[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        SKEPTICISM AND TERRORISM

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                        HON. WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 23, 1995
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend Pennsylvania Avenue was 
closed-off to protect the White House from terrorist bombs. Soon this 
body will deliberate legislation designed to restrict domestic 
terrorism in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. In the aftermath of 
such historic and tragic events there have been some sensational 
proposals about how we might prevent future acts of domestic terrorism. 
Mr. Speaker. I am concerned that some of the recommendations for 
deterring terrorism threaten to trample civil liberties. I believe it 
would be a serious mistake to jeopardize the rights and freedoms of all 
citizens in the name of preventing potential acts of madness. Our 
freedom is our greatest strength. I encourage my colleagues to remember 
this and commend you to consider the points raised in this St. Louis 
Post Dispatch editorial.
               [From St. Louis Dispatch, April 25, 1995]

                         Making It Easy To Hate

       Skepticism toward government--even a measure of cynicism--
     is a healthy thing in a democracy. It means people are on 
     guard against an overreaching government. But something has 
     been at work in recent years that goes beyond skepticism or 
     mistrust. It comes down to hate, and in Oklahoma City, the 
     nation has seen first hand what hate can do.
       The various paramilitary groups that can be found in so 
     many states, including Missouri, are cauldrons of distrust 
     and suspicion in which hate is easily brewed. Some groups 
     call themselves survivalists, others say they are militias, 
     and all are proud to proclaim themselves patriots. Their 
     credo is that the government is the enemy, and they must arm 
     themselves against it. Under this paranoid scenario, 
     everything the government does is intended to enslave 
     people--income taxes, Social Security numbers and, above all, 
     gun control.
       If men want to dress up in battle fatigues and play soldier 
     in the woods, that is harmless enough in itself. But things 
     don't always stop there. For the drilling and the target 
     practice to retain their allure, a threat must loom. It is, 
     of course, the government, that large, impersonal force out 
     there. However, until the attack comes, more immediate 
     threats must be found so as to keep everyone alert and ready 
     to hate. Jews or blacks, or both, usually suffice.
       Self-appointed paramilitary groups that soon turn 
     themselves into vigilantes are not new in American history. 
     This surge, though, may owe its growth to that relatively new 
     phenomenon known as hate radio, which unrelievedly preaches 
     contempt of government and ridicule of those in power. 
     President Bill Clinton took note of this disturbing 
     development in Minneapolis Monday, reminding Americans that 
     hate radio hosts' ``bitter words can have bitter 
     consequences.''
       This is not to say there is a cause-and-effect relationship 
     between the anti-government propaganda of hate radio and what 
     happened in Oklahoma City. Rather, hate radio provides the 
     background music for extremists. Tell people often enough and 
     long enough that their government can do no right and that 
     the people in it are incompetent or dishonest or sinister, 
     and eventually some of them will conclude that the government 
     is a force for evil. Moreover, it is not difficult to find 
     government excesses to cite as supporting evidence. In this 
     way, a small group of unstable people, susceptible to the 
     message of hate, decides to launch a pre-emptive strike, or 
     take retaliatory action, against a government facility.
       The risk now is that the country will overreact. The first 
     impulse is to see all paramilitary groups that cavort in the 
     woods as terrorists in training. The second is to think that 
     constitutional rights must be jettisoned to combat the threat 
     they pose. No one wants to make it easy for another Oklahoma 
     City atrocity, but Congress should not give federal law-
     enforcement authorities the added powers Mr. Clinton has 
     requested without careful thought.
       Since the end of World War II, political dissenters, civil 
     rights organizations, anti-war groups and even Earth Day 
     organizers have been the target of government spying and 
     disruption, always in the name of protecting society. Mr. 
     Clinton wants to give law-enforcement agencies greater 
     authority to place people and groups under surveillance on 
     the basis of less evidence. If the tools the FBI and other 
     agencies have now are inadequate, they should be 
     strengthened, of course, but the bombing in Oklahoma City 
     does not automatically mean they are.
       The last thing Congress and the administration need to do 
     is prove that the kooks are right.
     

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