Letter to the Hon. Bob Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee - White Supremacist Groups on Civil Rights in America

Letter

Dear Chairman Goodlatte:

As you and our colleagues are well aware, this weekend a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia was attended by hundreds of self-identified members of the KKK, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other repulsive hate groups. The despicable display of bigotry and evil resulted in an unconscionable attack that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer and the wounding of 20 others assembled in counter protest. As the nation grieves and heals from the scenes of this past weekend, we have a duty to more fully understand what led to these terrible events and the persistence of these hateful, extremist ideologies.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced that the Department of Justice will appropriately conduct a federal civil rights investigation into the violence in Charlottesville this weekend. Further, the House Homeland Security Committee has announced a hearing on September 12th to examine the events from the perspective of domestic terrorism. As members of the committee of jurisdiction on issues related to civil rights and democracy, we too have a unique duty to examine the impact recent displays of hatred from white supremacist groups have on civil rights in America. Therefore, I write today to call for the full Committee to hold a hearing on this topic when we return in September.

While Congress cannot legislate respect, decency, or acceptance of others, we have an obligation to use our platform to lead our country forward on these matters. Thank you for your time and I look forward to working with you further on these critical issues.

Sincerely,

Darrell Issa
Member of Congress

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