[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 156 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14238-S14240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TERRORISM AND ABORTION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, last Thursday, I was reading the morning 
newspaper in Washington when I came across an article describing for, 
lack of a better description, the emotional stress of a doctor, Steven 
Dixon. Dr. Dixon, after a lifetime of study and sacrifice, indicated he 
was going to give up the practice of medicine. Why? Because terrorists 
had broken his 40-year-old spirit. This 40-year-old doctor decided he 
wasn't going to practice medicine anymore. His will to work had been 
broken.

  Dr. Dixon maintained a medical practice in the downtown DC area. Dr. 
Dixon, by training, was certified to be an obstetrician/gynecologist. 
In his practice, he helped women with a multitude of medical problems--
basic checkups, physicals, and problems unique to women. On occasion, 
he terminated pregnancies. What did these people do to run Dr. Dixon 
out of the practice of medicine? They distributed wanted posters with 
his name and photograph like those you see in the post office. He 
received numerous threatening phone calls to his home and his office. 
Various threatening mail was sent to his home and office. These are 
some of the things that happened to Dr. Dixon.
  In the United States, the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme 
Court, the same court that established the way commerce is conducted 
between the 50 States, the same court that decreed education cannot be 
separate and be equal, the same court that set precedence for the 
cleansing of Government by its overview of Watergate--this same U.S. 
Supreme Court has set forth a standard as to how abortion in the United 
States is legal. That is the final word, what the Supreme Court says in 
our country. Whether one agrees or disagrees, it is the law of this 
Republic.
  But some are unwilling to follow the law of the land. They think they 
know better. This has led to violence, vandalism, brutal protests at 
legal clinics established to deal with a multitude of female-related 
health problems. In the last 20 years, there has been an average of 40 
of these acts each week--bombings, arsons, death threats, kidnappings, 
murders, tires slashed, oil drained from cars, sugar put in gas tanks, 
blood splattered on people's homes and sidewalks and places of 
business. There have been 38,000 acts during less than two decades--
38,000 acts of terrorism.
  I am going to talk now about some examples of these terrorist acts. 
For example, people who work in entities, such as Planned Parenthood 
clinics, face acts of violence, threats, intimidation. In 1998, at just 
such clinics, there were multiple murders, bombings, and arsons, a 
score of butyric acid attacks. That is a chemical compound that burns 
and leaves an awful smell. Anti-choice violence and terrorism is 
worsening. It should be stopped. Dr. Dixon, who I have never met, who 
many read about last Thursday, which caused me to begin thinking about 
this issue, stated in a letter:

       It is ironic that I am a target, because my entire career 
     has been about educating and empowering women to help prevent 
     unintended pregnancies. While I have always supported a 
     woman's right to have this legal procedure, I actually 
     performed few abortions for my patients. In fact, I stopped 
     performing them because of the stress associated with this 
     terrorism. Sadly, the ongoing threat to my life and my 
     concern for the safety of my loved ones has exacted a heavy 
     toll on me, making it necessary that I discontinue 
     practicing.

  I don't know Dr. Dixon, never met him, never talked to him. But those 
who threaten Dr. Dixon are cowards, terrorists, no different than the 
people who blew up the New York City Trade Center. They are murderers. 
These killers and would-be killers and terrorists call each other 
patriots. The true patriots of this Nation are those who have given 
their all in the fields of battle, places called the Bulge and the 
beaches of Guadalcanal, Pork Chop Hill in Korea, and in Vietnam. And 
many people who haven't given their lives have sacrificed a great deal. 
Many serve in this Chamber. Under our system of government, which has 
been in existence for more than 200 years, the law of the land can only 
be changed by peaceful political means, through persuasion, debate, 
demonstrations that are peaceful in nature, grassroots political 
activity, the assertion of one's feelings at the ballot box, but never, 
never, through violence and intimidation. What is now taking place in 
our country by these zealots is despicable.

