[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 87 (Thursday, June 13, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6406-H6411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            CHURCH BURNINGS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Fields] is recognized for 
the balance of the time until midnight as the designee of the minority 
leader.
  Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about 
the issue of church burning. Before I do, Mr. Speaker, I want to 
commend the gentlewoman from North Carolina who had a resolution 
tonight on the floor of this House and it passed. And I want to thank 
the gentlewoman for her leadership in that area. I also want to thank 
the gentleman from Oklahoma as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been asked by the chairman of the Congressional 
Black Caucus to chair an issue that we have been talking about tonight 
for some time. That is the issue of church burning, burnings across the 
country.
  I take a moment of personal privilege to talk about these church 
burnings here again tonight because in my on own State five churches 
were burned.
  Second, Mr. Speaker, I feel like Fannie Lou Hamer tonight. I feel 
sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am tired of individuals who 
have no respect for human life and no respect to buildings, burning 
churches at night. I also feel sick and tired of being sick and tired 
because while individuals burn churches at night, we have people who 
wake up in the morning and put on black robes and burn congressional 
districts in the daytime. And I think that is simply unacceptable and 
unconscionable.
  I am happy that the gentlewoman from Texas will be a part of this 
special order tonight and the gentleman from Illinois will be a part of 
this special order tonight, the gentlewoman from California as well as 
the gentleman from South Carolina.
  Before we talk about church burnings, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a 
little bit about the districts that were burned today in the Supreme 
Court. To know that as a result of this ruling, a State like the State 
of Texas, a State with a population of almost 20 percent African-
Americans, will not have the opportunity, not the guarantee but will 
not have the mere opportunity to send an African-American to this 
Congress is absolutely unacceptable and unconscionable. These burnings 
must stop, not only the burning of churches but the burning of 
congressional districts and legislative districts across this country. 
In order for us to get along in this country, in order for us to move 
forward in this country, we will have to learn how to be more 
inclusive.
  I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas, who has represented her 
constituents so well here in this body. I want to say to her in no 
uncertain terms that she has done a great job. Continue to press on and 
know that you must keep the faith. We are very pleased with the work 
that you do.
  Now, on the issue of church burnings, Mr. Speaker, the CBC, the 
Congressional Black Caucus, we will first have a hearing right here in 
the Nation's capital. We will have the Justice Department. We will have 
ATF and all Federal agencies involved. That hearings will be headed and 
led by Congressman Conyers. And we will talk, we will also have black 
churches, members, ministers of black churches to talk about these 
church burnings. Then we will leave this capital and we will travel 
across this country in each congressional district or each State where 
there has been church burnings, because we will not accept individuals 
putting torches to churches.
  We are going to insist that every Federal agency in this country use 
every ounce of its power, every ounce of its resources, to make sure 
that we find the perpetrators of these crimes and bring them to justice 
and then move very swiftly to prosecute them.

  I have, Mr. Speaker, a map of the entire United States of America 
which

[[Page H6407]]

gives you some sense of church burnings across the country. Before I 
yield to my colleagues who have joined me here tonight, I want you to 
see, I want Members of the House to see how this proliferation of 
church burnings is taking place all across this country.
  Utah, the State of Utah, one church burning; Colorado, one church 
burning; State of Arizona, one church was burned. Even the State of New 
Mexico had a church burning.
  Texas, the distinguished gentlewoman from the State of Texas, not 
only have they burned the districts, the congressional districts in the 
State of Texas, but two churches, two black churches were burned in the 
State of Texas as well, which is absolutely, positively unacceptable 
and we must insist that every Federal agency that has anything to do 
with investigations do everything possible to find the perpetrators of 
these crimes.
  The State of Oklahoma, one church; even the State of Illinois, the 
gentleman from Illinois who is here tonight, a church was burned in his 
States. The State of Tennessee, which leads the whole Nation in terms 
of church burnings, six churches were burned in the State of Tennessee; 
five in the State of Louisiana; three in the State of Mississippi; five 
in the State of Alabama; one in the State of Georgia; five in the State 
of South Carolina, the gentleman who is here tonight, five churches 
were burned, many of them were in his congressional district; three 
churches in North Carolina; one in Virginia; two in Maryland; one in 
the District of Columbia; one in New York; and one in Pennsylvania.
  And then to know that in Oklahoma, which is the most recent church 
burning, when we were debating tonight, we were debating on this floor 
about church burnings, to wake up the next morning and learn that a 
church was burned in the State of Oklahoma, it absolutely irks Members 
of this Congress, particularly Members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus.
  I want to thank the Members who decided to come here tonight at the 
wee hours of the night because this is an important issue. I want the 
Members of this congress to know that the Congressional Black Caucus 
will not sit idly by and allow individuals to burn churches and get 
away with it. We are going to insist that every Federal agency that we 
have under the control of this Federal Government do everything that is 
humanly possible to find the perpetrators of these crimes, bring them 
to justice and then prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Jackson], 
who has been participating in these special orders for some time, and 
also to the gentleman from South Carolina and the gentlewoman from 
Texas and the gentlewoman from California as well.

