March 28, 1980 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 7115 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS VANDALISM AND ARSON IN First Baptist Church of Clev.eland, Tenn., Because of a rash of suspicious church CHURCHES AND SYNAGOGUES while several hundred parishioners were at and synagogue fires in Brooklyn, a bi.1.1 was prayer. introduced in Congress last November that But the stealthy figure had not come to would make destructlon of a house of wor- HON. STEPHEN J. SOLARZ worship. ship or religious articles inside it a federal OF NEW YORK Instead, he entered the pastor's office, 10 crime punishable by a $10,000 fine, five feet. away from the sarn;tuary, and took years in jail, or both. lN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES $10,000 in checks and cash from a safe. He Nor is the problem of church crime con- Friday, March 28, 1980 then snatched up 17 wallets and billfolds in fined to the United States. the choir robing room. With a massive rise in reported-theft and e Mr. SOLARZ. Mr. Speaker, I would At Koyasan Buddhist Temple in down- vandalism in England and Canada, Church like to draw the attention of my col­ town Los Angeles. a man entered an ante- of England parishes are forming vigilante leagues to the following article that room during a prayer service recently and groups and hiding their stlver. The Ecclesi­ appeared recently in the Los Angeles stole a "priceless scroll" containing a like- astical Insurance Office reported that · Times, which discusses the high inci­ ness of the Buddha. claims doubled from 2,000 to 4,000 between dence of vandalism and arson in Last October, n ight marauders twice 1976 and 1977. churches and synagogues across the · broke into Temple Ner Tamid in Simi · Anti-Christian vandalism has plagued ole- . country. Valley, desecrating the temple and causing ·rusalem in recent monthS. Targets of these In 1979, thousands of dollars in damage. assaults, blamed on JewiSh extremists· by November after a series of The vandals painted red swastikas on the Mayor Teddy Kollek, have included a Chris­ malicious acts of vandalism in my dis­ floor, mutilated TorahS, or holy Jewish tian bookstore, a Baptist church, a Russian. trict, including the destruction of nine writings, and splattered paint over the Orthodox church and the Benedictine 100-year-old sacred Torah scrolls, I in­ rabbi's robes and prayer shawl. But in this Abbey on Mt. Zion. A package containing troduced H.R. 5917, which would make case, valuable stereo and office equipment three bombs was discovered .on the premises the destruction of houses of worship a as well as cash in plain view were left un- of the Gethsemane Franciscan Church ·Of ' Federai offense. touched. All Nations. At present, Federal civil rights stat­ These are but recent examples of what ap- One of the largest and most daring utes protect private homes and multi­ pears to be a nationwide tide of sometimes modem church thefts occurred several callous and often costly crime against years ago in West Germany. Thieves, using ple dwellings from cross burnings but churches, temples and synagogues. Houses mountain-climbing gear, ·clambered down leave prosecution for church or syna­ of worship, long the symbols of freedom and the north wall of the famed 13th Century gogue burnings and for the desecra­ peace, are increasingly the targets of armed· Cologne Cathedral into ·a cellar treasury. tion of their co.ntents to local law en­ robbers, gold-grabbing thieves, vindictive ar- They escaped with millions of dollars worth forcement authorities. I believe that sonists and sacrilegious vandals. of precious gems, gold and silver. in crQsses, unless there are substantial penalties _ Definitive figures on church crimes are diamond-studded Communion vessels and for interfering with a congregation's either nonexistent.or difficult to obtain. But nine bishops' rings. right to worship without fear, the the Board of Underwriters in Washington, ~ot all the news is bleak. spirit of freedom of worship is violat­ D.C., has estimated that losses relating to Despite worldwide gold fever, pious medi- houses of worship total $1.5 billion annual- tation continues at the Bangkok Temple of ed-individual civil rights are abused. ly. the Golden Buddah. Though the huge Vandalism of churches and syna­ Arson has now become the leading cause · statue is 75 percent pure gold and would gogues is not merely a crime against of church fires, accounting for 37% of those command about $80 blllion at current property but a crime againSt people. for which the cause could be determined, ac- prices, thieves would have a gargantuan While a house of worship can be re­ cording to the National Fire Protection task hauling off the rotund deity-it weighs built, the trauma of watching one Assn. 5.5 tons. burn is not easily forgotten. Destruc­ And insurance companies that specialize Things are