[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CHURCH ARSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spratt] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, in the last 18 months, 40 churches have been 
burned to the ground, 5 of them in my State. And despite mounting 
concern, eight churches have burned in the last 2 weeks, four within 
the last 2 days.
  It is time, past time, for Congress to say, ``In America, we don't 
burn churches, synagogues, or mosques, or let anyone who does, escape 
with impunity.''
  Today, we have such a chance, because today, we take up a bill called 
the Church Arson Prevention Act.
  We all know that this law will not bring these heinous crimes to a 
sudden halt. But this law will put the authority of Federal Government, 
the BATF and the FBI, into the investigation, prosecution, and 
punishment of every church that's burned.
  This bill attempts to justify its purpose under the Interstate 
Commerce Clause, which I think is unnecessary. I think that under the 
1st and 14th amendment, Congress not only has the power but the duty to 
prohibit any restraint on the free exercise of religion, and we not 
only have the power but a special duty to see that crimes of hate, 
aimed at African-Americans because of their race, are prosecuted and 
punished. And that is critically true when the hatred is visited on 
churches, the vital beating heart of African-American communities.
  I feel certain that the Church Arson Prevention Act will pass this 
House overwhelmingly. But that is not enough. It must be backed by the 
unstinting authority of the Federal Government until every miscreant 
who would commit such a crime knows that he will be pursued 
relentlessly, prosecuted swiftly, and punished severely.

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