Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HCR167 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R29917 KSM-F
2	2	By: Kuempel H.C.R. No. 167
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5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, Many survivors and parents, spouses, and children of
7	7	survivors and deceased victims of the 2017 mass shooting in
8	8	Sutherland Springs continue to suffer the aftereffects of this
9	9	crime and their resulting injuries and have unmet needs such as
10	10	medical care, therapy, psychological treatment, and loss of earning
11	11	capacity and financial support, and they suffer from physical and
12	12	emotional impairment, as well as loss of physical function and use
13	13	of limbs and systems; and
14	14	WHEREAS, The deadliest mass shooting in the state's history,
15	15	the Sutherland Springs attack was perpetrated by a former member of
16	16	the United States Air Force who should have been prevented from
17	17	purchasing or possessing firearms; the shooter had been convicted
18	18	of domestic violence in a court-martial, and under the Brady
19	19	Handgun Violence Prevention Act, his name was required to be
20	20	entered into the FBI National Crime Information Center Database;
21	21	this database allows the National Instant Criminal Background Check
22	22	System to flag prohibited purchases of firearms; and
23	23	WHEREAS, The Defense Department Inspector General found that
24	24	the Air Force had on four occasions failed to submit the shooter's
25	25	fingerprints to the FBI; in addition, it twice neglected to send his
26	26	final disposition report; if these requirements had been met, the
27	27	shooter would not have been able to pass federally mandated
28	28	background checks in order to purchase the weapons he used in the
29	29	Sutherland Springs murders; these failures had drastic
30	30	consequences and should not have occurred, and no excuse exists for
31	31	the Air Force's failures to submit the shooter's fingerprint
32	32	records and his final disposition report to the FBI; nevertheless,
33	33	the Air Force has not responded to claims for compensation filed
34	34	under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and survivors and surviving
35	35	families have received no remedy through the courts to date and face
36	36	extended uncertainty regarding the ultimate outcome of protracted
37	37	litigation against the United States while their needs remain
38	38	unmet; and
39	39	WHEREAS, The Secretary of the Air Force acknowledged before
40	40	the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate that, despite a
41	41	DOD IG audit in 2015 that revealed the Air Force had failed to
42	42	report 30 percent of the disqualifying information under the Brady
43	43	Act and Air Force regulation to the FBI, the Air Force failed to
44	44	make the agreed upon changes retroactive and failed to report this
45	45	shooter's criminal history to the FBI on four different occasions;
46	46	and
47	47	WHEREAS, In the years to come, many survivors and surviving
48	48	families will continue to struggle with medical expenses,
49	49	impairment, and physical and emotional suffering, as well as the
50	50	loss of earning capacity and income, and they are entitled to
51	51	relief; now, therefore, be it
52	52	RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas
53	53	hereby urge the United States Congress to pass legislation
54	54	compensating the survivors and surviving families of the Sutherland
55	55	Springs mass shooting for damages due to the failure of the U.S. Air
56	56	Force to report the shooter's conviction to the FBI National Crime
57	57	Information Center Database; and, be it further
58	58	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
59	59	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
60	60	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
61	61	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
62	62	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
63	63	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
64	64	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.