[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 11, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6124-H6125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  LET US GET TO THE TRUTH NOW ABOUT WHY THE WHITE HOUSE OBTAINED FBI 
                        FILES ON 349 REPUBLICANS

  (Mr. BOEHNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, by now we all know about the White House's 
FBI files, background files, on some 349 Republicans here in 
Washington. A couple of them happened to be staffers that work for me. 
Now, only the White House knows why they asked for these files, and 
only the White House knows what they have done with these files over 
the last several years.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is time for the White House to come clean, to 
work with the FBI so that we have no more coverups, and that we get to 
the bottom of this truth on this issue now, not after the election in 
November.

[[Page H6125]]



                     AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHURCH ARSON

  (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, there have been 32 suspicious fires at 
African-American churches across the United States since 1995. It is 
time for Congress to stand up and speak out.
  Last Thursday, when the Matthews-Murkland Presbyterian Church in 
Charlotte, NC, became another one of the churches to be burned over the 
past 18 months, the shock and amazement of this deed left me dazed and 
numb.
  How could anyone violate what is most precious to our society? That 
is why I want to urge all of my colleagues to use this week to rise in 
swift and resounding voices to condemn this evil and to demonstrate 
that it will not be tolerated.
  First, we should all support the bipartisan legislation introduced by 
our colleagues, Mr. Conyers and Mr. Hyde. That legislation would make 
it easier to bring prosecutions and stiffen the penalties against those 
who target houses of worship.
  Second, I would urge support for a resolution I am introducing, 
calling on the collective outrage of Congress and condemning the arson. 
And, finally, we should all, work within our respective communities to 
help prevent future arson.
  There is a time to keep silence and a time to speak. Now is a time to 
speak.

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