[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 12, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S6136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE PERPETRATORS OF HATE CRIMES

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, I will speak in morning business in 
relation to the rash of hate crimes that we have experienced in this 
country lately.
  Mr. President, the perpetrators of the rash of hate crimes and church 
burnings in this country are no more than cowardly domestic terrorists. 
They work under cover of darkness and anonymity to intimidate some and 
encourage others precisely because they have neither the will nor the 
courage to be associated with the evil they seek to unleash on the 
land. It has been suggested that the objective of their actions is to 
start a race war. However, there is every indication that the arsonists 
are confused about the country in which their crimes are taking place.
  Most Americans, Mr. President, are appalled and outraged. Our Nation 
as a whole, without regard to color or religion, is shamed by this 
horror. The outpouring of support and comfort for the victims of the 
terrorism has been consistent and has been multiracial. The religious 
community has closed ranks with the targets of the arson in rejection 
and repudiation of the evil these crimes represent. From the President 
of the United States to the neighbors in areas which have witnessed 
these crimes, the leadership taken by individual citizens to affirm a 
climate of respect and community gives truth to the fact that our 
Nation will not fall prey to the forces of fear.
  Mr. President, I recently talked with the victim of a cross burning 
in my own State of Illinois, who lives in Glen Carbon, IL. I spoke with 
Mr. Ellis who had been victimized by a cross being burned on the front 
lawn of his home. And the comment that I was most struck with is that 
he said how nice his neighbors had been. This is an integrated 
community. His neighbors, black and white alike, have come to the aid 
of this family that has suffered this heinous crime.
  Mr. President, America will not go back. As we enter the 21st 
century, America is anxious to put the ugly legacy of racial divisions 
behind us. Unlike a century ago, the masses of people who make up our 
national community cannot be seduced by the messages of hate and 
conflict which consumed us in the past. Those messages lost their power 
with the moral victory of the civil rights movement, and our country 
has matured in ways which cannot be undone by racist terrorism. We are 
not intimidated, but embarrassed, and challenged by these criminals and 
their destruction.
  Make no mistake but that they are criminals. The act of arson is a 
crime, when directed at a church it is a crime of unspeakable 
dimension. But that is precisely why we are called upon, each of us, to 
speak and act in ways which will demonstrate our collective intolerance 
of such hate crimes. Our community, as a whole, must dedicate itself to 
the rebuilding of the churches. We must engage our Government and law 
enforcement apparatus to investigate and uncover the perpetrators of 
this terrorism. No stone should be left unturned in our search for the 
truth. Federal, State, and local law enforcement must approach these 
hate crimes with the same vigor and sophistication as would be given 
the most heinous foreign threat.
  My late mother would often say, ``The Lord works in mysterious ways, 
His wonders to perform.'' And she was right. The resurrection of the 
burnt places of worship may well provide the kind of redemption which 
can only come of suffering. We will move our Nation forward to the 
elimination of racism if we dedicate ourselves to restore the symbols 
of love and unity, and in so doing put to rest forever the forces of 
division based on race which these acts of terror seek to unleash.
  Mr. President, this is one of those historic moments for America, 
when the path of our future will be chosen. In our collective 
repudiation of domestic terrorism, in our aggressive prosecution of its 
perpetrators, in our vigilance against hate and in the vitality of our 
response to it, we will build the New Jerusalem of a stronger, more 
moral, and more inclusive country.
  With that, Mr. President, I will send later to the desk a resolution 
which I hope will be cleared quickly for action by this body and which 
I hope and pray will receive the unanimous consent of my colleagues. 
Thank you very much, Mr. President. I yield the floor and note the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. EXON. Mr. President, the Senator from California is a very 
valuable member of the Budget Committee. We had saved some time for 
her. I request we move back to the budget resolution, and I yield up to 
8 minutes to the Senator from California, or whatever time she needs.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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