Savannah Hulsey Pointer, FISM News
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has introduced a piece of legislation that could help prevent attacks like the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas in May that took the lives of 21 people. The senator is proposing that funding from the massive COVID-19 relief bills be shifted toward school security.
The bill was introduced on Friday and is being called the Protect Our Children’s Schools Act. Verbiage from the legislation states that its purpose is to “keep schools physically secure using unobligated Federal funds available to the Secretary of Education to respond to the coronavirus.” The bill is a companion piece of legislation to one introduced by Republican Texas Rep. Randy Weber, which would also allow for the use of unspent COVID-relief dollars to be spent improving school security.
Prior to officially proposing this bill Senator Cruz told The Daily Caller, “The bill directs the Department of Education to make all unobligated federal COVID relief money available to the Secretary of Education for school safety reason[s]. States have not used the majority of their relief funding as of May 2022 and Cruz’s proposed law aims to increase school safety in K–12 elementary and secondary institutions.
“Far too many atrocities have been committed at schools in Texas and across our nation. Increasing school safety is of paramount importance,” Cruz told The Daily Caller. “The excess and unused monies given to schools to address the coronavirus should be used to keep our kids safe from monsters in their communities, and our bill would make sure local schools can use these funds to address their specific security needs. It’s teachers and local education officials who know best what their schools need and how to use funds to keep our kids safe when they go to school,” Cruz added.
Weber told the Daily Caller before Cruz introduced his legislation, “My district knows too well that evil people do evil things, and we know the importance of protecting our children in schools. As we approach a new school year, our children should feel safe and secure when they walk through the doors, and that’s why I introduced a commonsense bill to harden schools.”
“I appreciate Senator Cruz introducing the Senate version of the Protect Our Children’s Schools Act,” Weber added.