[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 86 (Thursday, June 19, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SUPPORT H.R. 1955 TO DENY MILITARY HONOR BURIALS TO DEATH PENALTY 
                                CONVICTS

  (Mr. KNOLLENBERG asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I introduced H.R. 1955 with 
the support of many of my colleagues in order to prevent death penalty 
convicts from receiving military burial honors in our Nation's 114 
veterans' cemeteries.
  Today, the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Skelton] is offering an 
amendment to the defense authorization act prohibiting the same sorts 
of burial honors. I am a cosponsor on that amendment. It saddens me 
personally to offer this legislation, but it is the right thing to do 
for the veterans of our country who have given so much for us.
  The most heinous domestic violence act ever committed ripped apart 
the insides of our Nation. I am talking about the Oklahoma City bombing 
which will always remain, I believe, ingrained in our hearts, our minds 
and our souls.
  And yet the perpetrator of this dastardly act which killed 168 
people, many of whom were children, can receive a military honor burial 
in a veterans' cemetery after he receives his death penalty sentence.
  Our Nation's veterans' cemeteries are sacred ground. They are a 
solemn and sad reminder of the price our Nation has paid for the 
freedom we enjoy every day. It is not fitting to allow Timothy McVeigh 
in the company of our fallen heroes.

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