[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 25, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ``HATE'' IS A STRONG WORD

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, ``hate'' is a strong word that's usually 
meant to provoke a negative response, which is why it's so troubling 
when a decades-old, multibillion-dollar activist organization uses its 
power to smear other organizations with the label ``hate group.'' But 
that's exactly what the Southern Poverty Law Center does.
  On its Web site, you'll find a hate map pinpointing groups like the 
American Family Association and the Family Research Council. The 
Southern Poverty Law Center does not agree with AFA or FRC on 
traditional marriage. And that's appropriate; that's their choice; 
that's their right. But rather than supporting the First Amendment 
rights of those groups to express their deeply held moral beliefs, SPLC 
brands them right alongside organizations that promote race-based 
violence.
  Last week, a man was sentenced to 25 years in jail after he found the 
Family Research Council headquarters on SPLC's hate map and went there 
with a gun, hoping to kill as many FRC employees as possible.
  Words do have consequences. It's time the Southern Poverty Law Center 
stop using whatever influence it has left to incite hatred towards 
people of faith.

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