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BEE CAVE, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - On Wednesday afternoon Rep. Roger Williams (TX-25) paid a visit to Bee Cave Middle School, promoting a bill that could authorize $2 billion toward violence prevention in schools.
"In the greatest country on earth no parent should fear sending their child to school and no child or educator should fear for their own safety in the classroom." said Williams, discussing the “School Violence Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2019.”
Williams first introduced the legislation mid-summer. If passed, he said the bill would establish a “federal grant program for public schools to first identify security risks then make security improvements to mitigate those risks.”
The bill would authorize $2 billion over ten years for public schools.
Lake Travis Independent School District Superintendent Brad Lancaster says the money the bill could bring the district would be a welcomed boost.
“Any building that’s more than a few years old has exterior doors and you need alarms there, cameras, shortened response time for law enforcement to arrive,” Lancaster said. “Hopefully, as a district we will never need it, but it’s nice to have some additional funding at a federal level.”
Williams is a victim of gun violence. He was injured during the GOP baseball shooting in Alexandria, Va. In 2017. His staffer was shot.
Williams’ co-sponsor for the bill is Democrat Congressman Ted Deutch, who represents Parkland, Fla. Williams says the legislation is bipartisan.
“The time has come for us all to work together to address threats schools often face.” he said.
Williams eluded that gun violence was the main threat, citing recent school shootings. Though, he made it clear he did not want the bill tied to gun violence or control.
“It’s a school safety bill, not a gun bill.” he said.