                              {time}  2330

  I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. I want to take this opportunity to thank my 
distinguished friend from Louisiana, the distinguished gentleman, Cleo 
Fields; and you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing us the privilege and this 
opportunity to address the House during this special order.
  Anyone who might have misunderstood what happened in the 1994 
elections should have clearly been set straight on the 23rd of January 
1995. That day, in the ornate hearing room in the House Committee on 
Rules, the victorious Republicans, our colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle, removed a portrait of former Representative Claude Pepper of 
Florida, a renowned white, liberal Democrat, and certainly that was 
understandable because the Republicans certainly have the right to 
change pictures in various committee rooms to reflect their new 
majority. But what tickled me about this was that the new Republican 
committee chairman, Mr. Solomon of New York, distinguished colleague of 
ours from New York, had ordered the Pepper portrait to be replaced by 
another Democrat, the late Howard Smith of Virginia, a last-ditch 
segregationist in many of his years as Committee on Rules chairman, one 
of the most powerful opponents of civil rights legislation of the 
sixties.
  And so I am here today to really join my colleague from Louisiana, my 
colleague from California, my colleague from Texas, and my colleague 
from South Carolina really to say that we are sick and tired as well of 
being sick and tired, sick and tired of having our churches burned at 
night, sick and tired of having our districts burned during the 
daytime, and what is left? Without political representation here in 
this institution to protect our rights in the society beyond 
Washington, with this whole motion and movement towards States rights, 
we are looking at the same kind of climate that we witnessed during the 
Tilden-Hayes Compromise of 1877.
  I spoke not long ago at a high school to some students who at the end 
of my presentation stood up and asked the question, they said, 
``Representative Jackson, what's the difference between a Democrat and 
a Republican?''
  And I tried to say Democrats fight for jobs, they fight for 
opportunity, they make room for more people, and Republicans tend to be 
pro-business. But one of the young people said, ``But wait a minute. 
I've heard Democrats on the floor argue on both sides of that issue.''

  And so in 1877 what we really had was two parties with one 
assumption. Demopublicans, they called them, and Republicrats; they 
really conspired. We call it States rights, we call it more access to 
resources in our communities by the States, and they began shifting 
more resources to the States, and by 1896 they had stacked the Supreme 
Court kind of, if you will, a Clarence Thomas court, a kind of Scalia 
court, and then we got Plessy versus Ferguson. We had 22 African-
Americans in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1863 and 1896, 
and after they stacked the Supreme Court, black robes, not white sheets 
who burn churches, but black robes who burn districts by day; by 1901 
there were zero blacks in this institution, and I believe it was our 
late colleague from Illinois, Mr. DuPriest, who stood in this well and 
gave a speech: We will rise again like the phoenix, we will be back. 
And then it is not until the 1954 Brown versus the Board of Education 
decision that allowed the principle of equal protection under the law 
to be extended to the States in the form of a 1964 Civil Rights Act, a 
1965 Voting Rights Act, and after three different reapportionments, the 
1970 census, the 1980 census, the 1990 census. African-Americans in 
this body are now finally achieving comparable numbers to those numbers 
that they had at the turn of the century. And now we are looking at 
Supreme Court decisions once again that are consistent with Plessy 
versus Ferguson, and it is really unfortunate in 1996 that Mr. Thomas 
is leading the voting rights cabal.
  I also rise this evening to stand with my colleagues and to join the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] and the gentleman from 
the other side of the aisle, Mr. Watts, in support of their resolution 
to condemn not only these church burnings, but also to demand that our 
Federal Government put the kind of resources behind this investigation 
that is necessary. Mr. Deval Patrick, the assistant attorney general 
for civil rights, along with the Attorney General of the United States, 
Miss Janet Reno, have indicated to us on more than one occasion that 
this is the largest civil rights investigation of its kind, and we are 
just so grateful to have Representatives in this body who can fight and 
encourage the Justice Department to put those kind of resources behind 
these kinds of acts of violence, and it is only because we are here 
that we can really fight for this right.

