than go dropped out of school then went to the robb elementary school through an unlocked door. he then opened fire on to fourth grade classrooms killing 19 students and two teachers. the american people were shocked, outraged and devastated by this attack and collectively asked how can we prevent this fromm happening again. the discussion surrounding this topic causes emotions to run high. i understand why. for too long some politicians t have tried to fit the right to live in a safe community against the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. they make it seemed like our country can only have one or the other. either the second amendment or safe schools and churches and grocery stores and of course this is a false choice law-abiding gun owners are notab the problem men and women who buy guns to protect themselves and their family, to hunt or engage in sports, they are not a public safety problem. following the shooting i promise to do everything in my power to try to answer that call to do something. i don't believe in doing nothing in the face and what we saw in uvalde and we see in far too many communities. do we nothing is anns abdication of our responsibility. as representatives of the american people here in the united states senate. at the same time i reiterated my bottom line which i would not support invasions that infringed on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. again they are not theor proble. but i knew this effort was about the art of the possible. look at areas where we can agree in setting aside those areas where we cannot. i was fortunate to find partners who were thoughtful in realistic on how we could pass this bill i want to thank senators murphy, senator cinema, senator tillis, and a larger group of senators without whom this legislation would not be on the cusp of passage. thank you. thank you for not listening to the naysayers in the critics and those who would spew disinformation and outright lies about what we are doing here. but stood up to the responsibility that we all have as united states senators to do our very best to make progress and to try to answer the call in the face of these tragedies and try in the end to save lives which is what this is all about. not less than one month after m the shooting in uvalde the senate will vote soon on the bipartisan safer communities act. this legislation will protect our schools, protect our communities and safeguard the second amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. i said it before and i'll say it again. no.thy should ever fear for the safety of their child at school and no child should be afraid to go to school in fear of their safety and this legislation response to that in a positive and affirmative way. this has common sense measures to prevent violence into save lives while respecting our constitution. madam president, the dirty little secret is americans experiencing a mental health crisis. our mental health delivery system is a scandal. too many people are not getting the attention and the care that they need in orderha to manage their mental health challenges. and many of them can be saved from the fate of salvador ramos or adam lanza that they can get access to timely care in the medication that will help them manage their mental illness. they will represent the single largest investment in community-based mental health care in american history. that is huge but is enormously important that may be the most here. police officers answering a 911 call from somebody in a mental health crisis, they don't have to take that person to jail but they won't get help, they could take them to a community-based mental health delivery system to a clinic in a person experiencing a mental health crisis they don't have to go to the emergency room, they can go to a clinic and get the care ann the help that they need in order to manage for the condition whatever it may be. this bill will provide supportive services for our schools. our schools should be a century. a sanctuary for our children. not a place where they plan on what will happen during the next shooting and how they can hide under their desks or try to make their escape. schools should be a sanctuary in this bill will provide the kind of services that will identify students in crisis and help intervene enter provide them the assistance that they need in major investment in school safety and security and it includes physical safety measures. we probably can't eliminate human error like we saw in you uvalde texas. but we can probably get the best practices which we have done in this bill from the best minds based on evidence by what works and what does not to make sure we keep unauthorized visitors out of the hallways in the classrooms as well as evaluate current protocols and develop best practices. again those who say we need to infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens under the constitution in order to make good policy or offering a false choice, passing good public policy and supporting the constitution are not mutually exclusive. one of the ways were providing assistance to the states is crisis intervention grants which will provide the states with funding to intimate programs to help those in crisis and prevent them from committing self harm or harm to others. we have rejected the idea of a national red flag law even though 19 states and the district of columbia have chosen to do that themselves. one of the thingse we help is to make sure these funds assist state officials in training them how to make sure that the dues process rights of an individual are protected as they should be. this legislation also closes a gaping hole in the background check system which is the lack of juvenile records this is a challenge because most juvenile records are sealed or expunged. we know salvador ramos who went into 18 years old and passed a background check because he was a ticking time bomb. everybody knew he was struggling with his mental health challenges and he was slowly circling the drain because he didn't get the help that might've prevented his self harm not to mention the harm of others. but if a person's record includes a criminal conviction or mental health adjudication that prohibits them from purchasing a firearm as an adult it shouldn't matter whether they were 17 or 18 at the time that information should be available on the criminal background check system and that's what this