[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 78 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S6494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 COMMENDATION TO FORMER PRESIDENT BUSH

  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I thank the Chair for recognizing me and I 
thank the distinguished managers for allowing me to speak.
  Mr. President, this morning's Washington Post and many television and 
radio news programs throughout America and perhaps the world, reported 
on what I would like to call a portrait in courage, and the person 
standing tall in that portrait was none other than former President 
George Bush.
  Like many of my friends and family in Arkansas, former President Bush 
is a gun enthusiast. He is a long-time member of the National Rifle 
Association.
  But like many other NRA members, President Bush was deeply offended 
by a recent NRA fundraising letter signed by Mr. Wayne LaPierre, the 
NRA's executive vice president. The LaPierre letter referred to several 
law enforcement officials: ``Jack-booted thugs who harass, intimidate, 
even murder law-abiding citizens.'' The NRA referred to Federal agents 
``wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms to 
attack law-abiding citizens.''
  This irresponsible, inflammatory NRA fundraising letter incited the 
former President of the United States to the point that he wrote NRA 
President Thomas Washington to resign his NRA membership.
  Former President Bush's letter reads as follows:

       Your broadside against Federal agents deeply offends my own 
     sense of decency and honor and it offends my concept of 
     service to our country.

  President Bush continues in his letter:

       It indirectly slurs a wide array of government law 
     enforcement officials who are out there day and night, laying 
     their lives on the line for all of us.

  Mr. President, I am asking unanimous consent that an excerpt from the 
story in the Washington Post about President Bush resigning his 
membership from the National Rifle Association be printed at this point 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       But his resignation letter was more personal than 
     political.
       ``Al Whicher, who served on my [Secret Service] detail when 
     I was vice president and president, was killed in Oklahoma 
     City,'' Bush wrote. ``He was no Nazi. He was a kind man, a 
     loving parent, a man dedicated to serving his country--and 
     serve it well he did.
       ``In 1993, I attended the wake for ATF agent Steve Willis, 
     another dedicated officer who did his duty. I can assure you 
     that this honorable man, killed by weird cultists, was no 
     Nazi.'' Willis was one of four federal agents killed in the 
     initial February 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound 
     near Waco, Tex.
       ``John Magaw, who used to head the [Secret Service] and now 
     heads ATF, is one of the most principled, decent men I have 
     ever know,'' Bush wrote. ``He would be the last to condone 
     the kind of illegal behavior your ugly letter charges. The 
     same is true for the FBI's able Director Louis Freeh. I 
     appointed Mr. Freeh to the federal bench. His integrity and 
     honor are beyond question.''
       The letter concluded, ``You have not repudiated Mr. 
     LaPierre's unwarranted attack. Therefore, I resign as a life 
     member of NRA, said resignation to be effective upon your 
     receipt of this letter. Please remove my name from your 
     membership list. Sincerely, George Bush.''
     

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