  And so I would hope, and I have indicated this on another occasion as 
I prepared to yield time to the gentlewoman from Texas, that in 1996 we 
have an opportunity in this House, knowing that race and churches are 
being burned and opportunities are being burned, we have an opportunity 
in this House not to be demagogic in 1996. There is no need for us to 
vote on affirmative action in this House in this climate; it only means 
that more churches will burn. We should put it in the 105th Congress. 
There are other racially sensitive issues in this political climate 
that should not be considered in this political climate, and I would 
urge those in the majority to consider the climate and the times that 
we are living in and move these votes into the next Congress and give 
us the opportunity and the Nation the opportunity to have an election 
that will be free of race and race insensitivity.

[[Page H6408]]

  And with that, I yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas. 
She had a very tough and a very long day. She is one of the most 
outspoken Members in the House of Representatives. We can count on her 
to fight for women's rights, we can count on her to fight for the 
rights of locked-out and disenfranchised people in our country, and it 
is just unfortunate that a woman of her calibre and her stature who has 
represented not only African-Americans--people see us, they see 
African-American, but my district is 65 percent African-American, 35 
percent white and Latinos and others live in my district. I am not just 
a black Representative or a black Congressman. I represent probably one 
of the most diverse districts in this country. I do not know an 
African-American in here who represents 99 percent African-Americans. 
Our districts are diverse, and so she represents her district and has 
served this institution with great honor, and today the Supreme Court 
of the United States rules against the calibre and the quality of 
leadership that she represents.
  With that, I now yield time to the distinguished lady from Texas [Ms. 
Jackson-Lee].
  Mr. FIELDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the lady.
  I think the gentleman is absolutely right. The gentlewoman represents 
a very diverse district, and, as I stated earlier, we appreciate her 
leadership, and I think citizens not only in her congressional district 
but citizens all across her State and citizens all across this country 
appreciate her leadership, and this time I yield to the gentlewoman 
from Texas.

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. The esteemed gentleman from Louisiana is 
appreciated, along with my respect for my colleagues who are here on 
the floor of the House, the gentleman from South Carolina in his 
leadership over the years in fighting for the rights of South 
Carolinians, the gentlewoman and her leadership from California, as I 
have spoken to her frequently on her concern about education, and the 
gentleman from Illinois who has reached out to the younger voter and 
demanded of that younger voter that they be part of this process called 
America.
  The gentleman from Louisiana has had a longstanding friendship with 
young people, but more importantly I have admired his refusal to, even 
though tired and maybe sick and tired, never to be broken, and I 
appreciate your leadership on this special order. You are right to 
thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina and the gentleman from 
Oklahoma for their wisdom and vision earlier this evening to begin to 
set the tone for the American public on this whole issue of the burning 
of houses of worship.
  As I heard for the first time this morning the rendering of the 
Supreme Court decision, it did not fall to my lot to immediately begin 
to think about what Sheila Jackson-Lee or any congressperson would do 
in this circumstance. But I began to think of those individuals in my 
district who yet have not reached or have not achieved the opportunity 
of even traveling outside of the 18th congressional district, citizens 
in my district who have lived their entire life within the context of 
the historic 18th Congressional District, individuals who are proud, 
who believe in America, who have sent young men and women off to war 
but yet live in housing of substandard quality, individuals who are 
still struggling to get the kind of education to see opportunities for 
their children, individuals who, if they missed one day of school lunch 
or school breakfast, their children, of occurs, would suffer the 
consequences and the pain of hunger; individuals who give their small 
donations to their beloved churches and pastors, they give their very 
best. And to be able to have to go home this weekend to speak to these 
individuals, to be able to say to them that today on June 13, 1996, 
they were declared less than an American by the U.S. Supreme Court, 
individuals who heretofore had paid poll tax or had their ancestors or 
grandparents or parents tell them how difficult it was first to achieve 
the right to vote in the State of Texas and now having spent just a few 
short years.

