H 4484 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE May 2, 1995

History will record Senator Stennis as one

of the great statesmen of the 20th century. He

was so well respected in Washington as a

southern gentleman and as a man of unquestioned integrity and character. But along with

his courtly southern manner, Senator Stennis

was an effective leader who was tough when

it came to maintaining a strong national defense and in looking out for his native State.

Through more than 40 years in the Nation’s

Capital, his first priority was to put Mississippi

first.

The legacy of John Stennis can be seen

throughout the State of Mississippi, from the

Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in the north,

to Meridian’s Naval Air Station to the Stennis

Space Center on the gulf coast. At points in

between, he was responsible for bringing Federal funds for water systems and economic

development projects that helped improve the

lives of his fellow Mississippians.

As chairman of the Senate Armed Services

Committee, he felt the United States should

always deal from a position of military

strength. He worked hard to see that our fighting men and women, both in the active forces

and the National Guard and Reserve, had the

equipment and training they needed to do the

job.

In honor of Senator Stennis’ commitment to

the military, Ronald Reagan announced during

his Presidency that the Navy’s next aircraft

carrier would be named the U.S.S. John C.

Stennis. The ship is undergoing sea trials this

spring and summer and will be officially commissioned later this year.

Senator Stennis always called me ‘‘his congressman’’ since I represented his hometown

of De Kalb in Kemper County. It was a great

honor to serve as his Congressman for 28

years and his colleague for 23. He was a remarkable man whose legacy will live on, here

in Washington and in his beloved Mississippi.

previous order of the House, the gentleThe SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

fwoman from Colorado [Mrs. SCHROEDER] is recognized for 5 minutes.

[Mrs. SCHROEDER addressed the

House. Her remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING

fThe SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. GREEN] is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr.

Speaker, I rise today on a note of sadness because this is our first full day of

being in session, but on April 19, Oklahoma City was awakened by a bomb

blast which killed both children and

people either working or doing business

in the Murrah Federal Building.

Oklahoma City along with the Nation rushed to the help of a neighbor,

including some of my constituents

from Texas.

The terrorist bomb ripped at the

foundation of the Federal building and

ripped at the fabric of our society.

The Federal building was targeted for

what are now unknown reasons, but at

this point there is all sorts of conjecture, but whatever the reason is, some

people were killed and injured.

At times, the rhetoric of hate and

distrust paints a picture of faceless bureaucrats, but the people in that building were hardworking people and children playing in that day-care center,

and there were people literally waiting

there for Federal Government services.

Many Americans, not just in Oklahoma but now all over America, do not

feel it is safe that we should allow any

terrorists to rip our Nation apart.

The terrorists did not affect the way

Americans rush to help other Americans when times are tough, though.

b 1700

When there is an earthquake or flood

or any other natural disaster, we have

volunteers running to help. This disaster was not natural, but neighbors still

were providing a helping hand. Houston

firefighters, along with firefighters

from around the Nation, flew to Oklahoma City to assist in the rescue and

recovery of victims from the blast.

Southwestern Bell provided telecommunications and donation of cash

assistance. Petrochemical companies

from the Houston area provided assistance.

Providing a helping hand in times of

need shows that when times are hard

for America, we come together. We

come together to show that any terrorist group inside or outside America,

that Americans will stand together and

there is nothing that can stop them.

If that message has done nothing else

than to go forth from these halls of

Congress, I would hope that the perpetrator and whoever is found guilty,

that they recognize that Americans, we

do come together, and we stand together on this tragedy.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. E

f NSIGN). Under a previous order of the

House, the gentleman from California

[Mr. MINETA] is recognized for 5 minutes.

[Mr. MINETA addressed the House.

His remarks will appear hereafter in

the Extensions of Remarks.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

ARSON AWARENESS WEEK

fprevious order of the House, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr.

WELDON] is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr.

Speaker, I rise today to call attention

to this week and the importance nationally in focusing on the problem of

arson.

Earlier today, Mr. Speaker, in cooperation with our Oklahoma colleagues, I joined in support of a resolution condemning the action in Oklahoma City and on focusing on the need

to further highlight this country’s preparedness and ability to deal with explosions and disasters and especially

those caused by terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, on May 1 through May

8 is Arson Awareness Week nationwide,

and this week is a time each year that

we take out to focus on one particular

type of tragedy that occurs on a recurring basis throughout the year.

Unfortunately, in this country we

tend to only focus on problems of disasters, when a major disaster occurs,

such as the World Trade Center bombing, and most recently the Oklahoma

City bombing.

But, Mr. Speaker, arson fires and

arson deaths occur every day of the

year in this country and are becoming

a major problem in terms of both loss

of life and property. As a matter of

fact, Mr. Speaker, arson annually

causes about $2 billion worth of property loss, and that does not include the

amount of extraordinary damage

caused by the emotional effects, indirect losses, indirect financial situations, medical and legal costs, lost

wages, business interruption, fire fighting and law enforcement efforts which

together exceed the direct losses twofold. So, Mr. Speaker, we are talking

about arson presenting a problem to

our country and our people that exceeds the $2 billion a year with indirect

costs approaching $4 billion a year.

Arson fires account for only 15 percent of building fires in this country

but account for more than 30 percent of

total dollar loss. In fact, in a more

troubling statistic, Mr. Speaker, arson

fires account for more than 700 lives

lost each year, 700 lives lost from fires

directly caused by arson deliberately

set either to cover up a crime, to have

some profit motive, to gain money

from the insurance company, or some

other profit ring that would allow

those to gain from the crime of arson.

Arson has disrupted educational and

manufacturing systems with the destruction of irreplaceable buildings and

artifacts. In addition, it has rendered

natural resources useless for long periods of time or completely destroyed.

Mr. Speaker, there is some good

news. The insurance industry is beginning to crack down on arson as never

before. One way they are doing this is

by reporting information on suspicious

fires to the property insurance loss register, a national data base which police, law enforcement and fire officials

use to investigate fires and prosecute

arsonists. More and more insurance

companies are extending their investigative and their deliberative actions

to prosecute arsonists well beyond

what was done in the previous decades.

Many insurance companies are also

giving more intensive arson detection

and training to their property claim

adjusters. In addition, company underwriters, the people who decide whether

to offer insurance to individuals and

businesses, also receive training in recognizing information that could warn

that an insurance applicant represents

a big arson risk.

On May 19, 1994, almost 1 year ago,

President Clinton signed a law, the

Arson Prevention Act. Mr. Speaker,