[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 33 (Thursday, February 26, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1137-S1138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AWARDING A CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL TO THE FOOT SOLDIERS WHO
PARTICIPATED IN BLOODY SUNDAY, TURNAROUND TUESDAY, OR THE FINAL SELMA
TO MONTGOMERY VOTING RIGHTS MARCH IN MARCH OF 1965
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I am excited about an event today. I had
the honor--Senator Booker was on the floor earlier today. He is a
cosponsor with me. We celebrate today the passage of a gold medal bill.
I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate
consideration of Calendar No. 24, S. 527.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 527) to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the
Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround
Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March
in March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be
read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 527) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 527
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) March 7, 2015, will mark 50 years since the brave Foot
Soldiers of the Voting Rights Movement first attempted to
march from Selma to Montgomery on ``Bloody Sunday'' in
protest against the denial of their right to vote, and were
brutally assaulted by Alabama state troopers.
(2) Beginning in 1964, members of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee attempted to register African-
Americans to vote throughout the state of Alabama.
(3) These efforts were designed to ensure that every
American citizen would be able to exercise their
constitutional right to vote and have their voices heard.
(4) By December of 1964, many of these efforts remained
unsuccessful. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., working with
leaders from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, began to
organize protests throughout Alabama.
(5) On March 7, 1965, over 500 voting rights marchers known
as ``Foot Soldiers'' gathered on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in
Selma, Alabama in peaceful protest of the denial of their
most sacred and constitutionally protected right--the right
to vote.
(6) Led by John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee and Rev. Hosea Williams of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, these Foot Soldiers
began the march towards the Alabama State Capitol in
Montgomery, Alabama.
(7) As the Foot Soldiers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge,
they were confronted by a wall of Alabama state troopers who
brutally attacked and beat them.
(8) Americans across the country witnessed this tragic turn
of events as news stations broadcasted the brutality on a day
that would be later known as ``Bloody Sunday.''
(9) Two days later on Tuesday, March 9, 1965, nearly 2,500
Foot Soldiers led by Dr. Martin Luther King risked their
lives once more and attempted a second peaceful march
starting at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. This second attempted
march was later known as ``Turnaround Tuesday.''
(10) Fearing for the safety of these Foot Soldiers who
received no protection from federal or state authorities
during this second march, Dr. King led the marchers to the
base of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and stopped. Dr. King
kneeled and offered a prayer of solidarity and walked back to
the church.
(11) President Lyndon B. Johnson, inspired by the bravery
and determination of these Foot Soldiers and the atrocities
they endured, announced his plan for a voting rights bill
aimed at securing the precious right to vote for all citizens
during an address to Congress on March 15, 1965.
(12) On March 17, 1965, one week after ``Turnaround
Tuesday'', U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson ruled the
Foot Soldiers had a First Amendment right to petition the
government through peaceful protest, and ordered federal
agents to provide full protection to the Foot Soldiers during
the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March.
(13) Judge Johnson's decision overturned Alabama Governor
George Wallace's prohibition on the protest due to public
safety concerns.
(14) On March 21, 1965, under the court order, the U.S.
Army, the federalized Alabama National Guard, and countless
federal agents and marshals escorted nearly 8,000 Foot
Soldiers from the start of their heroic journey in Selma,
Alabama to their safe arrival on the steps of the Alabama
State Capitol Building on March 25, 1965.
(15) The extraordinary bravery and sacrifice these Foot
Soldiers displayed in pursuit of a peaceful march from Selma
to Montgomery brought national attention to the struggle for
equal voting rights, and served as the catalyst for Congress
to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President
Johnson signed into law on August 6, 1965.
(16) To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Voting
Rights Movement and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of
1965, it is befitting that Congress bestow the highest
civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, in 2015, to the
Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround
Tuesday or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March
during March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate
shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on
behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to
the Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday,
Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting
Rights March during March of 1965, which served as a catalyst
for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
(b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury
(referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a
gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions
to be determined by the Secretary.