bill will encourage. our bill incentivizes the states to upload this information to ensure disqualifying criminal convictions or mental health adjudications are available. unless a person is convicted of a crime or adjudicated as mentally ill their second amendment rights will not be impacted by this legislation. , let me close by saying i am grateful to senator murphy who is been a good faith partner, he would like to do ahe lot of this in addition to what we've done here but he was pragmatic and realistic enough to know that we were actually going to be successful. we were going to be to do everything that he wanted. conversely there are things that we did on our side that were outside of our comfort zone that frankly having to explain to the people, that's what a good faith negotiation looks like. and again, i think on balance the good we are doing here in the potential we have to save lives is worth any sort of concession we might've had to make during the negotiation. let me also express my gratitude to senator sinema the senator i from arizona who has been a key partner in the negotiation as well as senator tillis from north carolina. the truth is a lot of people were involved in this and i want to thank all of her colleagues who helped us round out this legislation and make sure he delivers the benefits that we saw. we also work with a variety of stakeholders from education and mental health groups to law enforcement as well as gun rights groups. i appreciate everybody who's helped us make this product better. and obviously we don't agree on a lot of things but i'm encouraged about how much common ground we were able to find. our bill has earned the endorsement of more than 100 mental health and education groups including the national alliance on mental illness and the national association of school psychologist. it received the support of law enforcement organizations including the fraternal order of police, the national shares association. the national district attorneys association and the major city chief association. it's been back i domestic violence groups such as the national network in domestic violence in the national coalition against domestic violence. i believe we have in the gallery tonight people who have suffered unthinkable losses of blood once in some of these mass shooting incidents. but i want to tell them that their advocacy has turned their pain into something positive. i believe the best in a note for the sort of unthinkable loss that they have suffered is the knowledge that something good will come out of their tragedies. something that will save lives. this broad support for this legislation shows that the meaningful comprehensive response to the tragedies we've experienced. i'm proud of what we've been able to do together and i'm positive i'm very optimistic about the impact it will have on our schools and communities across the country . . . one wae demonstrated to people that our institutions can work. many have come to doubt whether we're capable of making our institutions work, including the world's greatest deliberative body, the united states senate. and we proved that we can when sufficiently inspired by the people in the gallery and others people in the gallery and others when they say do something to come together and find common ground that will help keep the community safer, protect our children and save lives. i look forward to voting yes and moving this bill one step closer to the president's desk for signature. thank you, madam president and . >> pthank my colleague and you, madam president. i want to thank my colleague and friend from texas as well as the team that work with him, senators murphy, tillis, cinema and all of us who worked with them. where he is right is that we have shown that democracy works, at least that it can when people come together seeking common ground and responding to the overwhelming sense of urgency about solving a problem. that democracy working stands in stark juxtaposition to the other side of the congress, the house that is investigating the near overthrow and for all that are doubting, we are providing some reassurance that we can get things done and solve problems. in the wake of the tragedy, the unspeakable murder of 20 beautiful children and six educators at sandy hook elementary school and when we fail to take action on a very modest improvement of background check systems it has 55 votes but not enough to reach 60. i will never forget the cry of shame that came from that gallery. i remember the families were in that gallery and at least two of them are here today. and today it's not only those families in the gallery. it's the movement that those families through their immeasurable grief and unthinkable trauma created in the wake of that unimaginable murder. of that movement is here comprised of survivors and first responders, medical professionals, advocatesic and o many others. and today when the united states senate passes the bipartisan saver communities act, we won't hear cries of shame. it will be cries of relief finally. i am proud to have been part of the team that negotiated this measure and to have worked with colleagues on other sides of the dialect senator cornyn. this isn't the measure i fought for or the measure i would have written if i had been doing it alone,an but it marks meaningful progress. if you wait to get everything in the senate, chances are you will get nothing. progress is better than nothing. it will save lives and i will be proud to vote for it today. after 30 years, hundreds of thousands of gun deaths and failed legislative proposals, we are finally taking this step forward. the victims, the parkland victims, the uvalde victims and so many more deserve better and they deserve more. but the bipartisan community rdsafer act is that the significant steps forward that respond to the nation's sense of urgency to get something done. one way the legislation will do so that i am proud of is in the crisis intervention programs. this bill will increase funding for the program including red flag laws and programs already in place in 21 jurisdictions like connecticut which was the first. they keep firearms out of the hands of individuals who are dangerous to themselves or others. it separates those from people who say they are going to kill somebody or themselves. more than half of all gun deaths orre suicide. practical and proven they prevent not only suicide but school