[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5799-5807]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




AWARDING CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL TO ADDIE MAE COLLINS, DENISE McNAIR, 
                  CAROLE ROBERTSON, AND CYNTHIA WESLEY

  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 360) to award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to 
Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley 
to commemorate the lives they lost 50 years ago in the bombing of the 
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, where these 4 little Black girls' 
ultimate sacrifice served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 360

       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) September 15, 2013 will mark 50 years since the lives 
     of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 
     Cynthia Wesley were suddenly taken by a bomb planted in the 
     Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
       (2) The senseless and premature death of these 4 little 
     Black girls sparked ``The Movement that Changed the World.''
       (3) On that tragic Sunday in September of 1963, the world 
     took notice of the violence inflicted in the struggle for 
     equal rights.
       (4) The fact that 4 innocent children lost their lives as 
     they prepared for Sunday School shook the world's conscience.
       (5) This tragedy galvanized the Civil Rights Movement and 
     sparked a surge of momentum that helped secure the passage of 
     the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and later the Voting Rights Act 
     of 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
       (6) Justice was delayed for these 4 little Black girls and 
     their families until 2002, 39 years after the bombing, when 
     the last of the 4 Klansmen responsible for the bombing was 
     charged and convicted of the crime.
       (7) The 4 little Black girls are emblematic of so many who 
     have lost their lives for the cause of freedom and equality, 
     including Virgil Ware and James Johnny Robinson who were 
     children also killed within hours of the 1963 church bombing.
       (8) The legacy that these 4 little Black girls left will 
     live on in the minds and hearts of us all for generations to 
     come.
       (9) Their extraordinary sacrifice sparked real and lasting 
     change as Congress began to aggressively pass legislation 
     that ensured equality.
       (10) Sixteenth Street Baptist Church remains a powerful 
     symbol of the movement for civil and human rights and will 
     host the 50th anniversary ceremony on Sunday, September 15, 
     2013.
       (11) It is befitting that Congress bestow the highest 
     civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, in 2013 to the 
     4 little Black girls, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, 
     Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, posthumously in 
     recognition of the 50th commemoration of the historical 
     significance of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist 
     Church.

     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 
     commemorate the lives of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, 
     Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley.
       (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 
     Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, AL, 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 under section 2, at a price sufficient 
     to cover the costs of the medal, including labor, materials, 
     dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and amounts 
     received from the sale of such duplicates shall be deposited 
     in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

     SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.

       (a) National Medals.--The medals struck under 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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Bachus) and the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Alabama.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and submit extraneous materials for the Record on this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Alabama?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, it's an honor to manage this bill and to have worked 
with my colleague and the sponsor of this legislation, Congresswoman 
Terri Sewell, who is the driving force behind this legislation. She's 
worked tirelessly to bring this bill to the floor, and it has come to 
the floor with bipartisan support. Through her work, and those of many 
Members on both sides, including the Alabama delegation, we're proud 
that this bill has 296 Members as cosponsors.
  The bill, as the title reflects, posthumously awards a Congressional 
Gold Medal that recognizes these four little African American girls. 
Their pictures are on the floor of the House. You can see their very 
tender age. Their lives were cut short by a bombing of the Sixteenth 
Street Baptist Church in Birmingham on September 15, 1953. Many trace 
this decisive and heinous act to an impetus for a passage of the 
historical Civil Rights Act of 1964. There was a national revulsion 
caused by the deaths of these innocent lives, the calculated bombing in 
a place of worship. It was, indeed, a sad day for the entire country.

[[Page 5800]]

