2018: Schweikert Voted Against 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, Schweikert voted against 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: Schweikert 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, Schweikert 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]