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