[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 75 (Thursday, June 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H4481-H4482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HATE CRIME IN JASPER, TEXAS, WILL BE FULLY PROSECUTED

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

[[Page H4482]]

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, last Sunday morning James Byrd, a 
constituent of mine from Jasper, Texas, was brutally murdered when he 
was beaten, chained and dragged from the back of a truck. This 
senseless act of violence was committed against a black man by three 
white men with a criminal record.
  The people of Jasper, Texas, both black and white, have joined in 
denouncing this shocking act. The local officials have called upon the 
Justice Department to fully prosecute the perpetrators and to seek the 
death penalty.

                              {time}  1015

  I have urged the U.S. Attorney to prosecute with the full force of 
Federal civil rights laws.
  For those of us who believe that racial prejudice and hatred have no 
place in American society, this tragic event is a reminder that much is 
left to be done, that no American is safe until every American treats 
his neighbor with dignity, regardless of the color of his skin.
  Let us renew our commitment to root out the vestiges of racial 
prejudice, that the tragic death of James Byrd be not in vain.
  Our hearts go out today to the Byrd family, their grief is shared by 
the people of Jasper, Texas, and by the American people.

                          ____________________