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.