congress and the American people.
That’s
especially true for those families that suffered such a tragic loss.
Transparency
brings accountability, and the more the Department fights that principle, the
brighter the light will be on them.
Going
forward, while we can’t take back the terrible events of that day, we can – and
must – take steps to make sure such horrific acts don’t ever happen again.
That’s
why earlier this year, along with a bipartisan group of Senators, I reintroduced
the EAGLES Act.
The
EAGLES Act will help fund and reauthorize
the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center. That’s where they
study targeted violence and proactively identify and manage threats before they
result in more tragedies.
It
also establishes a Safe School Initiative to look at school violence prevention
and expands research on school violence.
The
EAGLES Act is a commonsense bill
supported by over 40 state attorneys general and representatives from both
sides of the aisle.
I
ask and encourage all of my Senate colleagues to help pass this bill.
