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Committee Leaders Seek Clarification on Obama School Safety Recommendations

U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN), Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Chairman Todd Rokita (R-IN) today sent letters to Attorney General Eric Holder, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking for additional details on the school safety components of the Obama administration’s recommendations to reduce gun violence.

“Protecting the nation’s children is a shared goal,” said Chairman Kline. “The House Education and the Workforce Committee has already launched a careful review of programs and policies under our jurisdiction to determine what is and is not working when it comes to school safety. I call on the administration to help us in this endeavor by providing the requested briefing on its safety recommendations as soon as possible.”

In the letters, Chairman Kline, Rep. Foxx, and Rep. Rokita write:

President Obama recently stated, “We won’t be able to stop every violent act, but if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try.” The horrific events at Sandy Hook Elementary School have sparked a national conversation about school safety. While we agree we cannot stop every senseless act of violence, we share the president’s commitment to reviewing the facts and evaluating proposed and existing policies and programs intended to help teachers, principals, and parents protect their children.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce takes seriously this responsibility to the nation’s teachers, principals, and superintendents, as well as the parents and children who deserve access to a quality education in a safe learning environment.

The members pose specific questions to each recipient on timelines, planning, cost, and methodology for the implementation of the administration’s executive actions, as well as the congressional proposals and suggested changes to existing programs. They request a briefing no later than February 7, 2013.

To read the letter to Attorney General Holder, click here.
To read the letter to Education Secretary Duncan, click here.
To read the letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, click here. 

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