[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 77 (Wednesday, May 10, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         CALLING FOR AN APOLOGY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Rahall] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in a special order, I expressed my 
total disbelief that, at an event convened at taxpayer's expense, a 
Member of this House would publicly charge that a Member of the U.S. 
Senate should be tarred and feathered and run out of the country.
  Was this a joke, Mr. Speaker? From press accounts, what we do know is 
that it was a reaction to a constituent's call for the murder of a 
Member of the other body, and that the murderer be given a medal.
  The Member from Washington State in question with whom I have spoken, 
did not object to the murder of a U.S. Senator. The member did not 
attempt to argue at all, instead Mr. Speaker, he fueled the flames of 
violence against members of the people's house, against the 
representatives elected by the American people.
  Let me read from a definition of ``tar and feathers'':

       Pouring molten tar over the body and covering it with 
     feathers was an official punishment in England as early as 
     the 12th century. It was never legal in the United States, 
     but was always a mob--demonstration. The practice finally 
     vanished in the late 19th Century.

  But now, Mr. Speaker, a Member of the House wants to resurrect the 
practice--to drag the American people, not toward the next millennium, 
but back to the last.
  Is this the course the new majorities in the Congress have set? Is 
this a new contract of tar and feathering, of drawing and quartering, 
of star chambers and chambers of torture for the American people?
  Are there no limits on inciting violence? Has America not seen enough 
hate in the last few weeks? Will this hate make America stronger?
  Mr. Speaker, When the people's representatives remain silent in the 
face of hate speech, they endorse it. When the people's representatives 
suggest violent acts against their colleagues, they tear at the very 
fabric that binds us as a nation. Should we not, as representatives of 
the people, seek a higher civility in this body? Should we not as 
leaders of this country, seek to uplift this nation, rather than tear 
it down?
  I ask for this Member's public apology Mr. Speaker. I ask that he 
apologize to the Member of the other body--that he apologize to the 
American people--and that he apologize to this institution of which he 
is a Member.

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