[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1900
              HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING FROM OKLAHOMA CITY?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Rahall] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in outrage to take exception to words 
attributed to a constituent of a Member of this House, as reported in 
the April 26, 1995 edition of The South Whidbey Record published in 2nd 
District of the State of Washington, that a revered, senior Member of 
the U.S. Senate should be killed, and that the person killing him 
should be given a medal during a Town hall meeting which I assume was 
called at taxpayers' expense.
  I take even greater exception to the fact that a Member of this body 
did not disavow or dissociate himself from, his constituent for calling 
for the murder of a sitting Member of the U.S. Senate, Senator Robert 
C. Byrd of West Virginia.
  I take great exception to a Member of this House, who not only did 
not censure or otherwise refute his constituent's call for murder, but 
allegedly went on to state, and I quote:
  ``He should be tarred and feathered and run out of the country.''
  Peter Coogan, staff reporter for the aforementioned newspaper in 
south Whidbey Island, WA, who opens his article with the words: ``To 
Kill a U.S. Senator or merely to tar and feather him,'' reports that a 
Member of this body, whom he claims was elected based on a campaign 
that attacked the Federal Government, allegedly made the statement at a 
town meeting in response to his constituent's call for the ``killing'' 
of Senator Robert Byrd.
  Mr. Speaker, these are dangerous times for unguarded, irresponsible 
speech, and we have every reason and every right to expect a Member of 
this body to strongly disavow such speech and to advise any constituent 
that murder is not an option in this country.
  Am I in a total state of stunned disbelief that a Member of the House 
of Representatives let this kind of statement about killing a U.S. 
Senator go unchallenged when such rhetoric may have led to the killing 
of more than 160 innocent people in Oklahoma City's Federal building? 
Yes, I am.
  Have we learned nothing from that evil act that shook a nation to its 
core?
  Should I be surprised at such rhetoric being used in just days after 
Oklahoma City, when the GOP's national committee planned to have as its 
honored guest a convicted felon-turned-radio-talk-show-host at a gala 
party fundraiser only days before the last body was brought out of that 
bombed out Federal building? A talk-show host who advised his listeners 
to shoot for the head of Federal agents, as the best way of killing 
them, and who bragged about using profiles of our President for target 
practice? Why be surprised?
  Mr. Speaker, I request that the newspaper article to which I have 
reference be printed in the Record immediately following my remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, the newspaper article to which I referred is as follows:

             [From the South Whidbey Record, Apr. 26, 1995]

             Metcalf Says Byrd Should Be Tarred, Feathered

                           (By Peter Coogan)

       To kill a U.S. Senator, or merely to tar and feather him.
       The question sparked some light-hearted banter between U.S. 
     Rep. Jack Metcalf and one of his constituents at a 
     Congressional Town Hall Meeting in Oak Harbor Saturday.
       It came up when Metcalf tried to explain why, as a rule, he 
     votes against large, heavily amended ``omnibus'' spending 
     bills, even if they contain some good ideas.
       As an example of past abuse, he said a senator had hidden 
     the cost of a Coast Guard facility for an East Coast state in 
     the emergency relief spending for victims of the California 
     earthquake. He asked the crowd to guess which eastern state.
       ``West Virginia,'' said Angelo Kolvas of Oak Harbor.
       Yes, Metcalf said. The culprit was former Senate 
     Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-West 
     Virginia, who ``steals money all over America.''
       Metcalf started to suggest some punishment for Byrd, saying 
     ``he should be----''
       Kolvas interrupted with ``somebody should kill him and give 
     them a medal.''
       Metcalf said: ``He should be actually tar and feathered and 
     run out of the country. I mean, I'm serious. He steals money 
     because he's chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, 
     or one of the committees, and he's always the one on the 
     conference committee, in the middle of the night. He's 
     stuffing pork in there for West Virginia, brutally.''
       Kolvas suggested that other congress- people are 
     guilty of the same thing.
       ``This gentleman is right,'' Metcalf said. ``It is the 
     fault of Congress, but Senator Byrd still should be tarred 
     and feathered.''
       Telephoned later, Kolvas said, ``I am not a vindictive 
     person but if that guy would die today, that wouldn't bother 
     me a damn bit.''
       He added, ``I really don't think anybody should kill Byrd. 
     That was a little strong.''
     

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