  It can correctly be said that 50 years ago my hometown found itself 
the epicenter of the civil rights movement. The images of conflicts and 
violence from Birmingham that flickered nationally on what were still 
predominantly black-and-white TV screens shocked the conscience of the 
Nation and, I believe, most citizens of Alabama.
  During the recent Faith and Politics Congressional Civil Rights 
Pilgrimage to Alabama, a large bipartisan delegation of Members viewed 
some of the historic sites in Birmingham. We were led on the pilgrimage 
by my friend and Congresswoman Sewell's friend, Congressman John Lewis, 
who, from personal experience, spoke authoritatively about those years. 
As we know, he was beaten many times himself.
  The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church is still a vibrant place of 
worship. Just a few months ago, we stood in a moment of silence in 
remembrance of the haunting act of evil that occurred there a half 
century ago.
  Churchgoers gathered peacefully on that beautiful fall morning, as 
they faithfully did every Sunday, to praise, pray, and worship. In 
fact, 26 children were making their way to the downstairs assembly room 
to prepare for a sermon, entitled, ``The Love That Forgives,'' when the 
bomb went off. The four little girls, whose pictures are on the floor 
of the House--Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 
Cynthia Wesley--were almost instantly killed.
  Looking at those faces now, they speak as strongly to me on the House 
floor today as they did to newspaper readers and television viewers at 
the time of the bombing. As a Congress and a country, our eyes were 
opened and we were shocked enough to finally pass civil rights 
legislation affirming that the rights and protections of the U.S. 
Constitution do not depend on what color your skin happens to be.
  The civil rights struggle was long and hard, filled with both sorrow 
and joy. There's a special place in history and in our hearts for all 
of those who were killed and injured in Birmingham.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to join my colleague, Spencer Bachus, 
as we begin consideration of our bill, H.R. 360. I am proud to have had 
the entire Alabama delegation, Representatives Bonner, Aderholt, 
Rogers, Roby, and Brooks, as well as Alabama natives Representatives 
Lewis and Bishop, join me as original cosponsors on this legislation. I 
am also thankful for the leadership of both parties, Speaker Boehner, 
Leader Pelosi, Majority Leader Cantor, Whips Hoyer and McCarthy, as 
well as Financial Services Committee Chairman Hensarling and Ranking 
Member Waters, for their support and leadership. I also want to thank 
the more than 296 Members of Congress who cosponsored this bill.
  H.R. 360 requests that Congress bestow its highest civilian honor, 
the Congressional Gold Medal, to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, 
Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, who tragically lost their lives 
during the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in 1963. 
These beautiful girls never got a chance to live out their promise, but 
their lives were not in vain. As Dr. King said at their funeral, ``They 
are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human 
dignity.''
  At 10:23 on Sunday, September 15, 1963, amid high racial tensions, a 
bomb went off in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church as people gathered 
to worship for Sunday. The explosion killed four little girls who were 
in the basement bathroom preparing to return for Sunday school. Twenty-
two people were injured by the blast, including the younger sister of 
Addie Mae Collins, Sarah, who survived but lost her eye.
  The senseless deaths of four little girls shocked the Nation and 
became a galvanizing force for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964. But, Mr. Speaker, justice was long delayed because it wasn't 
until 37 years later, on May 18, 2000, that all four Ku Klux Klan 
members who planted the bomb were finally brought to justice for their 
crimes.
  These innocent girls lost their lives much too young. Addie Mae 
Collins, 14, was a reserved and sweet little girl. She liked for people 
to be at peace around her, they said.
  Denise McNair, 11 years old, was a loving and friendly child who 
already exhibited a take-charge and generous spirit, helping others as 
she went along the way.
  Carole Robertson, 14, was a vivacious young girl who was an avid 
reader and played the clarinet in the band.
  Cynthia Wesley, 14, was an honor student who enjoyed playing the 
saxophone in her school band. That fateful Sunday was going to be her 
first day serving as an usher in church.
  Although there are many individuals and events of the civil rights 
movement that rightfully are worthy of recognition, the selection of 
the four little girls was emblematic of so many who sacrificed and lost 
their lives for the cause of freedom.

                              {time}  1250

  Medgar Evers, Emmett Till, Jimmy Lee Jackson, as well as Virgil Ware 
and James Johnny Robinson--who was also killed within hours of the 1963 
bombing--they were all martyrs for justice whom we should never forget. 
It was their blood which was shed for the bounty that so many of us now 
enjoy.
  While we recognize that this medal cannot in any way replace the 
lives lost nor the injuries suffered as a result of the horrific 
bombing, I hope this medal serves as a powerful reminder of the 
importance of the many sacrifices made and the great achievements 
obtained so that this Nation could live up to its ideals of equality 
and justice for all.
  This Nation should never forget those who marched, those who prayed 
and died in the pursuit of civil rights and social change. It is my 
sincere hope that their families will receive this highest civilian 
honor in the humble spirit in which it was intended.
  I am delighted today to be joined by the sisters of Denise McNair and 
Carole Robertson, and the president of the Birmingham Civil Rights 
Institute, who are all in the gallery as witnesses to this debate 
today.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this 
legislation in honoring the lives of these four girls as we pay tribute 
to their families and recognize the enormous progress that we as a 
Nation have obtained.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 additional 
minute.
  This recognition is long overdue, and I am grateful to this body for 
its consideration during this 50th anniversary year.
  Dr. King offered the best rationale for granting this Gold Medal in 
the eulogy that he made at their funerals. He poignantly acknowledged:

       History has proven over and over again that unmerited 
     suffering is redemptive. The innocent blood of these girls 
     may well have served as a redemptive force that will bring 
     new light to this dark city. The Holy Scripture says, ``A 
     little child shall lead them.'' The death of these little 
     children may lead our whole Southland from the low road of 
     man's inhumanity to man to the high road of peace and 
     brotherhood.