quieter now in Atistin, Tex., tion of a church or temple · often in policies covering property owned by reli- where University Baptist Church attracted gious groups confirm that claims and costs national attention five years ago when the causes congregations to scatter, as the are up-particularly . for thefts involving pastor hired uniformed security guards and members lack the means· to replace worship and ornamental items, such as chal- asked for extra police patrols to keep young the buildings and the destroyed reli­ tees and candelabra, and electronic equip- drifters and thieves off church property. gious articles, many of them hundreds ment. The guards were dismissed about a year of years old and of great historic and Church burglaries in the city of Los Ange- ago, ·according to a church secretary, and traditional value. les increased 27% from 1978 'to 1979, ui> the only incident since has be.en the arrest The legislation I have introduced from 293 to 372, according to Los Angeles of a drunk who broke into the church freez- would make the destruction of a house police records. er looking for food. of worship or its religious contents a I'm surprised there are as many church After a string of church robberies in Gary, burglaries as there are," said Lt. Jack Carter Ind., local ministers considered hiring Federal crime punishable by up to of the Automated Information Division of armed guards. They decided, after much $10,000 fine, 5 years imprisonment or the Los Angeles Police Department. "Most soul-searching, against using weapons to both. in addition to the penalties are pretty slim pickings." ensure church security, and, fortunately, · which would be imposed by local Nonetheless, Roman Catholic and Episco- the crimes su~ided. · courts for violations of State arson or pal officials of Los Angeles have warned · With the exception of · Buddhist and vandalism laws. their parishes in recent weeks tl:> review Jewish officials, Southern Califortlia reli­ i hope my colleagues wm ·join me in· church security and insurance protection in gious leaders reported ·no unusual outbreaks working to enact this ·badly needed light of· "the startling rise in the price of of crime against area houses ·of worship precious metals." during the last few months. · legislation~ The unacceptably high Not all cities across the country have been Despite the overall 27 percent increase in. rate of desecration of houses of wor­ hit by waves of church- and synagogue-re- church burglaries in Los Angeles last year, ship ·and of damage and theft to their lated crime. ·But many religious groups have there has been no significant increase in property is a concern this Congress tightened. their security practices, locked burglaries or vandalism of Roman Catholic must promptly address. their doors:--somettmes even when buildings churches here for the last five years, accord­ The Los Angeles Times article fol~ are in use-installed sophisticated alarm ing to Msgr. Clement Connolly, who handles ·lows: · systems and replaced altar fixtures of gold insurance for the Archdiocese of Los Ange­ and silver with ones of wood, aluminum or les. VANDAL-ISM UP-ARSON, THEFT AT CHURCHES other common metals. · A sheriff's deputy for East Los Ahgeles;. ON INCREASE Heavy metal gates guarding churchyards ·where there is concentration of Chicano <By Russell Chandler> are now locked during off hours. Iron grates Catholic parishes, noted that vandals "don't One Sunday morning last summer a bar lower windows, and in many .cases, even write on church wanS, -though they stranger quietly slipped down the hall of floodlights bathe the grounds a.t night. · write 01_1 buildings right next dqor." e This .. bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken. by the Member on the floor.·· 7116 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS March 28, 1980 Still, 50 burglaries, each involving at least addition to any imposed by local courts for TOWARD A NEW WORLD­ $400 to $500 worth of stolen goods, are re­ violations of state arson or vandalism laws. SECURITY SYSTEM ported in the archdiocese each year, Con­ One of the most opprobrious forms of nolly said. This means that about one out of vandalism. religious le.aders agree, · stems very eight of the archdiocese's churches is from internal conflict between religious HON. RICHARD L. OTTINGER broken into annually. groups. OF NEW YORK · Interviews with religious leaders and In­ In N~w Jersey, a Hasidic Jewish group re­ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES surance and law enforcement officials cently desecrated the temple of an Ortho­ thi-oughout the country lndic~ted that dox Jewish group, according to Rabbi Ber­ Frida'!J, March 28, ~980 many of the crimes are committed against nard Zlotowitz of the Union of Americari e Mr. OTTINGER. Mr. Speaker, in houses of worship In inner cities, where Hebrew Congregations in New York.