[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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