  I urge my colleagues to support this Gold Medal bill so that this 
country can finally recognize the redemptive force that the deaths of 
these four girls made in bringing light to a dark Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded that it is not in order 
to draw to the attention of the House occupants in the gallery.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to my friend, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schock).
  Mr. SCHOCK. Mr. Speaker, in March, I had the honor to join my friends 
from Alabama in traveling to Birmingham as part of the 13th annual 
Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage. I was joined by my esteemed 
colleague, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who led the delegation to 
numerous landmarks that defined the civil rights movement at the time, 
including the tragedy that occurred at the Sixteenth Street Baptist 
Church.

[[Page 5801]]

  The legislation we are considering today comes 50 years after the 
senseless death of four young girls when a bomb exploded in their 
church one Sunday morning in September of 1963.
  Less than a month before this bombing, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 
stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial--not far from where I stand 
today in the House Chamber--and declared that he dreamed of a day where 
all people could coexist and thrive together in peace and justice. The 
echo of his call for peaceful protest was still fresh in the mind of 
millions when it was replaced by the violent explosion at the Sixteenth 
Street Baptist Church, which injured dozens and killed the four 
innocent girls. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 
Cynthia Wesley did not live to see Dr. King's dream realized, but their 
tragic deaths catalyzed the civil rights movement and produced a 
backlash against these unthinkable acts of violence across the country.
  As we have seen in recent tragedies, acts of violence often produce 
the opposite outcome than that desired by the perpetrators. Less than 1 
year after the bomb went off at the church, the Civil Rights Act passed 
out of this very Chamber and became law in 1964. A year later, in 1965, 
this Chamber passed and put into law the Voting Rights Act.
  Today, the House continues to act. The legislation before us awards 
the Congressional Gold Medal--which is the highest civilian honor given 
by Congress--to the four girls whose sacrifice advanced the march of 
freedom in this country. Their memory is rightly recognized by those 
who love justice, and it is befitting that we should honor them with 
the highest recognition.
  I am proud to support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do 
the same.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).
  Ms. WATERS. I rise today in support of H.R. 360.
  The bill posthumously honors the lives of Addie Mae Collins, Denise 
McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley who were tragically lost 
50 years ago in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in 
Birmingham, Alabama. The horror of this senseless act of violence 
stunned the Nation and served as a catalyst for the civil rights 
movement.
  I would like to thank my colleagues on the Financial Services 
Committee, especially Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Chairman Emeritus 
Spencer Bachus, for their work to ensure that these girls receive our 
highest civilian honor as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of their 
deaths.
  The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was not an accidental bombing 
target for the perpetrators. Rather, members of the Ku Klux Klan 
deliberately targeted the church, designing their attack to strike fear 
into the hearts of those seeking equal rights. The church was a known 
sanctuary for civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, 
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Congress on 
Racial Equality which had become involved in a campaign to register 
African Americans to vote in Alabama.
  On that fateful morning of September 13, 1963, roughly 1 month after 
the March on Washington, the girls went to Sunday school to hear a 
sermon entitled ``The Love that Forgives'' when the bomb exploded, 
killing them and injuring many others. The bombers had hidden under a 
set of cinder block steps on the side of the church, tunneled under the 
basement, and placed a bundle of dynamite under what turned out to be 
the girls restroom.
  The cruelty and violence of this act shocked the Nation and drew 
international attention to the violent struggle for civil rights, 
inspiring a wave of legislative action in Congress. By 1964, Congress 
had passed the Civil Rights Act, a landmark achievement in the fight to 
outlaw discrimination. By 1965, Congress had passed the Voting Rights 
Act, which aimed to eliminate voting restrictions that unjustly 
disenfranchised qualified voters.
  I thank you, Ms. Sewell, for your leadership on this issue and 
helping this Nation to remember what took place on that day.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
majority leader, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor).
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm honored to stand before the House today in support 
of this award to honor Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole 
Robertson, and Denise McNair by awarding them the Congressional Gold 
Medal.
  The 50th anniversary of the attack on the Sixteenth Street Baptist 
Church in Birmingham is a strong reminder of how many people fought and 
died in the civil rights movement so that this country could live up to 
its founding ideals of equality and opportunity.
  On a recent trip to Selma, Alabama, I had the opportunity to stand 
shoulder to shoulder with Congressman John Lewis and other civil rights 
heroes who stood on the front lines and fought to change America for 
the better. We must never forget the hardships they confronted and 
sacrifices they made.
  While reflecting on such moments in our history, and by honoring 
those who come before us, I look forward to continuing to focus on ways 
in which we all can stand together once again and continue to solve our 
Nation's problems and move forward in unison.
  I would like to thank Congresswoman Sewell, Congressman Bachus, and 
the rest of the Alabama delegation for their hard work on this matter 
and bringing it forward.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), my mentor and a great leader.
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 360. This 
timely legislation will provide for the posthumous awarding of the 
Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole 
Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley. These four precious girls were killed in 
the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, 
Alabama, 50 years ago this year.

