[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 2, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             THE NATURE OF OUR COMMUNITY IS STILL UP TO US

                                 ______


                           HON. LARRY LaROCCO

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 2, 1994

  Mr. LaROCCO. Mr. Speaker, I ask that an editorial from the February 
24, 1994, Idaho County Free Press, be entered into the Record. Written 
by Jeff Tallent, the editorial reminds us of our individual 
responsibility to speak out against hatred and intolerance.
  In condemning the racist doctrine of the Aryan Nations in north 
Idaho, or challenging the exclusionary efforts of the antigay Idaho 
Citizens Alliance, I have repeatedly voiced my opposition to all forms 
of hatred.
  As the editorial concludes, ``Hatred is a disease that can't be 
cured, but it can be controlled when communities set their minds to 
it.''
  Sadly, acts of hatred and intolerance continue to occur. When they 
arise, I am confident Idaho's communities will once again choose to 
unite in position to hate and intolerance.

           [From the Idaho County Free Press, Feb. 24, 1994]

             The Nature of Our Community Is Still Up to Us

       It appears Idaho County is on its way to the unenviable 
     distinction of becoming a home to a white supremacist element 
     now that James ``Bo'' Gritz and friends are prepared to take 
     up residence.
       The Coalition for Human Dignity, a group that monitors the 
     activities of ultra right organizations, has established 
     Gritz's land acquisition in Idaho County and has drawn 
     parallels between that and the plans it says are circulating 
     within the radical right to establish strongholds populated 
     by true believers trained in paramilitary tactics.``A pack of 
     lies'' retorted Gritz's mouthpiece, Jerry Gillespie, who 
     denied an association of either him or Gritz with hate groups 
     while lashing out at the coalition as a ``homosexual-lesbian 
     group.''
       Let's assume that the coalition is wrong about Gritz's 
     intentions on the parcel of land called ``Almost Heaven.'' 
     For now, let's be optimistic and say the coalition overstated 
     the relationship between Gritz's land buy in Idaho County and 
     the paramilitary-style training it says Gritz is 
     conducting through his Center for Action. Let's buy into 
     Gillespie's claim that Gritz isn't forming a ``Christian 
     Covenant Community,'' but a subdivision of people eager to 
     be good neighbors--who would never consider throwing a 
     loud party or neglecting their lawns.
       You've still got the frightening prospect of James ``Bo'' 
     Gritz moving to town and in a position to hand-pick his 
     neighbors. You've got a leadership vacuum in North Idaho's 
     white supremacist movement. Nature abhors a vacuum and Gritz 
     is a born leader.
       Take umbrage all he will, the white supremacist label is 
     one he helped stick on himself and one he deserves. He may 
     not claim formal membership in white supremacist groups, but 
     he wasn't above seeking their support in his bids for public 
     office. Theirs is the movement he hoped to ride into national 
     power and theirs is the element he's mobilizing in Idaho 
     County.
       Already ultra-right Idaho Constitutionalists have put the 
     Idaho County Sheriff on notice to start looking for another 
     job because their man is coming from Arizona and they intend 
     to put him in office.
       That's not a hollow threat. A tactic the ultra right has 
     used before is to enter a sparsely populated county and try 
     to swing elections their way. It's never worked and for the 
     same reason it won't work here. Most people aren't saints but 
     are decent, and they can even be heroic if push comes to 
     shove.
       Consider the people of Billings, Montana, who were plagued 
     by hate crimes of racist skinheads. In December they targeted 
     Jewish homes displaying menorahs--nine-candled symbols of 
     Hanukkah. A beer bottle was hurled through a glass door of 
     one home and a cinder block through a window of another. 
     Within days, menorahs were displayed in thousands of homes in 
     the city and it became too big a job to harass everyone.
       Hatred is a disease that can't be cured, but it can be 
     controlled when communities set their minds to it.
  

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