  Why do I say what I have said? Why do I conclude this? Let me travel 
a little bit. Remember, we have 38,000 of these terrorist acts, and I 
am going to talk about a few of these demonstrations of viciousness. A 
manual has been produced by a group called the Army of God. It is a 
manual directing there to be no trial, no jury, no appeal, no stay of 
execution. Their clear declaration is to kill abortion doctors and 
people associated with abortion clinics--kill whoever they decide 
should be murdered.
  Doctor Barnett Slepian. I didn't realize this until after the murder 
had taken place, but Dr. Slepian's niece worked for me here in 
Washington. She is now a writer of some acclaim. She had an article 
published in the last issue of George magazine. She is from Reno, NV, 
and is a wonderful young lady. Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot and killed 
by a bullet that came through his kitchen window at the same time the 
doctor was having dinner with his family in his kitchen. After this 
brutal murder, this cowardly act, his death was mocked publicly. His 
murder was commended by some groups. The killer, even though 
identified, has not been apprehended.
  In Birmingham, AL, at a health clinic, there was a bomb blast which 
killed the security guard who was there, a man by the name of Robert 
Sanderson. He was a police officer trying to make some money on the 
side. Emily Lyons, a nurse, was severely injured and left nearly blind 
and with medical bills of almost $1 million. Eric Robert Rudolph has 
been charged with this attack. He is the man who is being chased 
through the hills in the south, someplace in North Carolina. He is one 
of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted. He is yet to be found.
  In December of 1996, Dr. Calvin Jackson was stabbed many, many times. 
He lost at least four pints of blood, and one ear was severed. His 
assailant was apprehended a few hours later, after entering another 
clinic carrying a filleting knife.
  John Salvi--at about the same time this Jackson matter took place--
was tried for two murders of clinic receptionists, people who were 
secretaries--Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols. He attempted to kill 
five others. He fired bullets into these clinics in Brookline, MA, and 
Norfolk, VA.
  It is hard for me to say this, but a Reverend, Rev. Paul Hill, a 
well-known protester and director of the anti-choice group called 
Defensive Action, was convicted in the fall of 1994 for the murders of 
Dr. John Britton and a 74-year-old man who happened to be with him 
outside a health clinic in Pensacola, FL.
  The two victims were shot with a 12-gauge shotgun. Before the 
shootings, Reverend Hill had been previously arrested for his 
activities where he advocated continual use of force.
  Dr. David Gunn, a physician, was murdered during a protest at a 
Pensacola clinic. Wanted posters featuring Dr. Gunn's photograph, 
telephone number, and schedule were distributed at an Operation Rescue 
rally in Montgomery, AL, and other places.

[[Page S14239]]

  Dr. George Tiller, who was a target of violence and blockades for 
many years, was shot in both arms.
  Finally, in Wichita, KS, a person charged with a shooting who had 
been arrested on previous occasions for trespassing and blockading 
clinic entrances praised the man who murdered Dr. Gunn.
  I was the first person to come here and speak out on the Senate floor 
about Dr. Gunn's murder, which I thought was sickening.
  Neal Horsley, a militant and founder of a group called the Creator's 
Rights Party, has developed a web site entitled ``The Nuremberg 
Files.'' The site was designed to ``collect evidence.'' This so-called 
``evidence'' lists clinic staff members, law enforcement officers, 
judges, and politicians for use in future trials ``for their crimes.'' 
Remember that they work in legal clinics. The site seeks and lists 
personal information such as photos of them and their families, their 
houses, their cars, their driving records, license plate numbers, names 
and birth dates of individuals, and even the birth dates of their 
family.
  A legend accompanies this list of names under a banner where there is 
a simulation of dripping blood. The legend indicates the degree that 
this so-called Creator's Rights Party wants to place these people. 
There is a black font for people who just work there. Then it becomes 
gray when somebody has been wounded. Their name isn't completely 
stricken but partially stricken when they have been wounded by one of 
these terrorists. But if someone is killed, like Dr. Slepian, there is 
an immediate strike through. They are stricken off the list.
  Last year, about a year ago, at a Planned Parenthood clinic in 
Milwaukee there was an envelope received in the mail. Inside the 
envelope was a bomb constructed of two batteries with wire wrapped in 
modeling clay. These bombs didn't work. But the message written on 
white paper stated that the next one might be real. The next day, 
Milwaukee's Affiliated Medical Services received a similar mailing.
  A week after the murder of Dr. Slepian, four clinics in three States 
received letters purporting to contain anthrax, which we know is the 
most deadly strain of bacteria. A few days later, six more anthrax 
threats were sent to clinics. Although some clinics were closed and 
staff decontaminated, all of these threats turned out to be hoaxes.
  Bombs were discovered at two clinics in North Carolina about a year 
ago, less than a month after these clinics had been damaged by arson.
  Between May and July of last year, 19 clinics in Louisiana, Florida, 
and Texas were vandalized with butyric acid, that I have already talked 
about, which is a noxious industrial chemical which sent people who 
happened to be in the area to hospitals, including patients and staff 
members. They went there with respiratory problems, nausea, and 
sickness. Clinics were closed for days while they tried to get the 
smell out of their facilities.
  Shortly after the clinic bombings in Atlanta and Oklahoma, an Oregon 
physician, Peter Bours, received a letter which demanded $50,000 in 
cash and threatened, ``The bombings in Atlanta and Oklahoma are a 
warning,'' and indicated that those who do not comply to our demands 
will be destroyed.
  The FBI arrested a man by the name of William Kitchens. When they 
arrested him, they discovered a book in his kitchen on extortion and 
kidnapping.
  Within 2 weeks of Dr. Britton's murder in Pensacola, FL, the last 
remaining doctor then providing advice in Mississippi, Dr. Joseph 
Booker became the target of a ``No Place to Hide'' campaign. The 
campaign's leader, Roy McMillan, signed a petition advocating the 
murder of Dr. Britton and others.

