Cornyn: ‘No National “Red Flag” Law’

This week on the floor, I discussed the recently announced agreement guiding potential school safety and mental health legislation, which would not include a national ‘red flag’ law. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

Our agreement is based on principles alone, and translating this proposal into legislative language is no easy task, as members of the Senate understand.

None of what we are proposing would create a national ‘red flag’ law. No national ‘red flag’ law.

Congress should not only send federal funding to those states, but also other states that are doing things to deal with people in crisis.

I'm fighting for this proposal to include a grant program that gives every state - regardless of whether it has a ‘red flag’ law or not - funding to administer programs that they do have that will reduce violence, increase public safety, and make sure that individuals in crisis get the help that they need.

The existence or lack of a ‘red flag’ law should not impact any state's ability to receive funds for crisis intervention. And if a state does want to use this money to implement a ‘red flag’ law, they should not be able to do so unless their red flag law contains a full set of due process and Bill of Rights protections in the Constitution.

So how could states without ‘red flag’ laws use this money? There are a range of evidence-based programs that support our shared goal, which is, in fact, to keep communities safe and to save lives.

One great example is the assisted outpatient treatment programs.

Maybe they've tried to do something a little bit differently, like assisted outpatient treatment, mental health courts, which have been very successful in my state, and veterans courts, in particular, to focus on our veteran’s community who have particular challenges. While I'm talking about assisted outpatient treatment, 47 states actually have those laws, and I would like the money that would be available under this fund for crisis intervention to be able to be used for that.

I don't support any prescriptive mandates or national mandates at all, including a national ‘red flag.’

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