[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 77 (Thursday, May 30, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E951]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         STOP BURNING CHURCHES

                                 ______


                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 30, 1996

  Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today out of concern for the 
increasing number of churches that have been destroyed by arson over 
the past 3 years. The burnings of New Mount Zion Baptist Church in 
Ruleville, MI and Elbethel Church in Sartartia, MI which are in my 
Congressional District as well as St. Paul AME Church in Hatley, MI 
constantly reminds me of that early Sunday morning in 1963 when a 
church in Birmingham, AL was firebombed killing four little girls while 
they were attending Sunday School. As many of my colleagues will agree, 
this was a horrible crime and to allow this episode to remain unchecked 
in 1996 would be an atrocity.
  Mr. Speaker, we must make a concerted effort to assure the American 
people that the church is a sanctuary from the violence which is 
rampant in society, and not a place where God-fearing Americans should 
fear for their lives. While many of us would like to believe that the 
days of Jim Crow and hate crimes are a part of the past, to others 
these church bombings are evidence that the brutal, destructive force 
of racism and intolerance is alive and growing in America.
  While Federal law enforcement officials conclude that they have found 
no evidence of these crimes being racially motivated, I cannot, knowing 
the history of the Ku Klux Klan, the Skinheads, the White Aryan 
Resistance, and the Christian Identity movement, wholeheartedly believe 
that these church burnings are more than coincidental.
  Knowing that most of the bombings happening in southern States, gives 
a lot of credence to the theory that they have been perpetrated by the 
purveyors of hate and division.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge this body to do all within its power to see that 
these acts of violence are fully investigated and these criminals are 
brought to justice. Let's make our churches, temples, and mosques a 
safe place to worship.

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