       According to physician Pablo Rodriguez, ``[i]n the 
     beginning, the harassment consisted of just nasty letters and 
     graphic pictures. Then I began receiving strange packages 
     with dolls inside, as well as subscriptions to gun magazines. 
     . . . Then the ``Wanted'' posters with my picture on them 
     began to appear. . . . Then the doors and locks to our clinic 
     were glued several times, and protesters blockaded the clinic 
     three times. . . . Just after Dr. Gunn's death, . . . I 
     realized that my car was steering poorly. I checked my tires 
     and found 45 nails embedded in them. . . . That evening, my 
     wife painfully discovered with her foot that our driveway had 
     been booby-trapped with roofing nails cleverly buried beneath 
     the snow. . . . My home, my haven of safety--violated.''

  Shortly after Operation Rescue targeted physician Frank Snydle as 
part of its ``No Place to Hide'' campaign, his 80-year-old mother 
received a telephone call that was false and misleading and a prank at 
3 a.m. in the morning telling her that her son had been killed in a car 
accident.
  A Dallas physician by the name of Norman Tompkins and his wife 
received hundreds of phone calls and pieces of hate mail. The message, 
for example, left on Dr. Tompkins' answering machine stated, ``I'm 
going to cut your wife's liver out and make you eat it. Then I'm going 
to cut your head off.'' Protesters with bullhorns repeatedly 
demonstrated at Dr. Tompkins' home early on Saturday mornings. On 
several occasions, he has had to have a police escort to go to church.
  A 14-page ``joke'' booklet--it certainly is anything but a joke--was 
distributed by an anti-choice group called ``Life Dynamics'' to more 
than 33,000 medical students. These so-called ``jokes'' recommended 
physicians who perform abortions should be shot, attacked by dogs, and 
buried in concrete. One medical student who received the booklet the 
same day Dr. Gunn was murdered stated, ``To say the least, it was 
upsetting''--that all OB/GYNs should be killed.
  The extraordinary measures that people must take for their protection 
doesn't seem right in a country such as ours. But physicians and other 
clinic workers face the daily possibility of terrorism and violence in 
order to provide women with legal reproductive health services.
  In the wake of the recent killings and harassment of people at their 
homes, providers are resorting to extraordinary new measures to protect 
themselves. Clinics are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in 
bulletproof glass, armed guards, security cameras, metal detectors and 
other security devices. Doctors are wearing bullet-proof vests and some 
have even purchased armored vehicles to go to work.
  Clinic workers have been instructed by Federal marshals to vary their 
routes to go to work--clinic workers, secretaries, nurses, phone 
operators, janitors--to drive to a safe haven if followed, and to call 
police if they receive a suspicious package, as it would likely contain 
a bomb.
  In Boston, MA, Dr. Maureen Paul no longer sits on the third floor 
atrium she built for herself as a so-called ``dream spot.'' In light of 
Dr. Slepian's murder in his home, she feels too vulnerable there, 
which, according to Dr. Paul ``really makes me angry because, wow, this 
is the space I created for me. I don't get to be home very often, and 
so it really disturbs me that I have to think about getting shot in a 
place I love.''
  Many other clinic directors, including Director Warren Hern, 
installed bullet-proof glass in his office and hired private armed 
security guards. He wears a bullet-proof vest at his public 
appearances. Stated Dr. Hern:

       I walk out of my office and the first thing I do is look at 
     the parking garage the hospital built two doors away to see 
     if there is a sniper on the roof. I expect to be shot any 
     day, any minute. I'm in a war zone. It is frightening and it 
     has ruined my life.

