[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 14, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H7789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATING THE LEGACIES OF ADDIE MAE COLLINS, DENISE McNAIR, CAROLE 
  ROBERTSON, AND CYNTHIA MORRIS WESLEY ON THE 59TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                   16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH BOMBING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Alabama (Ms. Sewell) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SEWELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the lives and 
legacies of four precious little girls--Addie Mae Collins, Denise 
McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Morris Wesley--who died within 
the sacred walls of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, 
Alabama, 59 years ago.
  On September 15, 1963, as the four little girls were getting dressed 
in the bathroom of the church basement, preparing to sing in the choir, 
19 sticks of dynamite placed under the church detonated and totally 
exploded, causing the interior walls to actually cave in.
  The crowd of about 200 people who gathered for the 11 a.m. service 
evacuated the church. But the church was filled with smoke, and 
underneath the debris lie four little girls.
  Along with the little girls who lost their lives, dozens of others 
were injured that day, including Sarah Collins Rudolph, the younger 
sister of Addie Mae Collins, who was in the basement with her sister 
and the other girls preparing for church that day.
  Due to the violently racist nature of the attack, thousands of 
African Americans protested across the State of Alabama. In response, 
George Wallace called the police to break up the demonstrations.
  The violent clashes between protesters and police resulted in massive 
arrests and the tragic loss of two more lives, two little boys who died 
that day, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware. The two boys, one 16 and the 
other 13, were killed within hours of the church bombing.
  Following the attack, several people, many of whom were members of 
the KKK, were arrested, but none of them--none of them--were actually 
prosecuted until 34 years later.
  Described by Dr. Martin Luther King as one of the most vicious and 
tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity, this racially 
motivated act of terrorism focused America's eyes on Birmingham, 
Alabama, bringing into sharp clarity the injustices that sparked the 
civil rights movement.
  Although we will never replace the lives lost or injuries suffered, 
the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965 proved that their sacrifices were not in vain.
  Today, as we reflect on our painful history, we are reminded that 
every gain in the battle for civil rights has come at a high cost paid 
by those who sacrificed everything for a vision and a dream bigger than 
themselves.
  As a direct beneficiary of the legacy of the four little girls, I was 
honored that the very first bill that I passed in this body 
posthumously bestowed upon them the Congressional Gold Medal to ensure 
that this Nation will never forget their sacrifice.
  I not only question where I would be today without the influence of 
the four little girls, but more importantly, I question where America 
would be today. The premature and senseless deaths of these four little 
girls awakened the slumbering conscience of America and galvanized the 
civil rights movement.
  It was their memory that carried John Lewis and those brave foot 
soldiers, unarmed and unafraid, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in my 
hometown of Selma, Alabama.
  It was their sacrifice which burned in the mind of President Lyndon 
Johnson as he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965.
  It was their sacrifice that inspired a generation of freedom fighters 
to move this Nation closer to its highest ideals of equality and 
justice for all.
  Madam Speaker, as we commemorate the 59th year since the bombing of 
the 16th Street Baptist Church, we, as Americans, are called upon to 
reflect on the legacy of the four little girls and to know them by 
name: Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Denise McNair, and Cynthia 
Morris Wesley. These four little girls and the loss of their lives have 
changed America forever.
  The legacy of the four little girls paved the way for a more 
equitable and more just future. For that, we owe it to them to pick up 
the baton and carry it forward.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in commemorating the 
59th anniversary of the lives of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, 
Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Morris Wesley.
  May we always remember their names: Addie Mae, Denise, Carole, and 
Cynthia.

                          ____________________