[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 423 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 423
Condemning in the strongest terms the unprovoked and racially motivated
murder of Lt. Richard W. Collins III in College Park, Maryland, on May
20, 2017, expressing concern for the rising tide of racist and hate-
based activities being committed on our college campuses, and
reaffirming our support for inclusion, diversity, and safety in our
higher education institutions in the wake of these attacks.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 29, 2017
Mr. Brown of Maryland (for himself, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr.
Butterfield, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clarke of New
York, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Costa, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Delaney,
Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Evans, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr.
Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Hanabusa, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Norton, Mr.
Hoyer, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Johnson of
Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Lee, Mr.
Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New
Mexico, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Ms. Moore, Mrs.
Napolitano, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Payne, Mr. Peters, Ms. Plaskett, Mr.
Pocan, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr.
Rush, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms.
Slaughter, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs.
Watson Coleman, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Ms. Bass) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education
and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning in the strongest terms the unprovoked and racially motivated
murder of Lt. Richard W. Collins III in College Park, Maryland, on May
20, 2017, expressing concern for the rising tide of racist and hate-
based activities being committed on our college campuses, and
reaffirming our support for inclusion, diversity, and safety in our
higher education institutions in the wake of these attacks.
Whereas, on May 20, 2017, Lt. Collins was heinously stabbed in the chest in an
unprovoked attack at a bus-stop on the campus of the University of
Maryland, College Park;
Whereas his alleged attacker, Sean Christopher Urbanski, had a known association
with an Alt-Right White-supremacist group called ``Alt Reich: Nation'';
Whereas the incident took the life of Richard W. Collins III, who was recently
commissioned as an officer in the United States Army, intelligence
branch; and was killed two days before he was set to graduate with a
business degree from Bowie State University;
Whereas the horrific attack on the campus of the University of Maryland is the
latest in an escalating rise in racial and hate-motivated activities on
college campuses targeting Muslims, Jews, the disabled, immigrants,
members of the LGBT community, and people of color;
Whereas the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center have
catalogued hate crimes in 33 States in recent months, including--
(1) a noose was found on the campus of American University in
Washington, DC, on the same day a Black woman became student body
president;
(2) posters at the University of Texas imploring students to ``report
any and all illegal aliens. America is a White nation'';
(3) Adolf Hitler themed valentine's cards stating ``my love 4 u burns
like 6,000 Jews'' circulated at Central Michigan University;
(4) flyers at the University of Pennsylvania asking onlookers to
``imagine a Muslim-free America''; and
(5) printers were hacked and were forced to print anti-Semitic fliers
at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee;
Whereas a growing number of White, nationalist, racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic
organizations are engaged in an unprecedented effort to attract and
recruit young people on college campuses;
Whereas these extremist organizations have consciously made the decision to
focus their outreach efforts on young people and students, employed a
variety of tactics including fliers, online organizing, and bringing
national leaders to speak, and have openly boasted of efforts to
establish a physical presence on campus;
Whereas we have a responsibility to uphold the right to free speech that is
protected by the United States Constitution, but we must not allow
freedom of speech to be translated into hate-based activities and
crimes;
Whereas long-time White supremacist Jared Taylor described the political
landscape, as ``a sign of rising White consciousness and that now is the
time to press our advantage in every way possible'';
Whereas we have avoided discussion regarding homegrown terrorists that are
becoming radicalized on social media and college campuses;
Whereas we must commit to do a better job at confronting hate in all forms, not
just on college campuses, but addressing these systematic issues in our
neighborhoods, workplaces, and criminal justice system; and
Whereas the United States House of Representatives must come together and
address the underlying issues leading to these unacceptable and heinous
actions: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the recent attack in Maryland, on May 20,
2017, that resulted in the tragic loss of Lt. Richard Collins
III and all other hate-motivated incidents since the fall;
(2) acknowledges the efforts undertaken by the university
officials at Maryland and across the country to respond to
racism, extremism and hate, and create a safer campus for all
members of the community;
(3) recognizes the persistent and growing threat posed by
hate speech, efforts by extremist organizations to specifically
target young people, and the normalization of these practices
through platitudes about free speech; and
(4) remains actively committed to offering solutions that
promote open, tolerant, and safe learning environments that
fully respect diversity on college campuses.
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