[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 53 (Thursday, May 5, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          OUR COMMUNITIES MUST BE VIGILANT AGAINST HATE CRIMES

                                 ______


                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 1994

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out against a hate 
crime incident in my home district of Montgomery County, MD. Last week, 
Samira Hussein's four children walked out of their Gaithersburg home 
and found their car marked with a swastika, a tire flattened, and the 
door handles glued. Samira Hussein had become a hate crime victim 
because of her efforts to educate the community and the school system 
about her Arab-American and Islamic culture.
  Although this act of vandalism is reprehensible, of greater 
significance has been the exceptional outpouring of support by the 
community in denouncing these acts of religious and racial hatred. This 
past Sunday, almost 200 people, in support of the Hussein family, 
representing the Moslem, Christian, and Jewish communities, attended a 
rally to discuss the incident, and to consider how we can combat these 
deplorable acts, as well as its impact upon individuals, victims, and 
the community.
  Mr. Speaker, sadly, acts of hatred and intolerance continue to occur 
throughout our Nation. Yet, we all have an individual responsibility to 
speak out against hatred and intolerance. It is a learned behavior that 
can, and must, be reversed.
  I am confident that Montgomery County will continue to maintain its 
vigilance and opposition to hate and intolerance. Only by doing so can 
we work effectively toward elimination of hate crimes.
  It is unconscionable that these crimes should exist in our Nation, 
which was founded on the principle of tolerance and freedom. We must 
bring an end to all violence motivated by prejudice and ignorance, 
bearing in mind the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

       The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a 
     descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to 
     destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. * * * 
     hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

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