Foxx Comments Spark National Scorn, "I Just Picked a Poor Word"

By Ron Fitzwater

North Carolina 5th District Congresswoman Virginia Foxx sparked off nation-wide anger and condemnation

with comments she made on the floor of the house Wednesday, April 29, during debate over the Matthew Shepherd Act.

Also called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the bill authorizes the U. S. Attorney General to provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial or any other needed assistance for criminal investigation or prosecution of State, local or tribal felonies that are motivated by prejudice based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability, if requested by State, local or tribal law enforcement. This provision provides federal assistance for any violent felony based on the federal definition of hate crimes, as well as any state-based definition of hate crimes.

During debate on the House floor, Foxx used the word "hoax" in referring to the violent 1998 murder of the bill's namesake.

"We know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. The bill was named for him, the hate-crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills," Foxx said.

The comment was quickly picked up by national media outlets and even led to MSNBC on-air host Keith Olbermann to call for Foxx to make a "public apology" or "resign."

In a statement released Thursday, Foxx attempted to explain her choice of words and the meaning behind them.

"It has come to my attention that some people have been led to believe that I think the terrible crimes that led to Matthew Shepard's death in 1998 were a hoax. The term 'hoax' was a poor choice of words used in the discussion of the hate crimes bill. Mr. Shepard's death was nothing less than a tragedy and those responsible for his death certainly deserved the punishment they received. I am especially sorry if his grieving family was offended by my statement.

"The larger context of my remarks is important. I was referring to a 2004 ABCNews 20/20 report on Mr. Shepard's death. ABC's 20/20 report questioned the motivation of those responsible for Mr. Shepard's death. Referencing this media account may have been a mistake, but it was a mistake based on what I believed were reliable accounts."

The report referenced by Foxx quoted several people involved with the investigation of Shepherd's murder, and one of the killers, who promote the idea that the killing was drug related and not based on Shepherd's homosexuality.

"Asked directly whether he targeted and attacked Shepard because he was gay, [one of the killers] Aaron McKinney told [ABC's Elizabeth] Vargas, 'No. I did not. All I wanted to do was beat him up and rob him.'

Dr. Rick Rawson, a professor at UCLA who has studied the link between methamphetamine and violence, told 20/20 the drug can trigger episodes of violent behavior.

"If Aaron McKinney had not become involved with methamphetamine, Matthew Shepard would be alive today."

Along with media outlets railing against Foxx's self-described "poor choice of words," staff members at Foxx's Washington, DC office stated that they were dealing with a deluge of calls and e-mails on the subject, some more serious than others.

"She has gotten death threats," said Aaron Groen, communications director for Foxx adding, "You would not believe some of the vile stuff we have gotten on our voice mail and in our e-mail."

Groen said that Foxx realized almost immediately that her choice of words had been a mistake and that was the reason for her statement. Additionally, Foxx reached out to the family.

"She absolutely regrets the remark and is apologizing to the family," Groen said.

Calling from the capital between meetings, Foxx spoke about the incident and explained what she was trying to convey on the house floor and where she had went wrong.

First, Foxx explained that one of the significant issues she had with the legislation was in regards to the First Amendment of the Constitution.

"There is a real concern, particularly on the part of pastors, who feel very strongly about their faith and about the admonitions in the Bible relative to certain lifestyles. They are very concerned with the fact that they may be prosecuted for teaching their faith. That, I think, is a legitimate concern.

"Many [American citizens] believe that the bill, depending on who is on the [United States] Supreme Court, could be ruled unconstitutional. And many of us are concerned that the debate last week was about the 'Thought Police' described in the [George Orwell] book 1984 where people can be prosecuted for what they think in addition to what they do.

"Many people feel that if you murder somebody, that's as severe as you can get and it doesn't matter much what the motive was, the end result is the same. That is a big part of the controversy about this whole bill. If the end result [murder] is the same, what difference does it make what you were thinking?"

Dealing directly with her statement, Foxx repeated the words in her statement released last week.

"About my remark, I would simply say first of all that nobody is perfect. When we are on the floor [of the House of Representatives] we are under very limited time constraints [to speak] and not everybody realizes that.

"I had about two minutes to finish up the debate and I was trying to respond to things that had been said on the floor, trying to hit the points that I needed to hit that hadn't been included in earlier remarks by myself and others and I just picked a poor word in my haste to do that."

"I have apologized for the poor choice of words.

"Afterwards people have told me that I was misinformed about the case. I had read material for two days preparing for it and one of the pieces that I read was part of what I used on the floor."

Foxx said that she had written a letter to Judy Shepherd apologizing for her remark "telling her that I certainly meant no offense to her."

Foxx's apology, however, was not embraced by Mrs. Shepherd. Speaking on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC, Shepherd said that Foxx's apology was "apologizing for semantics not her sentiment or actually what she said not to mention her insensitivity or her ignorance. She's just apologizing for semantics," she said.

Foxx's office is hoping that the tumult over the remark calms down sooner rather than later "so that the congresswoman can spend her time working on the people's business."

Staffers said they had informed Capital Police of the threats that had been made against Foxx and that appropriate action was being taken to ensure her safety.

The Matthew Shepherd Act passed the house 249 (231-Democrat, 18-Republican) to 175 (158-Republican, 17-Democrat) with 10 abstaining (8-Democrat, 2-Republican).