Subject: STATEMENT BY REP. JIM KOLBE (R-AZ) ON MURDER OF MATTHEW SHEPARD
From: "Jay Moseley" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 21:53:57 -0500 (CDT)

>Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 11:04:04 -0500
>From: Kevin Ivers <[email-masked]>
>Subject: STATEMENT BY REP. JIM KOLBE (R-AZ) ON MURDER OF MATTHEW SHEPARD

Statement made on the Floor of the House of Representatives October 12, 1998

The Honorable JIM KOLBE of Arizona:      Mr. Speaker, the senseless and
tragic death of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, following by only a
few months on the heels of an equally tragic murder in Jasper, Texas,
reminds us how imperfect are our efforts to eradicate violence, hatred, and
bigotry in our society.

By all accounts, Matthew Shepard was a gentle young man, liked by all who
knew him, an unlikely person to incite such mindless and brutal violence in
others.

How then does this occur?  How do individuals get it fixed in their head
that it is open season on others, simply because they are black or gay?  I
do not believe we should engage in an exercise of national
self-flagellation.  But, I do believe it is incumbent upon each of us to
examine the words we use, the statements we condone, even the rhetoric of
bigotry we sometimes hear and simply let pass without condemnation because
we are preoccupied with other things.  We must not tolerate a message of
hate in our midst.  We must not give bigotry the fertile soil it needs to
flourish.

A loving God has gathered Matthew Shepard to His bosom; he will never face
such hate again.  That same God may grant His mercy and forgiveness to
those who killed him, but a harsher justice awaits them in this life.

Log Cabin Republicans		Kevin Ivers
(202) 347-5306 phone		Director of Public Affairs
(202) 347-5224 fax		http://www.lcr.org