                              {time}  1300

  1963 was a pivotal year in the struggle for civil rights in our 
Nation. It marked 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and was 
the year of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, stirring ``Letter from 
Birmingham City Jail,'' which sounded the call for nonviolent civil 
disobedience to counter oppression in the Jim Crow South. In that 
letter, Dr. King famously proclaimed:

       Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

  Mr. Speaker, as a veteran of those efforts, I know that the struggle 
for justice, empowerment, and equal opportunity for all continues to 
this day.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 
seconds.
  Mr. CLYBURN. I want to thank my colleague, Representative Terri 
Sewell, for her leadership in this outstanding effort. Representative 
Sewell has quickly made her mark in this institution for her tireless 
devotion to duty and her thoughtful approach to legislating. I am proud 
to join her in this effort and urge all of my colleagues to support 
this legislation.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Bonner).
  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, this is the right thing to do at the right 
time and for the right reasons. Hopefully, in some small way, this 
legislation will bring some form of closure to a cowardly act, one so 
outrageous that it became a turning point in the passage of the 
historic Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  On behalf of the people of Alabama, I want to say a special thank you 
to our colleague, Congresswoman Terri Sewell, as well as the dean of 
our delegation, Congressman Spencer Bachus, for their example of 
working together hand in hand to bring this very appropriate bill to 
the floor for consideration and for a vote.
  While nothing that we do here will ever replace the loss of these 
four innocent young girls, especially to their families and to their 
loved ones who have lived with a void in their hearts for the last 50 
years, may this action today ensure that their spirit lives on forever.

[[Page 5802]]

  With that, I urge the adoption of this bill.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished leader of the Democratic Party, the gentlelady from 
California (Ms. Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank our distinguished colleague, 
Congresswoman Sewell, for yielding.
  As you can see, there are many of us who are very eager. Our 
distinguished Democratic whip, Mr. Hoyer, and I have had the 
privilege--he, more than I--to travel to Alabama with John Lewis. And 
thank you this morning for informing the Members that that's a 
transformative experience. Anybody who travels there and sees what 
happened in the lifetime of many of us here, and certainly in the 
lifetime of everyone's parents here, in our very own country cannot 
help but be moved. So I'm pleased to be joining you, Congresswoman 
Sewell, Mr. Bonner, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Bishop, and other 
colleagues in coming to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, as we are all acknowledging, 50 years ago, on a Sunday 
morning, four precious little girls walked into the Sixteenth Street 
Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, the same day they did every 
week.
  These four little girls were there for Sunday school. They were not 
civil rights activists; they were not agitators or advocates. They had 
simply come to church to learn, to pray, to be with their friends and 
classmates. When you visit there, you see they didn't really have a 
chance. They were in such close quarters when they went down those 
steps and the rest.
  These four little girls did not enter the church seeking to become 
symbols of the struggle of equality; yet, in a moment of brutal, 
horrific, unspeakable tragedy, they would become icons of a movement 
for justice. The names Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole 
Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley remain seared in the hearts and minds of 
us today as painful reminders of a dark moment in our history.
  For their families, for their friends, for their loved ones, their 
loss in a bombing at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church would change 
their world forever. Yet even at that time of great change across our 
country, little did we know that their deaths would change our world 
forever too.
  Among the many milestones of the civil rights movement, September 15, 
1963, may be bestowed with some of the greatest pain and anguish. But 
it was on that day, as this resolution states:

       The world took notice of the violence inflicted in the 
     struggle for equal rights.

