August 11, 2009, Atlanta, Ga…Bill Nigut, the Southeast Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League this afternoon said that a swastika found spray-painted on Congressman David Scott's Smyrna office this morning and a series of hateful letters sent to the Congressman's office represent "a "frightening display of bigotry and ignorance that should not be tolerated by a democratic society."

Congressman Scott called Mr. Nigut after his staff found the swastika when they arrived for work. The Congressman said he is convinced the outburst of hate messages are a result of his deliberations over the health care reform plan now being debated in Washington. The Congressman has also received hate mail, including a fax filled with racial epithets, that said, in part, "the folks are not going to stand for socialized medicine even though most Negros refuse to stand on their own two feet."

Even before the swastika incident, ADL had condemned efforts by a small but vocal number of opponents of health care reform to use Nazi imagery in attacks on the Obama Administration and supporters of the plan. "Trying to link one of the most heinous symbols of hatred against the Jewish people to a legislative proposal is despicable beyond words," said Mr. Nigut.

"We assured Congressman Scott we will work with local law enforcement to catch the perpetrator of the vandalism at his office, and will continue to speak out loudly and often against the hateful rhetoric he and other member members of Congress are now being subjected to," Nigut said.

ADL has taken no position on the health care reform legislation.