[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H6685-H6686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
POLYGAMY IN ELDORADO, TEXAS
(Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include therein
extraneous material.)
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I would just point out in the gentleman
from Washington's comments, Sandy Berger is not the issue. Why was he
fired by the Kerry campaign?
I am really here this morning to talk about H.R. 3313, the Marriage
Protection Act, and I wanted to bring to the House's attention an
article that appeared in one of my hometown papers, the Fort Worth-Star
Telegram earlier this month.
This article dealt with a polygamy sect that is taking over the town
of Eldorado, Texas, and their lawyer Rodney Parker disputes the
allegation of abuse, saying that detractors had taken beliefs out of
context. He went on to say marriages of 16-year-olds and occasionally
younger happen, but they are not commonplace, his words. None of these
girls is being held prisoner.
He went on to say, I think polygamy is constitutionally permitted. He
said all manner of sexual relationships are now permitted. To somehow
single this one out and say it is illegal does not make sense.
Mr. Speaker, I would submit that our efforts today to protect the
Defense of Marriage Act that was passed in 1996 are right on target and
worthy of the support of everyone in this House.
I will include the article I referred to earlier for the Record at
this point.
[From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 6, 2004]
Eldorado.--First it was going to be a hunting lodge.
Then a retreat.
But as each new dormitory-style building goes up, residents
here become a little more apprehensive as a secretive
polygamist sect prepares to occupy a ranch four miles outside
Eldorado.
Locals say they have good reasons for feeling uneasy about
their new neighbors.
[[Page H6686]]
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, based in Arizona and Utah, is believed to be the
largest polygamist group in the country. The 10,000-member
church openly promotes plural marriage and has been subject
to allegations of forced marriages, abusing the welfare
system and wife swapping. If large numbers of the polygamist
church's followers do end up in Eldorado, residents fear the
group could dominate the town of 1,955 about 45 miles south
of San Angelo. ``They could easily come in here, bring in
several thousand followers and take over the hospital board
and other elected positions if they wanted to,'' said Randy
Matkin, editor of the Eldorado Success and head of the
Schleicher County Hospital District board. ``That is what
concerns us.''
Locals note that the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day
Saints initially tried to hide its purchase of the 1,691-acre
ranch last year. And the scale of the construction there
leads many to question whether church elders were truthful
when they said the ranch will be used as a retreat for 200
members. As part of their beliefs, church members interact
with the outside world as little as possible. Followers could
not be reached for comment for this article, but their
lawyer, Rodney Parker, said the allegations are nothing more
than religious persecution.
Polygamist towns--The twin cities of Colorado City, Ariz.,
and Hildale, Utah, where the church is based, are dominated
by the polygamist group. The church owns the houses and
controls the police and the schools, even though most
children of its members are home-schooled. The group believes
that the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints strayed from its true beliefs when it renounced plural
marriage in 1890. The fundamentalists broke away from the
church and have defiantly practiced polygamy ever since.
Eldorado residents became upset in March when they learned
that the group had bought the property. One City Council
member even suggested the devil had come to town. The Alarm
has largely subsided, replaced by apprehension. Residents
still grab copies of the Success as soon as they're placed in
the racks and call the sheriff when they see large trucks
headed to the church compound. From Country Road 300, a two-
lane road that surrounds the ranch, the construction is
largely out of view. The only evidence of the budding
community is a no-trespassing sign and guard shack. The top
of a cement batch plant tower is the only visible structure.
But it's a different picture from the air. Five buildings,
including three large structures, that appear to be living
quarters, have been erected in a matter of months. Workers
laid another large foundation in mid-June. Getting a clear
picture of what this activity means is difficult.
Warren Jeffs took over leadership of the church after his
father, Rulon Jeffs, died in 2002. This year Jeffs purged
about 20 church elders, including several rivals, leading
some observers to think that the move to Texas is a search
for greener pastures.
The church already has a community in Bountiful, British
Columbia, and there are rumors of another outpost in Mexico.
One author and former member says the group has changed
since Warren Jeffs became the leader.
