Central Texas congressional delegation reacts to killings,
Members of Congress representing Central Texas reacted with sadness and frustration after a 19-year-old gunman Wednesday killed 17 people at a Florida high school that he used to attend.
Authorities say Nikolas Cruz, who had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, returned to the campus with an AR-15 rifle and “began shooting students that he saw in the hallways and on the school grounds.” The Valentine’s Day school shooting is one of the deadliest in American history.
On Thursday, survivors and victims’ families demanded lawmakers create policies that would limit attacks like the one in Florida. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, responded by calling for hearings to identify “what kind of tools might be available to us” to prevent mass shootings.
“Our churches and schools should be refuges, places where parents and children especially feel safe and secure,” Cornyn said from the Senate floor Thursday. “Many of these shootings can be prevented. Perhaps not all, but we need to do everything we can.”
Cornyn spoke specifically about a bill that he introduced to fix problems in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which has passed the U.S. Senate and awaits a vote in the House. Devin Patrick Kelley, the gunman in the Sutherland Springs church mass killing, couldn’t legally buy or possess firearms, but he managed to because his criminal history was not in the FBI system.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the Florida attack was heartbreaking, and Democrats wanted to politicize the shooting by pushing “gun control,” he said during an appearance on Fox News Channel.
“That’s not the right answer,” Cruz said. “The answer is to focus on criminals, to focus on violent criminals. This individual appears to have significant issues with mental illness. I think we will certainly be asking were there signs of mental illness, could we have stepped in and prevented this beforehand.”
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, had a different take.
“This horrible, unending loss of precious lives must not be ignored by this Republican-controlled Congress, owned lock, stock, and barrel by the NRA,” he said in a statement. “There have been 376 mass shootings since the beginning of 2017, and the Parkland massacre marks the 18th school shooting this year alone. In the past five months, three of the 10 deadliest shootings in U.S. history have occurred.”
Moments of silence are often followed by “moments of Republican inaction,” Doggett added.
Here are how other Central Texas lawmakers reacted:
“This attack on innocent children in Parkland, Fla. is heartbreaking. Please join me in keeping the victims, their families, and the Parkland community in our hearts. Thank you to our law enforcement for their response,” said U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin.
“This tragedy is absolutely heartbreaking. Please join me in prayer for all of those affected in this hateful act,” said U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin.
“Heartbreaking news coming out of Florida this afternoon. Our thoughts are with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School community,” said U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio.
“This attack on innocent students is an example of the purest form of evil. As a father and a grandfather, my heart breaks for the children that experienced this terror, and my deepest condolences go out to the families and friends of the victims of this horrifying act,” said U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock.
U.S. Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, and Bill Flores, R-San Antonio, did not provide comments Thursday. Farenthold’s district includes parts of Bastrop and Caldwell counties, and Flores represents parts of North Austin and Pflugerville.