  That is what America needs to understand, that these districts have 
only come into existence a mere three decades or less. Individuals who 
are in my district may be voting now consistently only for less than 30 
years because of the obstacles that have been placed before them to 
vote even in the smallest election in the State of Texas, and then to 
have to go home to these individuals and to clear away the confusion 
for, they will be asking: Are we no longer part of America? Has the 
district been declared un-American? The chilling effect will be far 
reaching.
  Young people who are just coming out of high school who I had the 
opportunity to speak before in the recent graduations in my district, 
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, if you will, ready for the next day, 
looking for career opportunities, believing in America; now they must 
try to understand, are we truly second-class citizens in this country? 
The criteria used by the Supreme Court today was truly a burning of the 
Constitution. I would simply ask:
  When does a configuration, a drawing, become a higher ideal than the 
opportunity for people to choose an individual of their choice to 
represent them in the U.S. Congress? When is it a sin and when is it 
illegal to take into consideration the diverse concept of race as it is 
with community of interests so that majority minority districts have 
now been categorized and labeled as a derogatory concept in the 
American political system? What does that say to an emerging population 
who have yet not taken their rightful place in the political arena; a 
Congress of 435 individuals with a mere 30-plus African-American 
Representatives, a number that has grown only since the 1990 census and 
the 1992 elections?
  And so it is important, Mr. Fields, that we convene this special 
order. It is not for any selfish motives of those of us who come to the 
floor of the House, for I am grateful for the very small opportunities 
that I have had, but it is for the future of this Nation to recognize 
that the systematic destruction and undermining of the spirit of those 
who would cling to democracy is a destruction of this Nation's future. 
These opinions have continued to chip away at those who have tried to 
speak peace and equality and inclusion.

  And as I bring my remarks to a close, let me say that I am gratified 
for the words that were said tonight with respect to this blight on 
America, this blaze on the Constitution, the burning of churches or 
houses of worship.
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have indicated that they 
will rise up with millions of dollars for the ATF, the Alcohol, 
Tobacco, and Firearms agency.
  In the Committee on the Judiciary, under the leadership of ranking 
member Conyers and Chairman Hyde, we have brought out a piece of 
legislation that I have cosponsored to make the prosecution of these 
individuals more swift and effective.
  But the real key has to be that we must catch these individuals and 
show America that we are serious, and then at the same time as we catch 
these individuals we must, in fact, begin to understand that we should 
not hide away from the racial anger and tones that have been set by the 
climate of political rhetoric in this Nation, and I hope that we all 
will commit to drawing down our words, stopping the polarization, and 
in order to do that let me say to you in closing that I am gratified 
that both Congresswoman Clayton and Congressman Watts accepted my 
amendment that calls for, this week, calls for this Nation this week to 
adopt a week of prayer from June 16 to June 23, gathering in our 
respective houses of worship to speak not only against burning, but 
against the anger and the rancorous talk and the castigating of those 
of us who have come first as slaves in this Nation.
  We must break the shackles of racism in this Nation. I call upon my 
brothers and sisters of Hispanics and Anglos and African-Americans and 
Asians and men and women in all parts of this community, Jewish people 
and gentiles, to respect the need to embrace each other.

