[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 17, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING TAMMIE SCHNITZER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RUSH HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2014

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a courageous 
American who took a stand against hate and intolerance in her hometown 
of Billings, Montana.
  On a cold winter night in December a little more than 20 years ago, 
members of a local hate group threw a brick through the window of her 
young son's room. It was just the latest, but one of the most brazen 
and ominous, acts of hate committed against not just the local Jewish 
community but other minority groups as well, including Native 
Americans. Fortunately, Schnitzer's son, Isaac, was not injured, but 
Tammie knew this attack on her family--and on her community--required a 
very public response.
  Her first step was to go to the editor of the local newspaper and ask 
that the attack on her family and her faith be a front page story. It 
was, and it led to the paper and the entire community rallying around 
the Schnitzer's, with paper menorah's soon festooning some 10,000 homes 
and businesses in Billings. The response of the people of Billings to 
this and other acts of hate didn't simply stymie the purveyors of such 
hate in and around Billings--it started a national movement that has 
spawned the ``Not In Our Town'' nonprofit group that fights acts of 
hate all across America.
  I'm pleased that Hadassah and several of its New Jersey chapters, 
including the Alissa and Monroe Township Hadassah chapters in my 
Congressional district, will be honoring Tammie Schnitzer on September 
21st. My best wishes to them and my deepest thanks to Tammie Schnitzer 
for her courage to public service.

                          ____________________