(c) Award of Medal.--Following the award of the gold medal
described in subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the
Selma Interpretative Center in Selma, Alabama, where it shall
be available for display or temporary loan to be displayed
elsewhere, as appropriate.
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of
the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 under such
regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price
sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor,
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and
the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this
Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title
31, United States Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and
5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under
this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, this marks the 50th anniversary of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, and that historic event in Selma, AL, in
March of 1965. So this bill, I believe, is a fitting honor that
recognizes the courage and determination of the civil rights marches at
Selma 50 years ago.
The Selma-to-Montgomery march was a pivotal event in the drive to
achieve the right to vote for all Americans, a right which was being
systematically denied in that area and other places in the country.
This action was historic. It dealt a major blow to deliberate
discrimination. It produced a positive and lasting change for
Americans.
Those who stood tall for freedom on that fateful day deserve to be
honored with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is a rare thing. We do
not give it out often. But this is a very special occasion. I think
these courageous individuals are greatly worthy of this high
recognition from the Congress.
[[Page S1138]]
I would note that two Alabama Congresswomen, new, younger Members of
the House of Representatives, Martha Roby, a Republican, and Terri
Sewell, a Democrat, introduced similar bills in the House of
Representatives, which passed unanimously, 420 to 0. The Senate bill
today that Senator Booker and I have moved out of the Senate banking
committee, which my colleague from Alabama, Senator Shelby, chairs--it
moved out of that committee unanimously. It now has been passed through
the Senate.
It was a very historic day. It marked an alteration in the history of
America. It changed an unacceptable abuse of American rights, the right
to vote, and it created a more positive world, country, and region. I
grew up not too far from there. I was in high school or junior high
school when that happened. I remember reading about it, thinking about
it, but I do not think I fully understood the significance of it until
time had gone by.
I think this is a very fitting honor. I am pleased it has passed
today. I am pleased for those who will receive the honor.
I yield the floor.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I support S. 527, a bill to honor the
foot soldiers of the historic civil rights march that led thousands
from Selma to Montgomery in a peaceful protest for their right to vote.
I am proud to cosponsor this bill, which would award the
Congressional Gold Medal to those who gave their blood, sweat, and
tears in the name of ending unfathomable injustices in our country. In
honor of the 50th anniversary of the march, this award will recognize
those whose groundbreaking efforts acted as a catalyst for the Voting
Rights Act and made our Nation a more free and equitable place.
Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, and the final 54-mile march from
Selma to the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery were defining moments
in the never-ending struggle for equal treatment under the law. On
Bloody Sunday, peaceful marchers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge by Selma
were met by State troopers and locals, resulting in a brutal conflict.
Seventeen members of the march were hospitalized, and shameful images
of protesters being beaten with nightsticks focused national and
worldwide attention on the event. Following Turnaround Tuesday, in
which 2,500 marchers held a silent prayer at the same bridge, and a
court battle to stop police interference with the march, a final march
took place with over 25,000 people flooding the State capitol.
The Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, and Montgomery marches created
undeniable momentum for change, and the events left an indelible mark
on our national consciousness. President Johnson presented the Voting
Rights Act to Congress shortly after Turnaround Tuesday, and by August
of the same year, the bill passed Congress.
This bill would provide the plainly warranted recognition to these
brave men and women. It would provide a Congressional Gold Medal to be
displayed at the Selma Interpretive Center near the Edmund Pettus
Bridge, a fitting tribute to the Foot Soldiers who made that fateful
march.
Our country was founded on the precept that the power of government
is derived from the people it governs. The primary form of expressing
opinions in our democracy is through voting. The marchers who risked
everything were committed to ensuring our democracy was truly
representative, leaving a lasting and positive effect on our Nation. I
salute these Foot Soldiers today, and I urge the Senate to swiftly pass
this important legislation.
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