Ted Cruz proposed school safety bill blocked on Senate floor
AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) - On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz went to the Senate floor to seek unanimous consent for his proposed school safety bill, but it was blocked.
Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, objected to the Cruz legislation and criticized him for not being serious.
"This isn't real. This is a tv show. This is click bait. This is theater. This isn't an actual attempt to pass legislation," Murphy said.
In response, Senator Cruz said, "That objection is wrong. It's irresponsible and it shows a willingness to play political games."
Because he asked for unanimous consent, any opposition from a Senator keeps the bill from passing.
Cruz outlined his legislation in an interview with CBS 11 on Tuesday.
The Securing Our Schools Act of 2022 would have provided $15 billion to double the number of school resource officers, $10 billion to hire 15,000 mental health professionals for middle and high schools and $2.56 billion for physical security improvements on school campuses.
The proposal comes nearly four months after the mass shooting at Uvalde's Robb Elementary School left 19 students and two teachers dead and another 17 injured.
Cruz told CBS 11, "Having additional police officers there on the campus able to protect your daughter, your son, able to stop someone who would commit a horrific crime of violence before they get into the school, nothing is more effective than law enforcement physically present there."
He said schools need help identifying troubled young men.
"There are warning signs that if you had a mental health professional hopefully some of these crimes could be stopped before they're carried out," Cruz said.
In addition, Cruz said his proposal provides $540 million in FEMA security grants for non-profit organizations, including houses of worship.
The legislation would have been paid for by using unspent COVID-19 related education funding.
No word yet from Cruz's office as to what his next step will be.