                              {time}  2345

  I hope as we proceed this evening that our Supreme Court will be able 
to reconsider itself, and recognizing it as the highest body in the 
land, I respect its privilege, but I would simply hope that they would 
call upon the spirit of the Honorable Justice Thurgood Marshall who 
came to that court as a victor and a soldier and a general in the

[[Page H6409]]

war of civil rights, and he carried the message forward that in fact we 
all are created equal. If we take that claim, we will stop the burning 
of the districts and we will stop the burning of the houses of worship, 
and we will rise as Americans together, and we will not be singing that 
song, ``We Shall Overcome,'' but we will sing the song, ``We Have 
Overcome.''
  I hope this special order will be in tribute to the gentleman from 
Louisiana [Mr. Fields] that Americans will listen and rise up to 
support freedom. I yield back to the gentleman from Louisiana.
  Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  Now I would like to recognize the gentlewoman from California [Ms. 
Millender-McDonald]. Before I do, I would like to say that in our 
discussions on this task force on church burnings across the country, 
particularly in the southern part of our country, the gentlewoman from 
California, who by the way, is new to this body, made it very clear 
that we should have hearings, we should talk to ministers, we should 
talk to community people, people in the community about their feelings, 
and also make sure that there is a relationship merged between the 
investigators, the Federal agencies, and these ministers and these 
parishioners of these churches. I just want to thank the gentlewoman 
for her leadership because as a result, there was a meeting at 8 a.m. 
this morning in the office of the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. 
Conyers], and as a result of that meeting, the ranking member of the 
Committee on the Judiciary decided to start his hearings right here in 
Washington, DC. Because of her leadership, we will be traveling all 
across the country as a caucus, Members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, in each of these several States holding hearings on church 
burnings.
  At this time I would like to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Louisiana. It is really fitting and absolutely great for me to see two 
young African-American men who are role models who are here tonight at 
this hour to talk about the rash of church burnings in this Nation. 
Then to hear the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee], who speaks 
so eloquently on this floor, who has to now go back and try to see what 
she can do with the recent decisions that have been brought down on her 
by the Supreme Court.
  I would like to thank also the Speaker for allowing us tonight to 
come and speak about the rash of church burnings. Mr. Speaker, this 
issue is very important to me, as it should be to all Americans. 
However, I have a special concern about the rash of church burnings 
that is taking place across the South and other areas as I have lived 
through a similar period.
  During the 1950's I was the child of an active Baptist minister in 
Alabama.
  Given my father's status and the respect he had earned, especially 
among the African-American community, we lived in fear every night of 
the bombings and the arson that was rampant at the time. The young 
women who were killed in the church bombings in 1962 were neighbors and 
friends of our family.
  Mr. Speaker, I can personally attest to the fact that these burnings, 
both in the 1950's as well as the ones with which we are currently 
faced, are acts of terrorism.
  Furthermore, the U.S. Government, which spends billions of dollars 
each year investigating and attempting to abate terrorism here and 
abroad, should do all it can to stop this terrorism that is currently 
invading the souls of our community.
  As we are all aware, Mr. Speaker, terrorism such as these church 
burnings is the insidious act of cowards; people who are too afraid to 
air their hatreds or fears in public lest they meet others who may be 
able to talk some sense into them during a debate.
  Yet in order to really understand these random acts of violence and 
hatred, we should perhaps look at the culture by which they are being 
perpetuated.
  The burning of African-American churches is but one manifestation of 
the fear, the hatred, and the divisiveness that is becoming more and 
more prevalent in our society.
  Mr. Speaker, we see this divisiveness in ballot initiatives, we hear 
it in stump speeches by some politicians, and we witness it even in 
some of the legislation that is coming before us.
  Moore and more, people are blaming minorities, immigrants, and women 
for their woes or their fears.
  In my home State of California, we will have a ballot initiative in 
November on Whether or not to do away with all affirmative actions 
programs. This initiative follows closely on the heels of the Governor 
of my fair State asking the regents of the University of California to 
abolish all affirmative action administration programs.
  While these actions, Mr. Speaker, as well as legislation that has 
been introduced here and in other bodies to eliminate affirmative 
action programs are not terrorism on the same level as the church 
burnings, they are born from the same fears and divisiveness.
  What we, as national leaders, Mr. Speaker, should do is try to pursue 
a rational debate to try to solve the problems that face all Americans, 
regardless of their color, their age, their gender, or their religious 
affiliation.
  We, the political leaders of our Nation, should not try to use the 
fears of the population to promote ourselves or our agendas. In doing 
this, we are only creating an environment in which hatred and anxieties 
are driven to extreme measures, such as those we are witnessing in the 
South and other places.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I urge all Americans to join us in speaking out 
against the current rash of church burnings and to alert the 
perpetrators that this is not how civilized people conduct themselves.
  I also urge Americans, and especially the politicians, to pause 
before they speak words of divisiveness. Rather than playing on and 
driving the fears of some citizens, I would hope that we could begin to 
work together for the resolves that will help all Americans build a 
better nation and indeed a better world.
  Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I thank the gentlewoman. There are 
individuals in this country who are trying to turn back the hands of 
time, trying to make 1996 look like 1896, but we are not going back. We 
have come too far now. We have come to a threshold of freedom, and we 
have reached the periphery of liberation and we have seen the ambition 
of liberty. We are not going back.
  There are those who try to burn opportunities by burning affirmative 
action. Some try to burn political inclusion by burning congressional 
districts, and some even try to burn our spirits by burning churches. 
But we are not going back.
  At this time I would like to yield to the gentleman who has probably 
the most experience in the civil rights movement of all of us here 
tonight, the senior Congressman from the great State of South Carolina, 
who I have a great deal of respect for.
  I want to say to the gentleman, I have never been confronted with a 
door that said colored or white only. I have never had to sit in the 
back of a bus. I am benefiting from fruits of a tree that I did not 
plant, I did not nourish, and I did not even shape. I am here today 
because of people like the gentleman from South Carolina who stood in 
those many lines and who marched the many highways. And I just want to 
say thanks to the gentleman, and I know I speak for the gentleman from 
Illinois as well.