  It was that day that stirred the conscience of our Nation, galvanized 
the forces of justice, and spurred the momentum to pass the Civil 
Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act--landmark steps in righting the 
wrongs in our country's past.
  It was on that day that the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church became a 
symbol in the cause of human rights and human dignity, from the streets 
of Birmingham to communities nationwide. It was that day that once 
again reinforced what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just weeks earlier, 
called the ``fierce urgency of now.''
  These four girls made the ultimate sacrifice in the battle for civil 
rights, joining too many fellow Americans in paying for freedom with 
their lives.
  This weekend, I will join the Southern Poverty Law Center to rename 
and rededicate the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. This 
memorial is a tribute to 40 individuals killed during the struggle. It 
is a place to remember the fallen, to take heed of their message, to 
deepen our understanding, and to renew our commitment to equal rights 
under the law.
  They were four small little children going to church--four students, 
four daughters, four members of a tight-knit community in Birmingham. 
Four lives ended too soon; four victims to the forces of hatred and 
prejudice, racism, and injustice. Their senseless and premature deaths 
ignited the fires of progress and fanned the flames of equality.
  I thank the gentlelady, one of our new, not brand-new, but newer 
Members of Congress, for coming here and joining with colleagues Mr. 
Bachus, Mr. Bonner, certainly John Lewis, and Members of Congress not 
representing Alabama, but from Alabama. As the resolution that she 
presents declares, the legacy that these four little Black girls left 
will live in the minds and hearts of all for generations to come.
  To honor that legacy, to cherish their memories, to inscribe their 
names once more in the pages of history, it is only fitting to bestow 
our highest civilian honor, the highest honor that Congress can bestow 
on a civilian, the Congressional Gold Medal, on these four Americans. 
That will be a glorious day in the Capitol when we all come together 
under the rotunda, under the dome of the Capitol, to remember them. I 
hope that is a comfort to their families. They gave so much. So much 
sprang from that, and we will always remember.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Aderholt).
  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues, as 
mentioned, in support of H.R. 360, and to honor the memory of Addie Mae 
Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, who lost 
their lives at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
  What we do here today honors these four innocent young girls, whose 
lives were sacrificed in an act of hatred and of violence. And no doubt 
their deaths, as has been mentioned, marked a significant turning point 
in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
  As Congressman Bachus mentioned in his opening remarks, these four 
young girls, who ranged in age from 11 to 14, were walking into the 
basement of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church to hear a sermon that 
was ironically entitled, ``The Love That Forgives.'' Though they could 
not have known at the time, these four little girls changed the course 
of history for our Nation. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole 
Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley's young lives were cut short on September 
15, 1963, but their legacy still lives on today, especially with what 
we do here, by the Congressional Medal of Honor, which is America's 
highest civilian honor.

                              {time}  1310

  I want to thank my colleague Ms. Sewell for her leadership on this 
bill, and I am a proud supporter of H.R. 360. I also thank Mr. Bachus 
for this time to speak on the legislation.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished Democratic whip, my dear friend, the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
  Mr. HOYER. I thank Congresswoman Sewell for her leadership and for 
yielding this time, and I thank my good friend Spencer Bachus for his 
leadership as well, and I congratulate him and his family for the 
courage they showed at a time of great stress that this Gold Medal 
reflects.
  Mr. Speaker, the recognition for the victims of this terrible tragedy 
that befell our whole country on September 15, 1963, is absolutely 
appropriate, and it is an opportunity for us to say once again the 
respect we have for these young girls, the respect we have for their 
families. I say ``our whole country'' because a wound opened in the 
soul of America that day from a heinous act of racism and terror.
  Those who set a bomb inside the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that 
Sunday did so because they believed in a Nation where not all are 
created equal, where not all are entitled to life and liberty. On that 
day, many Americans who had turned away with indifference could no 
longer look away.
  Since that day, we have forcefully declared to future generations 
that America will not be that Nation that looks away. In America, we 
strive to protect our children from hurt and harm no matter the color 
of their skin, their faith, their national origin. We hold fast to the 
values and memory of these four little girls who were killed that day, 
not the twisted, warped, hateful ideals of their killers.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. BACHUS. I yield the gentleman an additional 2 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Their names have been mentioned but warrant re-mentioning:

[[Page 5803]]

Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise 
McNair--four of God's children, four beautiful assets of America.
  If you go down into the basement of the church, you see their 
pictures, you see the memorial--and your heart cries. They were 
brutally murdered while attending Sunday school, as the leader, Spencer 
Bachus, and as Terri Sewell have related.
  My colleagues, let us honor their lives and their faith in the face 
of the evil of segregation and prejudice and hate. Let us remember the 
words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from the funeral of three of 
those four little girls. He said this:

       They have something to say to each of us in their death. 
     Their death says to us that we must work passionately and 
     unrelentingly for the realization of the American Dream.

