2018: Fitzpatrick Voted For The $1.3 Trillion FY 2018 Omnibus
Spending Deal Which Raised Spending By $138 Billion Over FY 2017
Levels; Legislation Included STOP School Violence Act, Which Authorized
Grants For Training And School Safety Initiatives And Metal Detectors
And Other Physical School Improvements. In March 2018, Fitzpatrick
voted for the FY 2018 Omnibus spending bill. According to Congressional
Quarterly, "Combined, the spending measures would provide about $1.3
trillion in discretionary spending, with $1.2 trillion subject to
discretionary spending caps, and $78.1 billion designated as Overseas
Contingency Operations funds. The measure's spending levels are
consistent with the increased defense and non-defense budget caps set by
the two-year budget deal agreed to last month. That agreement increased
the FY 2018 defense cap by $80 billion and the non-defense cap by $63
billion. Given that the previous caps were set to reduce overall
discretionary spending by $5 billion, the net increase provided by the
omnibus is $138 billion over the FY 2017 level." The vote was on the
motion to concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment. The House
agreed to the motion, thereby passing the bill, by a vote of 256 to 167.
The Senate later agreed to the legislation, sending it to the president,
who signed it into law. [House Vote 127,
3/22/18; Congressional
Quarterly, 3/22/18; Congressional
Actions, H.R.
1625]
Omnibus Included The STOP School Violence Act. According to Vox,
"The bill includes the STOP School Violence Act of 2018, a measure
to increase grants for security training, metal detectors, stronger
locks, emergency notifications, and other provisions meant to
improve school safety. It passed the House by an overwhelming
bipartisan margin earlier this month." [Vox,
3/23/18]
Student Survivors Of The Parkland Shooting Helped Change The Gun
Safety Conversation. According to Vox, "The students of Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School are changing the rhetoric around school
shootings and gun control, and have succeeded in keeping the tragedy
in Parkland, Florida, in the news for much longer than the media's
usual attention span. With the March for Our Lives and planned
school walkouts, student activists hope to turn their vocal protest
of gun violence into a sustained movement." [Vox,
3/23/18]
2018: Fitzpatrick Voted For Legislation Which Authorized $50 Million
In DOJ Grants For Training And School Safety Initiatives And $25 In
Metal Detectors And Other Physical School Improvements. In March 2018,
Fitzpatrick voted for The STOP School Violence Act. According to ABC
News, "In a bipartisan vote of 407-10, lawmakers approved the STOP
School Violence Act, which provides federal grants intended to make
schools safer. Five Democrats and five Republicans voted against the
measure. The bill authorizes $50 million per year for grants
administered by the Department of Justice to fund training and other
initiatives intended to enhance school safety, and $25 million annually
for physical improvements such as metal detectors, stronger locks, and
emergency notification and response technologies for schools to notify
law enforcement of emergencies." The vote was on a motion to suspend the
rules and pass the bill. The House agreed to the motion, thereby passed
the bill by a vote of 407 to 10. The FY 2018 Omnibus spending bill,
which became law, had similar language. [House Vote 106,
3/14/18; ABC News,
3/14/18;
Congressional Quarterly,
3/21/18; Congressional Actions,
H.R.
1625;
Congressional Actions, H.R.
4909]
Rep. Nadler: "This Bill Fails To Do So And It Should Not -- It
Cannot -- Be Our Only Response To Their [Young People Asking
Congress To Do Something On Guns] Demands." According to ABC
News, "Despite the widespread bipartisan vote, Democrats urged
Republicans to vote on additional measures to prevent gun violence,
such as universal background checks. 'Today young people across the
country are taking a stand and calling upon this Congress to do
something about the scourge of gun violence that has terrorized our
schools and our streets for too long. This bill fails to do so and
it should not -- it cannot -- be our only response to their
demands,' Nadler, D-N.Y., said. 'We must make schools safer, but the
best way to do that is to do more to prevent gun violence from
occurring in the first place. Congress must do more to stop gun
violence. It is not enough to say that staff and students must do
more to protect themselves.'" [ABC News,
3/14/18]
Parkland, Florida: Seventeen People Were Killed In A School
Shooting On February 14, 2018. According to the Guardian,
"Seventeen people were confirmed dead as the United States endured
another horrifying school shooting at the hands of a teenage gunman
armed with an AR-15 assault rifle. Twelve people died inside Marjory
Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida. Two died just
outside the building, one died in a nearby street and two victims
died in hospital, a Broward County sheriff confirmed." [Guardian,
2/15/18]