                              {time}  2355

  We are here today because of the sweat and tears of your work and we 
want to thank you. I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina.
  Mr. CLYBURN. I thank the gentleman very much, my good friend Mr. 
Fields from Louisiana. Thank you, first of all, for your kind words. I 
am pleased to hear them and I hope that I continue to earn them.
  Second, let me thank the gentleman for organizing this special order. 
I think that your work chairing the Task Force on Church Burnings for 
the Congressional Black Caucus is work that is to be commended and I 
thank you so much for brining us all here this evening. I am pleased to 
join with my colleagues in this special order.
  Let me begin my comments by first of all congratulating the people of 
South Carolina, Williamsburg County, Greeleyville.
  As you may recall, this past Tuesday evening, I traveled to South 
Carolina

[[Page H6410]]

where on Wednesday morning I went with President Clinton to visit the 
Greeleyville community, the community that suffered a church burning on 
June 20 of last year. On Wednesday, we met at the site of a new church. 
On this coming Saturday, 360 days after their church was burned to the 
ground, the people of Greeleyville, the members of Mount Zion AME 
Church, their pastor, Reverend Terrence Mackey, will all gather at the 
site of the old church and they will march one mile to the new church. 
I think that the people of that community, black and white, have 
demonstrated to all of us what can be done and what should be done in 
responding to these kinds of vitriolic actions.

