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“CHURCH BURNINGS STRIKE MY DISTRICT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H6098 on June 10, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CHURCH BURNINGS STRIKE MY DISTRICT
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Jones). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Hall] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last night two churches in Greenville, TX, the fourth district that I represent, were damaged by fires which are suspected to be acts of arson. These are the latest in a long and tragic series of church burnings that have struck predominantly black, southern churches in the past 18 months. Whether these burnings eventually are found to be part of a conspiracy, isolated incidents, or ``copy-cat'' crimes, these are crimes that must be given top investigative priority.
Members of the blue dog coalition, of which I am a member, have joined with members of the Congressional Black Caucus in asking Attorney General Janet Reno to give this issue the full and focused attention of the Department of Justice. In recent weeks, we have received assurance that the Department is committed to thorough investigation of these burnings, and yesterday Attorney General Reno gave her personal assurances to a delegation of ministers. As we speak here tonight, agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are in Greenville investigating these recent burnings.
I would like to commend the efforts of the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Cleo Fields, and the distinguished gentleman from Alabama, Glen Browder, for their leadership on this issue, and I join others in the blue dog coalition, the Congressional Black Caucus, other Members of Congress, and the majority of Americans in condemning these acts of violence. Whether these are crimes of hate or random incidents of vandalism and arson, this is a disturbing pattern of violence in America that must receive our serious attention.
The issue is not merely the physical damage resulting from these fires. I am confident that the congregations of Greenville's New Light House of Prayer and the Church of the Living God will unit to repair their churches and will be joined in that effort by the Greenville community at large. The issue is that these fires represent an act of violence that must not be tolerated in a free and civil society. When we read about church burnings or awaken one morning to discover that a suspicious fire has damaged a church in our own community, we are reminded that religious freedom is the solid rock upon which our great Nation was founded and which must be preserved and protected.
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