On the recordApril 13, 2010
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to remember the victims of the 1995 terrorist attack on Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. This act of terrorism was committed by a man who viewed the Federal Government as such a threat it justified mass murder. I applaud my colleague from Oklahoma for her resolution because it serves as a reminder that right-wing anti-government extremist groups are on the rise today. Only 2 weeks ago, members of a so-called Christian militia in Michigan were arrested by the FBI for plotting to kill law enforcement officers in the hopes of inciting an anti-government uprising. A national civil rights organization has documented a growing number of hate groups in America and states they are 'driven largely by an angry backlash against non-white immigration, economic meltdown and the climb to power of an African American President.' In one word: racism. Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center states: 'Individuals associated with the Patriot movement during its heydays in the 1990s produced an enormous amount of violence, most dramatically the Oklahoma City bombing.'