  I am very pleased with their demonstration of cooperation. Earlier 
this evening I heard one of our colleagues talk about the difficulty 
that a community is having rebuilding a church that was burned. I 
thought as he spoke of the people in this little town in the poorest 
county in South Carolina, how they all banded together, irrespective of 
skin color, irrespective of hair texture, and they all came together to 
make sure that they demonstrate to the rest of the world how we ought 
to conduct ourselves.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that the time is late and I think my time is 
running out, but I want to say one thing in order to make my point.
  Many of you may recall that Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 issued a 
letter from the Birmingham City Jail, a letter that spoke to the 
question of time and the neutrality of time. King admonished us in that 
letter that we are going to be called to repent in this generation not 
just for the vitriolic words and actions of bad people but for the 
appalling silence of good people.
  I want to say to all the Members of the body and the people of our 
great Nation that these vitriolic actions may be bad but it is just as 
bad for us to remain silent.
  So I want all of us to speak up and speak out and make sure that we 
do so in such a way that the people who perpetrate these vitriolic acts 
will be driven back under the rocks from which they came and hopefully 
we, the good people of our Nation, can march forward together.
  I thank the gentleman so much for letting me be a part of this 
special order.
  Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I thank the gentleman.
  In closing, I would just like to say to the gentleman that I am happy 
and pleased that this Congress, and the American people should know 
that this Congress stands in unison, we stand together tonight, both 
Democrats and Republicans, blacks, whites, young, old, men and women. 
We will not tolerate the burning of any churches. We are going to 
appropriate the necessary resources to the agencies that are conducting 
investigations and we will find the perpetrators of these crimes and 
they will be brought to justice.
  To end this special order, I yield to the distinguished gentleman 
from Illinois. Before I do, I want to leave on this note. I often talk 
about what we have in common.
  I will never forget when I graduated from high school my mother said, 
``What's the universal language?'' I said, ``It's English, Mom.'' And 
she said, ``No, it's not.''
  She said, ``If you cry, can you cry in English?'' I said, no.
  She said, ``If you're in Spain can you cry in Spanish? If you're in 
France can you cry in French?'' She said, ``No, you cry in pain.''
  There is a lot of crying taking place tonight. I do not care if you 
are black or white, young or old, male or female, we all cry the same. 
I would hope we would work together to end that cry.
  I yield to close to the gentleman from Illinois.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Let me say that I think the gentleman from 
Louisiana's words were most appropriate and fitting to close this 
special order.

              [National Rainbow Coalition, June 13, 1996]

``Burning Churches, Burning Opportunity'' Jackson Attacks Supreme Court 
                                Decision

       Washington, D.C.--The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson attacked 
     today's Supreme Court decision which struck down majority-
     minority districts in North Carolina and Texas.
       ``At night, the enemies of civil rights strike in white 
     sheets, burning churches,'' Jackson said. ``By day, they 
     strike in black robes, burning opportunities.''
       ``1996 is looking more like 1896 every day,'' Jackson 
     continued. ``Churches are burned, all across the South. The 
     gains of the Second Reconstruction won by Dr. King are being 
     rolled back, just like Jim Crow rolled back the gains of the 
     First Reconstruction. The Supreme Court in 1896 ruled on 
     Plessy vs. Ferguson, with its idea of `separate but equal.' 
     The Supreme Court now puts out ruling after ruling under the 
     pretense that after four centuries of slavery and apartheid, 
     that a white population which makes up 85% of the electorate, 
     and an African American electorate which makes up only about 
     10%, operate on an equal playing field.''
       Jackson noted with approval the words of Justice Stevens, 
     who wrote: ``A majority's attempt to enable the minority to 
     participate more effectively in the process of democratic 
     government should not be viewed with the same hostility that 
     is appropriate for oppressive and exclusionary abuses of 
     political powers.''
       Jackson also commented on those who voted in the majority: 
     ``On the side of those voting to end the Second 
     Reconstruction, we find Chief Justice Rehnquist, who first 
     came to public notice as he attempted to intimidate minority 
     voters from going to the polls.
       ``Second, we find Sandra Day O'Conner, an affirmative 
     action justice, who is only on the court because the civil 
     rights movement and the women's movement forced America to 
     widen the pool of those `qualified' to serve in our nation's 
     highest positions--despite that, she votes to end the most 
     effective electoral remedy we have yet found to diversify the 
     make-up of our legislatures.
       ``And third, of course, we find Justice Clarence Thomas, 
     who is on the Supreme Court only because he is Black--no 
     white justice with his limited legal experience would ever 
     have been considered for that position--and yet he turns his 
     back on the same movement and remedies that allowed him to 
     rise.
       ``Clarence Thomas is a memorial to George Bush's racial 
     cynicism, and he has imposed upon us blow after blow more 
     devastating than anything George Wallace was able to deliver.
       Jackson concluded: ``It is humiliating and painful to watch 
     a prime beneficiary of Martin's movement stick the dagger in 
     the heart of Dr. King's dream.
       ``Districts have historically been drawn based on 
     incumbency, political parties, geographical boundaries, and 
     industry. Racial factors were added after judges found, years 
     after Selma, proof of patterns of racial discrimination. 
     Therefore, they ordered the redrawing of boundaries for 
     `racial inclusion,' rather than `racial exclusion.' These 
     judges chose to be `race-affirmative,' to offset centuries of 
     `race-negativity.'
       ``The result after the 1992 elections was the most 
     representative U.S. Congress, and the most representative 
     state legislatures, in the history of this nation. This is 
     the context in which the Supreme Court today has acted to 
     wound Dr. King's dream.
       ``America is moving towards the end of this century with 
     the same tragic music with which Plessy v. Ferguson ended the 
     last century. And the saddest notes of all are being played 
     by one of the civil rights movement's prime beneficiaries--
     Clarence Thomas.
  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to join in this special order 
on the recent rash of arson attacks on African-American churches 
throughout the South.
  It causes me great pain that such a special order is necessary today, 
40 years after Brown v. Board of Education and 30 years after the civil 
rights breakthroughs of the 1960's. I think that we all had believed 
that we were past the shameful period of our Nation's history when 
racist hate groups bombed and burned African-American churches in order 
to frighten African-American communities into submission.
  I don't know whether these fires were primarily the product of some 
misguided individual or some fringe hate group--or whether they 
represent the uncoordinated acts of a number of people who have focused 
their hatred and frustration on these churches. We will have to wait 
for the results of the ongoing investigations to find that out. But I 
do know that--whatever the reason--such acts are unacceptable. They are 
unconscionable.
  Few crimes are as abhorrent as an attack on a church. A church is a 
place to worship God. It is the heart of the moral and emotional life 
of any community. An attack on a church is a clear statement of 
hostility toward an entire community. In a country like ours that 
places a very high value on freedom of association, freedom of 
religion, and our Nation's diverse ethnic background, it should also be 
interpreted as an attack on the ideals and principles of our society.
  One such case would be too many. But a single case could be 
understood as the isolated action of some sick individual. 
Unfortunately, the number of such crimes has grown so great that I 
think we can reasonably conclude that these arson attacks are racially 
motivated and, to some undetermined extent, organized. Clearly, 
African-American churches have been targeted because they represent the 
moral and emotional center of these communities. These attacks are 
clearly hate crimes directed at African-Americans. These crimes make 
clear that our Nation's painful struggle over race relations is far 
from over. Moreover, the sheer number of attacks suggests some kind 
of conspiracy, as well as a number of copycat free agents.

