[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 14, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H5463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HATE-CRAZED GUNMAN

  (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I represent the district in which six 
Jews were shot and Rick Byrdsong was killed. I received this E-mail 
yesterday:

       Please allow me to express my horror at the tragedy that 
     has befallen my family. On my way home from synagogue, I was 
     shot by a hate-crazed gunman. I spent 4 days in the hospital. 
     My wife, who was due to give birth any day, witnessed me 
     prostrate on the steps of a house bleeding from wounds to my 
     abdomen, arm and shoulder.
       I am grateful I am alive. I did not think I would get to 
     see my wife and 22-month-old daughter again. I do not know 
     how to convey to you the horror of being shot from close 
     range because I belong to the `wrong' religion. This used to 
     happen all too frequently to my European ancestors. There, 
     too, people shrugged and moved on to their daily routines 
     until it was too late.
       This event has harmed my family in so many ways it will 
     take years to heal the wounds.

  That is from Hillel Goldstein. His mother, Batya Abraham-Goldstein, 
said, ``This was not just hate. This is what happens when hate is given 
a gun.''

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