[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 38 (Thursday, March 30, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S1978]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SHOOTING DEATH OF AARON HALBERSTAM

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today to extend my 
condolences to the family of Aaron ``Ari'' Halberstam on the sixth 
Hebrew calendar anniversary of his death. On March 1, 1994, the 15 year 
old was shot and fatally wounded, while driving in a van with fifteen 
other students, on the on-ramp of the Brooklyn Bridge returning home 
from visiting the late Lubavitcher spiritual leader Rabbi Menachem 
Mendel Schneerson.
  Although the shooter, Rashid Baz, was convicted of murder and 
sentenced to life in prison, there remains a question of what motivated 
the attack. Many New Yorkers have joined Ari's mother, Mrs. Devorah 
Halberstam, in calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, to 
reclassify this hateful attack as an act of urban terrorism. Last May, 
at the request of the New York Congressional Delegation, the FBI and 
the United States Attorney's Office agreed to review the case for 
possible evidence of Federal crimes such as terrorism, civil rights 
violations, and firearms violations. This investigation is ongoing.
  We look forward to the swift conclusion of the FBI and US Attorney's 
review in the hope it will bring peace of mind to the family who has 
suffered so greatly. Then, we shall hopefully, once and for all, learn 
what motivated Rashid Baz to commit such a senseless act of 
violence.

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