mass shootings and others just last week connecticut probably saved tens of lives by separating an individual who told his therapist that he was having those thoughts again and he was separated from a firearm. i've worked on the red flag issue for years with senator feinstein in the bipartisan negotiations that led to this bill, we work collaboratively and closely to develop a framework that can support states that already had these laws and states that choose to enact them going forward. implementation is important and the resources necessary for implementation are key to making them work effectively. in fact very arguably the failure of the red flag fall is to prevent the buffalo massacre was a do to the lack of resources and commitment. to alleviate concerns among some of my republican colleagues and somert gun owners, we reached a bipartisan agreement to include provisions that specify for states to be eligible to use funding on the red flag program, those programs had to include minimum due process protections. these protections are consistent with due process, safeguards provided in the 21 jurisdictions that already have these laws, and several have already been upheld in the face of constitutional challenges. the constitution already applies to these laws. so the due process guarantee would apply in any event, but we had no problem spelling out that explicit protection in the legislative text is added for reassurance and in so doing, or bipartisan group agreed all 21 jurisdictions that already have red flag walls will qualify for funding under this bill. and so to we agree any future jurisdiction that an act is such must meet the same constitutional due process minimum to be eligible. i spell out this legislative history because it's important to understand not only the context, but also the intention of these provisions and let no one doubt that the states like connecticut that already have these laws will receive funding. i'm also pleased that among other measures we've made straw purchasing and trafficking in illegal at the federal level. a measure that i know is a former u.s. attorney chief federal prosecutor in connecticut is enormously important and we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in community violence intervention and thus stop school violence program meeting these years with community groups and educators and others who want to stop mental health issues upstream before they create violence downstream. i know how enormously important rethese measures can be for connecticut and other states. i've come to the senate floor too many times, too many times to count to call on us to honor with action those incredibly strong and brave families from sandy hook, from all over the country who created this movement that we have now. it's a movement that will go on. they are not stopping and neither should we. we need to continue with the same sense of urgency and purpose towards making america even safer. this bill is a breakthrough that builds foundations for the future and opens the door and hopefully it will show colleagues that have been reluctant to stand up to the gun lobby in the past and help maintain the grip of the gun lobby on the congress that their power is done. their intimidation will no longer hold here. we are saving lives. it's a proud moment for the united states senate, and i thank all of my colleagues for supporting this breakthrough measure. >> i believe in the god-given right for law-abiding americans to keep and bear arms. the second amendment has given millions the right to defend their spouse, their family, their children, their home. tebut if you consider yourself a supporter of the second amendment, you absolutely want to do something about uvalde, to do something about murders related to domestic violence, to do something about straw purchases into something about teen suicide. that's why we have targeted legislation. the act that addresses the specific problems that r have ld the t mass shootings by restricting access for someone that shouldn't have a weapon but also by providing additional mental health resources and by hardening schools. this legislation accomplishes these goals without infringing upon the law-abiding citizens second amendment rights. now let me repeat that. because there's been confusion and speeches from the floor. there've been internet exploding. there's rumors of somehow this infringes upon the law-abiding citizens rights to keep and bear arms. that is absolutely false and if anyone says so, they are misleading the american people. madam president, this doesn't do anything. with this legislation says is that unless you are an adjudicated, and an adjudicated is a word that means you go before a judge and the judge looks at the evidence and under the bill if a state puts this into law, then they've got to follow due process which says the person that may lose their second amendment rights has the right to an attorney. a higher standard for the evidence that must be presented. that person has their day in court and this was the gold standard the national rifleoc association always advocated for him as if we were going to take second amendment rights from someone who should not have them. talking about inflation as much as they are talking about this, but i have a message. if they think that we can protect second amendment rights and do something about a tragedy such as uvalde. i'm going to give you some of the comments that shows you the confusionnd and the concerns and where the american people are. he asked when he dies can he pass his gun to his child of his child is law-abiding. absolutely. we don't touch that and chris should be able to do so. although he had been told that was the case. i was asking about rj and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and i said we've got something in there that actually addresses that. two people said we should forbid the purpose of so-called assault weapons and i heard from him that he said i live in a tough section of town and if somebody invades my house, i don't want it to be a fair fight. so i've heard on all sides of the arguments as to what. the message i got, we can address and protect second amendment rights but still do something about uvalde. there's other types of gun violence in our society. this bill addresses at least four. there's the domestic violence. there is suicide by a child. there is a gangster buying a chute and a rampage