news alert called efall future, where we put out a collection of weekly news clips that highlight how civil rights and technology is intersecting in different areas, including the economy, including online civic life and including criminal justice and that's how we keep track of what is going on and also share with civil society organizations, our partners, and with anyone in the public who wants to keep up to dade with the issues. >> host: team upturn.org, miranda bogen is a policy analyst and has been our guest on "the communicators." >> if you want to see more of c-span's "the communicatorses" programs, go to. >> next, senators bill nelson of florida and orrin hatch of utah on the parkland, florida, shooting. >> thank you, mr. president.

today marks nearly two weeks since the murder of 17 students and staff in parkland, florida. today also marks the moment that we resolve to do something about school violence. may it mark the moment that both left and right determine to lay aside their differences and work together to prevent future tragedies. to keep our children safe from harm, there's no panacea, no one legislative solution and it disheartens me when i hear talk about what can't be done. it's time to focus on what can be done. fortunately solutions than state level, glueing my home state of utah, can help show us the way forward. working in the realm of the possible, utah state legislators have coming to to forge bipartisan solutions to stop school violence. when i was in sal lake last week

i western first hand about the safe utah smartphone app. the safeit crisis tex and tip line is a statewide service that provides real-time crisis intervention to youth through texting and in confidential tips program. licensed clinicians from the university, neuropsychiatric institute at the university of utah, -- utah health, respond to all incoming chats, texts, and calls 24/7 by providing supporting crisis counsel, suicide prevention and referral services. the safe utah program developed with funding from the utah state legislate in your collaboration with the university

neuropsychiatric institute think utah state office of education the it office of the attorney general and anti-bullying coalition is a testament to what can be done when mental health, education and law enforcement agencies work together to prevent student violence. not only is the app innovative, it works. since the app was unveiled in 2016, 86 planned school attacks have been stopped. think about that. 86 school attacks stopped in a relatively small state. nat number translates to dozens of laws searched and hundred odd heartbreak spared. for thousands of families across the state the simple app made a world of difference. imagine the potential if these kind technologies were available to students across the country.

we could quickly get hem for those who need it and in the process save countless lives. later this week i'll introduce the students, teachers and officers preventing school violence act, or the stop school violence act; i mates department of justice grants available to states to fund programs designed to reduce school violence. to that end the stop school violence act will fund the four initiatives. first it will provide grant funding for evidence-based training to prevent student violence against others and self. including training for local law enforcement officers, school personnel, and students. this is not just an active shooter training. but training designed to give students and teachers the knowledge to recognize and properly respond to warning signs or signals to stop school

violence before it occurs. second, the bill will fund evidence-based technology adequately to improve school security and prevent schooling violence. this includes the development and operation of anonymous reporting systems like the safe utah app, as well as improvements to school security infrastructure to deter and respond to threats of school violence. when prevention efforts fall short, as the unfortunately will in some a cases, locks on classroom doors, reinforced entryways and other common sense infrastructure improvements will help limit the violence. third. the bill will provide funding for the development and operation of evidence-based school threat assessment and crisis intervention teams. which may include evidence-based

training for school officials in responding to mental health crises. again, school personnel need the tools to assess and respond to threats before they materialize, including those threats that originate from individuals struggling with mental health issues. finally, the bill will provide fund for continued coordination with local law enforcement. law enforcement alone cannot prevent school violence, just as no amount of prevention training, security, and infrastructure. i prompts-0 mental health resources could prevented tragedies lining that in parkland. but law enforcement and in particular those officers who already staff schools, have an important role to play in any comprehensive solution to prevent school violence.

now, some of you pay point out something my bill does not address and that's guns. on this issue many reforms have been proposed over the last 12 days, some old and some new. believe we can find common ground here, too, such as that outlined in the partisan fix nics act, which ensures or background check system is operating as designed. a background check is only as good as the records and the database. the fbi's national instant criminal background check system is currently incomplete abuse many federal agencies and states have not provide all records that establish one as prohibited from owning the firearm under current law. especially those related to mental health adjudications and involuntary commitment orders. the bipartisan fix nics act well

ensure more of those record make it into the database by holding federal agencies accountable for uploading relevant reports and incentivizing states to uploot all relevant information, including these missing records, will help ensure moring a security complete background checks, thereby keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of felons, fugitives, drug addicts, persons with serious mental illness and other prohibited persons. i will be the first admit there is no single perfect solution. not the stop school violence act and not the fix nics act, but

both bills can help save lives. remember the 86 planned school attack us since the safe utah app was unveiled, and remember the 26 lives that might have been spared if the domestic violence shooter in texas has been properly entered into the fbi background database. mr. president, now is not the time for argument but for action. rather than letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, i immore my friends on both sides of the tile coming to for the safety of our children. rather than resorting to recycled talking points, i ask my colleagues to heed minority leader schumer's call to, close, pass real legislation that makes a difference, unquote. rather than retreating to our partisan foxholes, i call on republicans and democrats alike

to surrender their rhetorical weapons for the good of the nation and the good of our children, all of us must look beyond the horizon of our political differences to find common ground. mr. president, is this legislation enough to solve the problem of school violence? no. quite frankly, it is not enough but it is a start, and it's a start upon which we can all agree. we won't solve the problem of school violence overnight but with incremental efforts such as the legislation i have proposed we can make a lasting difference and even save thousands of lives. so let's not delay any further. we owe it to our children and all of those affected by gun violence to take he decisive action in those areas where we do agree. mr. president, this is important stuff. we can't just throw in the sponge and act like we've got

this problem solved when we still have work to do. so i hope that we'll take heed to what i have just suggested. think it can be very helpful to us and we follow this suggestion or these suggestions i've made here today. thank you, mr. president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. >> ms. president, i ask consent that the quorum call be lifted. >> ought objection. senator from florida. >> mr. president, it's with heavy heart i bring a report to the senate from marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, suburb of fort lauderdale. the teachers and the staff of the school returned to work today, which is less than two weeks after a former student walked on to the campus with an ar-15,