[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1409-H1410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NO TOLERANCE FOR HATE CRIMES

  (Mr. HILL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1

[[Page H1410]]

minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include extraneous 
material.)
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, one film which earned an Academy Award 
nomination for best picture more than 10 years ago featured Harrison 
Ford whose character went to the aid of an Amish family after they had 
become entangled in a brutal crime. The film, Witness, was fiction, but 
it taught us what we can learn from communities like the Amish. It is a 
sad fact, however, that these colonies are often the targets of scorn 
and ridicule.
  In my home State of Montana there are similar religious-based 
colonies known as Hutterites. What has happened to one of them in 
recent weeks is outrageous.
  The FBI has been asked to investigate a fire which was deliberately 
set in the timber supply of a new Hutterite colony in Montana. Damage 
is estimated at $100,000.
  There have been other attempts to harass colony members, which is 
equally disturbing.
  Mr. Speaker, Montanans will not stand for these sorts of hate crimes. 
We welcome people of all religious backgrounds with open arms, and I 
urge Federal officials to use all means at their disposal to assure the 
safety and the welfare of these citizens. It is the very least we can 
do.
  Mr. Speaker, I include the following for the Record:

               [From the Billings Gazette, Mar. 23, 1998]

                FBI Asked To Investigate Hutterite Fire


    blaze deliberately set, fire officials say; human rights groups 
                    describe incident as hate crime

       Ledger (AP)--Fire officials say a blaze in a lumber shed at 
     a fledgling Hutterite colony in north-central Montana was 
     arson, and it may be a hate crime aimed at the religious 
     sect.
       The fire two weeks ago charred lumber intended to build 
     housing at the new Camrose Colony, near Ledger in 
     southeastern Toole County. Investigators say the fire was 
     clearly arson.
       The fire took 13 hours and 38,000 gallons of water to 
     extinguish. Damage was estimated at about $100,000.
       Toole County Sheriff Vern Anderson said the fire appeared 
     to be an attempt to intimidate colony members, who have 
     bought several farms in the area within the past few weeks.
       ``It appears that we've got somebody disgruntled that the 
     colony people have purchased that property,'' Anderson said. 
     But he shied from describing the fire as a hate crime.
       ``Those are some of the words that are floating around 
     here,'' Anderson said: ``It's hard for me to say.''
       The Montana Human Rights Network is less reticent.
       ``It's got a lot of the classic elements of a hate crime,'' 
     said Christine Kaufmann. The network's research director, ``A 
     group that is different in some way is singled out in the 
     community. It seams to be clearly an effort to prevent them 
     from establishing a colony in the area.''
       The fires and a spate of vandalism, including damage to 
     vehicles and grain bins, have left colony members shaken.
       ``We just took it over about three weeks ago,'' said Joe 
     Waldner, a spokesman for the East End Colony near Havre, 
     which is splitting and establishing Camrose.
       The Havre-area colony acquired several area farms, about 
     8,500 acres, south of the Marias River. The plan is to grow 
     grain and raise livestock ``a few cattle, a few hogs and some 
     chickens,'' Waldner said.
       The value of the building materials lost in the fire 
     totaled about $70,000. Waldner says the damage to the 
     building itself probably tops $30,000.
       The loss will slow building at Camrose, but it won't alter 
     the long-range plan.
       ``We are just going to keep on going,'' Waldner said, ``We 
     hope the police catch the guy who did this.''
       So do a number of neighbors.
       ``I don't like what happened up here,'' said Karl Ratzburg, 
     whose property adjoins the colony. ``I hope they find these 
     people and prosecute them for what they did.''
       The sheriff said his deputies continue to check leads on 
     the arson, and he notified the FBI of the incident. The FBI 
     declined comment on any involvement on its part.
       Kaufmann, the network's research director, has written the 
     FBI and U.S. Attorney Sherry Matteucci asking the agency to 
     actively investigate the colony fires.
       Margie MacDonald, executive director of the Montana 
     Association of Churches, said she hoped residents in the area 
     will rally behind the colony.
       ``We are real concerned about the magnitude of violence up 
     there.'' MacDonald said, ``Arson of any sort is pretty 
     appalling.''
       MacDonald said she hopes area pastors will work to develop 
     a community response to the colony crimes, which seem to be 
     rooted in religious intolerance. Pastors were a key part of 
     the strong backlash against hate crimes that targeted Jewish 
     families in Billings in 1993, she noted.
       ``What we hope to see is some strong community response.'' 
     MacDonald said. ``People really can't be silent when 
     something like this happens.''

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