May 26, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7611

THE NATIONAL RIFLE

ASSOCIATION

Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I rise

today to speak briefly on a matter that

has caused me great personal concern

and that has rapidly been allowed to

escalate into another tragic example of

political class warfare in the United

States.

I am speaking of the overzealous and

counterproductive rhetoric of extremists and extremism. Most recently, the

National Rifle Association has provided an example of the worst in political debate.

At this time, Mr. President, I include

a letter I recently received from Mr.

Jack Sands, of Waldorf, MD. Mr. Sands

is typical of many former NRA members who have seen its leadership become more violent in its rhetoric over

the years. Addressing his letter to

Wayne R. LaPierre, he states:

I hereby resign as a life member of the

NRA. Enclosed is my membership card dated

1973. Please remove my name from all mailing lists. I have chosen today to take this action, since this is Peace Officers Memorial

Day when we pay tribute to the nearly 14,000

American law enforcement officers who died

in the line of duty. As a retired Federal officer, I no longer wish to be affiliated with the

NRA.

Sincerely,

Jack M. Sands.

I commend the national leadership

for its courage in apologizing for its

most recent example of political hatred. The comments circulated by the

NRA were both offensive and irresponsible. I commend them for their apology, but I condemn them, Mr. President, for not having the good sense to

exercise responsible restraint in the

first place.

There is a popular ad campaign that

says ‘‘I’m the NRA,’’ and we are shown

a normal, everyday, person. The message from that ad is that the NRA is

just a rank-and-file, next-door-neighbor organization.

Well, Mr. President, there are two

NRA’s. There is the leadership of the

NRA and there is the rank and file reflected in this memo sent to several

Members. This is their way of lobbying

Congress. It is a picture of a gun-toting

person speaking about ‘‘jack-booted

BATF thugs.’’

Mr. President, I was in the NRA but

I quit a year ago. So did some of our

friends and colleagues like Congressman BREWSTER who dropped off the

board, and Congressmen JOHN DINGELL

and Tom Foley. Just like former President George Bush.

It is time for the rank and file membership of the NRA to take back their

association. Otherwise, Mr. President,

they will be tarred with the same brush

as those few, but vocal, zealots who

have initiated this most destructive

campaign of hatred, innuendo, fear, animosity, and intimidation which are

the NRA leadership’s favorite tools for

lobbying elected officials.

Those who preach hatred and disrespect for the law bear some responsibility if their message of hatred contributes to lawless acts of others. Likewise, those in the Government who act

with arrogance or disrespect for the

rights of our law abiding citizens—regardless of the political or social beliefs of the citizens—will bear some responsibility if their official behavior

contributes to an atmosphere of distrust and animosity toward the Government.

There is no excuse to justify vigilante-ism or open lawlessness. It is absolutely inexcusable and irresponsible

for a national organization—such as

the NRA—which claims it speaks for a

great number of our constituents—to

openly promote lawlessness or disrespect for our law enforcement personnel.

That is precisely what our system of

government was created to avoid. Political debate, discussion, recall, referendum, and involvement is how we

keep our Government responsive to the

needs of the people in the traditional

and acceptable way.

I can tell you, Mr. President, that I

also resigned my membership from the

NRA. I did that over a year ago because some of its fanatical members

actually made threats against me and

my staff if I did not vote their way. I

will not lend my name to an organization which appears to cater to that

kind of violent behavior.

I can also tell you, Mr. President,

that views of the beltway NRA is not

reflective of the majority of its members’ attitudes. Certainly not the Coloradans who have been such dedicated

and generous members.

Those NRA members would, I am certain, join me in condemning the irresponsible behavior of earlier this

month.

I am personally highly offended that

there is now a trend to politicize the

tragedy in Oklahoma City. That was a

heinous, terrible, criminal act. These

responsible deserve nothing more than

due process of law and total, complete,

scorn from society. That was contemptible and it was barbarism.

It is almost equally contemptible to

use that tragedy to further a political

agenda. It does not matter what the

agenda is, whether additional forms of

gun control or whether it is an agenda

of anti-governmentalism. To use that

tragedy for political or personal advantage cheapens the lives of the innocent

victims and it cheapens the rights protected by our Constitution.

The NRA is not the only national organization to use lies, hate, fear, or intimidation to generate contributions

and to influence public policy. This is a

phenomenon that has become quite

popular among many groups who wish

to influence national policy despite

representing small, minority, views on

a given issue.

However, I can think of no other organization in our history which has advocated acts of outright violence

against the Government or law enforcement. That was a new low and I

am relieved—somewhat—that the NRA

has at least apologized. Let’s have no

more.

The NRA held its national convention this week. To the NRA membership in Colorado and the Nation, I say:

Take back your association before it is

destroyed—before it destroys itself—

from within.

RICHARD P. BUCKLEY—OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR FROM BROCKfTON, MA

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a

privilege to take this opportunity to

pay tribute to Richard P. Buckley of

Brockton, MA, for his 35 years of outstanding service to education in Massachusetts.

Richard Buckley is retiring this year

as title I coordinator in the Brockton

Public Schools, a position he has held

with great distinction since 1969. The

Federal title I program that he administers provides vital support for improving the reading and mathematics

skills of Brockton’s disadvantaged students. He has also taught at the elementary, junior high, and high school

levels, and as served as an elementary

school assistant principal.

In addition to his duties in Brockton,

Richard Buckley is also a member of

the Massachusetts Chapter 1 Director’s

Advisory Council and the Massachusetts Department of Education Committee of Practitioners. He is an executive board member and two-time past

president of the Council of Administrators of Compensatory Education.

Richard Buckley also served in the

U.S. Army for many years. A graduate

of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School, he was Commander

of the Boston Army Reserve Center and

is now a retired colonel of the Army

Reserve.

Throughout this extraordinary career, Richard Buckley has been a

strong leader for high quality education for the students of Brockton. On

the occasion of his retirement, I commend him for his remarkable service to

his community and our country.

S. 768—ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

REFORM AMENDMENTS

fMr. CRAIG. Mr. President, today, I

rise to support S. 768, the Endangered

Species Act Reform Amendments of

1995.

I wish to compliment Senator GORTON and Senator JOHNSTON on the

thought and effort which has obviously

gone into the crafting of this legislation.

Reform of the Endangered Species

Act is way overdue, and I am very

pleased that the Congress is finally addressing this issue in a substantive

way. Field hearings on ESA reform will

be underway next week under the guidance of my colleague from Idaho, Senator DIRK KEMPTHORNE, who chairs the

subcommittee of jurisdiction within

the Environment and Public Works

Committee. I will be joining DIRK in