  These are only a few of the 38,000 acts of intimidation that have 
taken place in America.
  For example, Dr. Slepian was murdered. Keep in mind, his murder 
occurred while he was having dinner with his family in his kitchen. 
Somebody with a high-powered rifle shot him through his kitchen window 
with one bullet through the head in front of his entire family. After 
the killing took place, a poem appeared on the Internet, ``Ode to 
Slepian.'' They say the most vicious things. They have the audacity to 
quote Holy Scripture to condone their act of violence and their attempt 
to ``coronate'' this act of violence as something good and positive.

       ``The sound of window glass shattering, a hollow thud, and 
     a woman's scream coming from within the house, pierced the 
     frigid air. He smiled. Hallelujah to the Lord.''

  This has got to stop.
  Six years ago, I was first to speak out against clinic violence. On 
the day Dr. Gunn was brutally murdered in Florida, I said I thought 
that was wrong. I still think it is wrong. Regardless of a person's 
feeling on the issue of abortion, we can't allow this to take

[[Page S14240]]

place. After the speeches on clinic violence and the public's disgust, 
a law was passed - Federal Access to Clinic Entrance Act. It was 
directed toward this terrorism at clinics. It has helped. Not a great 
deal, but it has helped. It is a step in the right direction.
  Today, I am directing a letter to the Attorney General of the United 
States, Janet Reno. I say to Janet Reno, I know there is a task force 
dealing with these issues, but we in Congress need to be told what is 
being done. We need to see some results and we need to know what more 
can be done. We need a report.
  We not only have to go after those people who have committed these 
atrocious deadly acts, but we need to figure out a program to stop them 
from happening in the first place. We can't have the Internet, the U.S. 
mail, people's homes and businesses violated by these terrorists.
  I am asking Janet Reno to give us in Congress some direction, some 
guidance as the chief law enforcement officer in this country. We want 
to know what you are doing to stop these acts of intimidation and 
violence. It is time these 38,000 acts are stopped. We must do 
something to stop this senseless violence in the land of our liberty.
  We must understand that what separates any pluralistic society from 
anarchy is a recognition that no one has a monopoly on the truth. When 
this basic precept fails, so does the community. It was thus in Kosovo, 
Bosnia, and Rwanda, in the Germany of the 1930s and America of 1861.
  There have always been people who knew the wishes of their Supreme 
Being more clearly than others. Some became St. Francis; others burned 
St. Joan. Some raised cathedrals; others sacked Jerusalem. Some wrote 
hymns of praise to the Lord; others wrote his name in blood. There have 
always been people who knew their law was of a higher moral value than 
the laws of society in which they live.
  Some became Gandhi and led marches to the sea; others became Theodore 
Kaczynski and mailed bombs to people they never met. Some became Henry 
David Thoreau and refused to make war; others became Timothy McVeigh 
and made war on innocent men, women, and children. Some became Martin 
Luther King and marched to Selma; others became James Earl Ray, the 
lone fanatic with a gun.
  As long as any man or woman combines that mistaken belief in a higher 
law with a conviction that they are empowered to enforce it against 
their fellow man, so long will the fringe fanatics of the pro-life 
movement, murder and maim and intimidate in violation of the rights and 
beliefs of every person dedicated to a just and civil society in 
America.
  All Americans must speak out against this new American terror; to do 
otherwise is un-American.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, Senator Craig from Idaho and I, following 
the Senator from Montana speaking, intend to have perhaps 15 minutes 
split between the two of us. I ask unanimous consent we be recognized 
following the presentation by the Senator from Montana.
  Mr. REID. The Senator from Montana needs 10 minutes?
  Mr. BAUCUS. I will need 10 to 12 minutes.
  Mr. DORGAN. I ask unanimous consent following the presentation of the 
Senator from Montana I be recognized for 15 minutes with the intention 
of yielding some of that time to the Senator from Idaho.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada controls the time.
  Mr. REID. I have no objection to that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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