[[Page H6411]]

  At times like these, it is important that Americans spontaneously 
rise up and unequivocally condemn these attacks, and that our 
government take every possible action to identify, apprehend, and 
punish the perpetrators. We must make it unmistakably clear that our 
society will not condone, tolerate, or ignore crimes of hate. We must 
make it clear that an attack on any member of our society is an attack 
on us all. We must make it clear that ours is a nation based on 
tolerance, diversity, and compassion--not violence, prejudice, and 
hate.
  As a result of our racially troubled past and the sad, lingering 
legacy of slavery and Jim Crow laws, white Americans have a special 
responsibility at times like these to reach out to our African-American 
brothers and sisters to let them know that we do not share the racial 
hatred that appears to have motivated these attacks. We have a 
responsibility to let them know that we share their pain and anger, and 
that we want to work with them to heal the wounds created by these 
reprehensible attacks.
  Sadly, it is clear that our society is still torn over the issue of 
race. I believe, however, that we have the potential to grow and 
mature. Change can be difficult, and it often takes time. But I believe 
that the day is not that far off when this society will fulfill the 
ideals of equality, freedom, and harmony to which it has always 
aspired.
  I believe that we should attempt to turn this tragedy into 
opportunity--an opportunity to address the tensions that still linger 
below the surface in the daily interactions between Americans of 
different races, religions, and ethnic groups. As a first step, let us 
rise up as one people to condemn these intolerable attacks. Second, let 
us make certain that the Federal Government makes every effort possible 
to get to the bottom of these crimes. And finally, let us engage in a 
national dialogue to expose and extinguish the misunderstanding and 
fear that motivate such hateful acts.

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