IV
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. RES. 466
Condemning the brutal killing of Mr. James Byrd, Jr.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 11, 1998
Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CLAY, Mr.
STOKES, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. DIXON, Mr. OWENS, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. LEWIS
of Georgia, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mrs. CLAYTON,
Mr. BISHOP, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. HASTINGS of
Florida, Mr. HILLIARD, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms.
MCKINNEY, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. WATT
of North Carolina, Mr. WYNN, Mr. THOMPSON, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. JACK-
SON-LEE, Mr. JACKSON, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. CUMMINGS,
Ms. CARSON, Ms. CHRISTIAN-GREEN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. FORD,
Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. LEE, Mr. GEPHARDT,
Mr. BONIOR, Mr. TURNER, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. FROST,
Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr.
GREEN, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. HINOJOSA,
Mr. REYES, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. GINGRICH, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. WATTS of
Oklahoma, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. HASTERT,
Mr. BOEHNER, Ms. DUNN of Washington, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. LIN-
DER, Mr. FAZIO of California, Mrs. KENNELLY of Connecticut, Mr.
TRAFICANT, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. WAMP, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. MENENDEZ,
Mrs. CHENOWETH, Mr. SISISKY, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. FURSE, Mr. MILLER
of California, Mr. OLVER, Ms. HARMAN, Mrs. BONO, Mr. KING of New
York, Mr. BACHUS, and Mr. POSHARD) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
JUNE 11, 1998
Committee on the Judiciary discharged; considered and adopted
RESOLUTION
Condemning the brutal killing of Mr. James Byrd, Jr.
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Resolved,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The House of Representatives finds as follows:
(1) Mr. James Byrd, Jr., a 49-year-old disabled
African American male from Jasper County, East
Texas, was last seen walking home from a niece’s
bridal shower on June 6, 1998, and allegedly was of-
fered a ride by 3 young white men, who then pro-
ceeded to physically and mercilessly beat Mr. Byrd
in Jasper, Texas, then chained him to the back of
a pickup truck and dragged him until the torso of
his body was torn to pieces.
(2) Mr. James Byrd, Jr.’s body was found Sun-
day, June 7, 1998, on a bumpy, winding country
road about 10 miles from his Jasper home, at the
end of a trail of blood along a 2-mile stretch of road
with his head, neck, and right arm severed.
(3) Mr. Byrd was so brutally disfigured that his
head and torso were completely severed, with his
head, neck, and right arm found about a mile away,
and only finger prints could be used to identify him.
(4) Mr. Lawrence Russell Brewer, 31, of Sul-
phur Springs, Texas and Mr. Shawn Allen Berry,
23, and Mr. John William King, 23, of Jasper,
Texas, all of whom have past criminal records and
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have served time in prison or were on probation,
have been charged with murder and are being held
without bail.
(5) The police released an affidavit of probable
cause in which Mr. Berry said they had been out
drinking and picked up Mr. Byrd as he walked down
Martin Luther King Drive in Jasper early Sunday.
(6) Mr. Berry said that he stopped at a conven-
ience store, but Mr. King was angry that he was giv-
ing a ride to a black man, so he took over at the
steering wheel and drove to a remote area 7 miles
outside of town, where they killed Mr. Byrd.
(7) The 3 men were known to be members of
various hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan
and the Aryan Brotherhood.
(8) This was not a random act of violence, but
a senseless, hate-filled crime.
(9) The Federal Bureau of Investigation also is
investigating to see if the 3 could be charged with
violating Mr. Byrd’s Federal civil rights.
(10) One of the suspects allegedly said that
they wanted to ‘‘start the Turner Diaries early,’’ re-
ferring to a novel about race war that is popular
reading among some hate groups and white su-
premacists.
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(11) This incident is reminiscent of the brutal
slayings that occurred at the turn of the century and
in the 1920s and 1930s, with brutal hangings which
brought the National Association for the Advance-
ment of Colored People into existence and contrib-
uted to its growth in its early days.
(12) This and similar incidents threaten the
peaceful coexistence, security, and foundation of all
communities.
SEC. 2. CONDEMNING THE KILLING OF JAMES BYRD, JR.
The House of Representatives—
(1) condemns the actions which occurred in
Jasper, Texas as unacceptable and outrageous, to be
condemned by all people of all races, creeds, and re-
ligions;
(2) pledges to do everything in its power, in-
cluding holding public hearings, to probe the under-
lying causes of this brutal killing and to make sure
that the United States does not return to the days
when such hatred, brutality, violence, hangings, and
murder were deemed acceptable;
(3) calls on the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion, the Department of Justice, the White House,
and all other Federal law enforcement agencies to
conduct an immediate, full, and fair investigation
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into all of the facts of the case to aggressively re-
spond to this tragedy with indictments, and urges
the prosecution proceed aggressively with a fair but
speedy trial;
(4) calls upon each Member of Congress and
every citizen of the United States, in his or her own
way, through his or her church, synagogue, mosque,
workplace, or social organization, to join in denounc-
ing and getting others to denounce this outrageous
murder of another human being; and
(5) pledges to join in efforts to bring an end to
racism and an end to the fear and hatred which un-
derlie it, and to encourage all Americans to dedicate
themselves to ending racism and violence in the
United States.
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