``The biggest thing I've noticed since Warren Jeffs took
over is the wife swapping--taking wives from one man and
giving them to another,'' said Benjamin Bistline, who wrote
The Polygamists: A History of Colorado City, Arizona, a
nonfiction account of the church's history published by
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Agreka Books.
Under Jeffs, the group has changed some of its beliefs,
said Bistline, who left the church in 1980.
``I've always defended the polygamists,'' Bistline said.
``They're very moral people. But now, since he has taken
over, there is more corruption, more abuse of women.''
Bistline, who lives just outside Colorado City, said he
believes that some young women are forced into marriage to
keep them in the fold. Moving to Texas may increase the hold
on them, he said.
``I think as isolated as it is down there, it will be much
harder for the young people to escape,'' Bistline said.
Religious persecution. Rodney Parker, the church's lawyer,
disputes allegations of abuse and forced marriages, saying
that detractors take the group's beliefs out of context.
``With regard to the marriage issue, it's very messy, very
complicated,'' Parker said. ``There are marriages between the
ages of 16 and 18, and occasionally younger, but they're not
commonplace. They're being used by critics to imply that's
what the church is about and nothing else. It's grossly
inaccurate, a deliberate falsehood. None of these girls are
being held prisoner.''
Parker also argues that attempts to prosecute polygamists
will not withstand legal challenges.
``I think polygamy is constitutionally permitted,'' he
said. ``All manner of sexual relationships are now being
permitted. To somehow single out this one and say it's
illegal doesn't make any sense.''
Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, who has visited
Colorado City and the Eldorado property, has been trying to
learn about the group and calm locals' concerns.
``They have very different beliefs, but they have a nice
town up there in Colorado City, and they let me see
everything,'' Doran said. ``I talked to women and young
children, and everyone was open and polite. I'm trying to do
everything in my power to keep a line of communication open
to them.''
Yet Doran agrees that the group will do whatever Jeff asks.
``If he gives them an order, whatever it is, I'm sure
they'll follow it,'' Doran said.
Flora Jessup, a Phoenix woman who grew up in the
fundamentalist church, has been a vocal critic of the sect.
It was she who alerted Eldorado residents that the church had
bought the ranch.
``They're very good at putting on a face to the public,''
said Jessup. ``They're told to `keep sweet.' It is a mask
that is portrayed by the community. If you do not portray it
right, there is punishment.''
She said Eldorado residents shouldn't let their guard down.
``You never get a clear picture of what is going on in
these communities,'' Jessup said. ``What you see in public
and what is happening in private are two totally different
things.''
A closed society. In Colorado City, the incorporated town
is run as a closed society, said Buster Johnson, a Mohave
County, Ariz., supervisor from Lake Havasu City.
``They won't be coming into town and kidnapping children or
causing any problems,'' Johnson said. ``But they will try and
get every bit of government assistance that they can.''
Johnson noted that 66 percent of Hildale residents receive
Medicaid. The average in Utah is 6.5 percent, he said.
Some critics have referred to the tactic as ``bleeding the
beast,'' a method by which the sect siphons financial
resources from nonbelievers.
Parker, the group's attorney, said that's false.
``That doesn't mean, however, that they don't take
advantage of what they're legally entitled to,'' he said.
Parker said the ranch will be ``a new place to get away
from the pressure here in Utah. In that sense, it's a place
of refuge, but I think that's about as specific as I can
get.''
The group is already at odds with the state of Texas over
environmental permits. The Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality issued cease and desist orders to the group in May
for failure to obtain permits for a rock crusher, concrete
plant and sewage treatment facilities, and for lacking a
storm water runoff plan.
When a Star-Telegram reporter and photographer flew over
the compound in June, the concrete plant appeared to be in
operation.
``I think we'll be out there within a week,'' John Steib,
the commission's deputy director of the office of compliance
and enforcement, said Thursday. If there are violations, the
agency could impose fines of $10,000 a day. As for local
residents, many say they will tolerate the church as long as
no one is harmed. ``The only time we're ever going to know is
if someone comes in and swears up a complaint,'' said Justice
of the Peace Jimmy Doyle. ``If they keep it locked up, I
don't know if anyone can get out of an 8-foot, deerproof
fence.''
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