[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10672-H10673]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MATTHEW SHEPARD

  (Mr. KOLBE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Speaker, the senseless and tragic death of Matthew 
Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, following by only a few months on the 
heels of an equally tragic murder in Jasper, Texas, reminds us of how 
imperfect are our efforts to eradicate violence, hatred and bigotry in 
our society. By all accounts, Matthew Shepard was a gentle young man, 
liked by all who knew him, an unlikely person to incite such mindless 
and brutal violence in others.
  How then does this occur? How do individuals get it fixed in their 
heads

[[Page H10673]]

that it is open season on others simply because they are of a different 
color or different sexual orientation? I do not believe we should 
engage in an exercise of self-flagellation, but I do believe it is 
incumbent upon each of us to examine the words we use, the statements 
we condone, the rhetoric of bigotry we sometimes hear and simply let 
pass without condemnation because we are preoccupied with other things. 
We must not tolerate a message of hatred in our midst. We must not give 
bigotry the fertile soil it needs to flourish.
  A loving God has gathered Matthew Shepard to his bosom. He will never 
face such hate again. That same God may grant his mercy and forgiveness 
to those who killed him but a harsher justice awaits them in this life.

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