[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 92 (Thursday, June 20, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            CHURCH BURNINGS

  (Ms. McKINNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, over the past few days I have spoken with 
people who have seen the center of their communities destroyed. When a 
church is burned much more is desecrated than the wood and the bricks. 
Churches are placed where families and friends meet, hold community 
events, and pray. In poor areas where people struggle to get through 
each day, the church is a place to ask for strength , help and 
perseverance.
  Thankfully, despite losing their churches, these people have not lost 
their spirit. In DeKalb County, where I live, the predominantly white 
and integrated congregations affected by these cowardly acts must know 
that there are extremists in this country who wish to divide us. 
However, now more than ever, we must unite and send a clear message 
that their efforts to divide us will fail. They may burn our churches, 
but they will never destroy our spirit.

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