shooting. olet's talk about each of those. when it comes to the domestic violence a guy beats up his girlfriend and comes back with a weapon and shoots her a month later.th it happenso too much. i talked to my police chief and he tells me that domestic violence and murder sniped under the pandemic. this bill does something about it. i asked people that oppose the bill, what about the promise. should we do something for her safety? this bill does something for her safety and for her children's safety and prevents suicide by the troubled man who goes there in the p first place. let's talk about crime, strong purchases. the boyfriend has a felony. against the law but it happens all the time. we strengthen. if you are watching on c-span, i'm challenging you because we took the position rj said we should do and we increased the penalties for that person who buys the weapon nearly to pass it to another. hopefully in prison for as much as ten years if she contributes to a murder by buying a gun for someone that goes out and commits that. we talk about what is much more common, the teenager shooting himself. they can still steal a weapon if they want to but there's $12 billion in some form or another for mental health services. we do our best to reach the child and by the way then come suicide and the addiction. i'm a doctor. i've seen this stuff and after the addiction comes the person that is emotionally troubled. we are putting in mental health services that can address it all butf money for a line if someby is just like my gosh i'm desperate, they have somebody to call. personally i would like to have the i'm a troubled teenager act. they are doing this in utah and they tell me the investment has been tremendous. i think they told me they prevented a suicide. off the top of my head that is called a suicide every two weeks and that is a powerful intervention. this bill has that capability. and last, there is the information regarding the rampage shooting in uvalde. somebody told me, i searched on the internet and i didn't see that he was troubled. that is precisely the point. he's troubled but he's less than 18. of those records are sealed. you t can't get to them. every indication that this troublede young man wouldn't hae a reason to purchase a weapon, it's sealed. he turns 18, he is clean. and he goes out and buys to assault weapons to start planning his assault. if you're pro-s second amendme, you want to stop that. what this bill does is allow the court to look into that and say he's cleaned, that's okay, or he's troubled and we need extra time to look t at this. by the way, that's a provision that has been distorted and twisted to imply that law-abiding 18 to 21-year-olds wouldn't be able to w purchase weapons. if you are law-abiding you can still purchase that weapon if you are 18 but if not, if there is another indication, then the background check has a chance to look at it and if you are pro- second amendment, i will say one more time, you should applaud that provision. now let's do a couple other things. right now a mexican cartel can smuggle weapons to mexico to shoot people up. we make that illegal. anyou would think it already should be but it's not. how can somebody be against that, criminalizing cartels from smuggling into mexico and somehow we are infringing upon second amendment rights in the cartel's? i wish we could do worse to them. we are doing something about criminals but as i said, we preserve the second amendmentas rights. now i'm a gastroenterologist so i wouldn't know anything about the due process except a for the term but john cornyn has done a fantastic job and the other attorneys and i've learned a little about due process, madam president.oc by the way, when somebody calls me up and say they heard something on the internet, i say why don't you read the bill. and ongo page 33, you're going o read about due process. it says any state red flags law if they want federal dollars, they've now got to obey these rules and they say it must include at a minimum due process rights p that prevent any violation or infringement on the constitution of the united states. if you are pro- second amendment, you should like that. a state can have a red flag fall right now and not have that in there b but under this bill, thy had better. how can anyone object to that? the bill also ensures that those that are taking due process strengthen the citizens rights to due process. it increases the evidentiary area bar. it can't be hearsay. it's got to be before a judge and it's got to have evidence and the person losing their right or that may be losing their right has to have the ability to have an attorney with them.pe now, no offense to my people on the other side of the aisle bute for poor due process, they will not get federal dollars and that should be something we are proud of. in my state it doesn't have a red flag law. it doesn't require mandates or incentivizing that louisiana develop a red flag wall but my state does get money for d drug courts. for enforcing restraint orders so the fellow that isn't supposed to go near his wife because they are afraid he will beat her up again, the police have more resources in order to prevent that. who can be against that? that is in this bill. by the way, the legislation, there is money for the stop schoolra violence safety program including the resource officers and school hardening. there is additional funding for mental health resources, drug and violence prevention, mentoring, crisis intervention, high quality training for school personnel and suicide prevention and human trafficking. how can someone be against that? this is a solution. by the way, we had a serious problem in mental health. in my career, i have been privileged to work with senator murphy and others on solutions for mental health. there is increased dollars for medicaid including telehealth services for schools that might be in a rural area. it expands mental health services under medicaid. school-based mental health services all expanded. it re- authorizes the pediatric mental health care access program. it gives providers extra training in mental health. and i could go on. there's still a lot of misinformation out there. but i would say if you don't know what's in the bill, it's online. pick it up and read it. but if you are pro- second amendment, you should be for this bill. we can protect the rights and make an impact on teen suicide enupon domestic