U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) said students across central New York, concerned about their well-being at school, motivated him to support the $2.3 billion funding increase for mental health treatment, enhanced training and school safety measures included in the recently enacted $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill.
Following the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Rep. Katko held several meetings with groups of students from school districts across New York’s 24th Congressional District, as well as with local law enforcement, school administrators and teachers, the congressman said during an April 9 speech at the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office in Syracuse, where he was joined by local deputies, police officers and school officials, among others.
“These articulate and well-informed young men and women have made clear that they simply want to feel safe and secure when they go to school. I took what I heard from these students back to Washington and proudly advocated on their behalf,” said Rep. Katko, who held the event to outline his congressional efforts around keeping children safe.
In voting to approve the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, H.R. 1625, which became law on March 23, Katko told event attendees that a portion of the $2.3 billion in funds earmarked for school safety-related items will support federal Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants, which are allocated to school districts and used in schools to partner with local police on hiring and training school resource officers (SROs).
Also in support of H.R. 1625, Rep. Katko said he led efforts to fully fund the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). He said he wanted to guarantee that NICS functions better in handling increased background check demand and to improve the system’s performance, including its E-Check services. By providing incentives and penalties to help increase NICS reporting, lawmakers have said they hope to curb gun violence.
Joining the congressman at the April 9 event was Syracuse City School District Superintendent Jaime Alicea, West Genesee School District Superintendent Chris Brown, Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler, Auburn Police Chief Shawn Butler, and representatives of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office.