  That fight began with the Declaration of Independence: that we hold 
these truths to be self-evident, that all men--and, surely, Jefferson 
meant mankind, women as well--are endowed by God, not by the 
Constitution and not by our votes on this floor, with certain 
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit 
of happiness.
  These four little girls had those robbed that day. Let us recommit 
ourselves. Let us recommit ourselves to that proposition and to 
unrelentingly and courageously ensure that that dream, that that 
promise is fulfilled for all of the little children of this Nation and 
for all the adults as well.
  Let us pass this bill, Mr. Speaker, and send a message that we will 
never, ever forget their memory.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Alabama has 5\1/2\ 
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Alabama has 10\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge and thank Mr. 
Hoyer for his recognition of my father's role, of our family's. I am 
very proud of my father and the courage he showed.
  At this time, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the esteemed chairman of the 
Financial Services Committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Hensarling).
  Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 360 to posthumously bestow Congress' 
highest civilian honor to Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole 
Robertson, and Denise McNair.
  I also want to commend my two colleagues on the Financial Services 
Committee--Ms. Sewell and our chairman emeritus, Mr. Bachus, both from 
Alabama--for bringing this bill before the House.
  Mr. Speaker, I was a mere child when these innocents were murdered. I 
am no longer a child, but I'm the father of two small children--a 9-
year-old and an 11-year-old. I cannot imagine the unspeakable horror of 
knowing that my children were in church and that one of the great acts 
of evil known in our Nation's history could be perpetrated upon them.
  That act 50 years ago jarred millions in our Nation to the 
realization that racial prejudice and hatred had just manifested itself 
in pure, unimaginable evil. Within a year, this body had passed the 
1964 Civil Rights Act.
  In his eulogy for these four little girls, Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr., said:

       These children--unoffending, innocent and beautiful--were 
     the victims of one of the most vicious, heinous crimes ever 
     perpetrated against humanity. Yet, they died nobly. They are 
     the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human 
     dignity.

  I certainly cannot add to the words of this great American hero, 
martyred himself.
  I will just end by saying, Mr. Speaker, it is a good and right thing 
that this body honor these innocent children martyrs, that we never 
forget, that we always confront evil, and although our Nation was 
founded on noble principles, we must never cease the work of making 
America a more perfect Union. With the passage of this bill, I think we 
do one small act to do that.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the dean of 
the House, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell).
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I commend the sponsors of this legislation, 
and I urge the adoption of the bill.
  It is appropriate that we should honor these four young girls who 
gave so much to the cause of civil rights. They gave their lives.
  Just before this event, we had passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. 
Immediately thereafter, we passed legislation, cosponsored by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Loser) and me, which made it a crime to 
travel in interstate commerce for the purpose of destroying buildings 
or churches. Shortly thereafter, outraged by the events that took place 
on this awful day, the Congress passed the '64 and then the '65 Civil 
Rights Acts.

                              {time}  1320

  These four beautiful children contributed in a most meaningful way to 
those events which caused the legislation to become law, and they saw 
to it that we honor their doings today with enactment of this 
legislation.
  I rise in support of H.R. 360, legislation to award a Congressional 
Gold Medal to four brave little girls who tragically lost their lives 
50 years ago in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in 
Birmingham, Alabama.
  I want to thank the gentlewoman from Alabama, Congresswoman Sewell, 
for bringing the attention of Congress to this fateful incident that 
helped transform the history of our nation and for giving the victims 
of this attack the recognition for which they are long overdue.
  I remember the day of this tragic incident, and my thoughts and 
prayers continue to be with the families of the victims of this 
senseless act of violence.
  The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing changed the nature of the 
conversation in Congress, which had stagnated in the 1950s and early 
1960s.
  With the strong leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other 
leaders in civil society, those four little girls did not die in vain.
  The Birmingham bombing galvanized the nation and gave real urgency to 
the Civil Rights movement, which culminated in the signing of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 less than a year later, and the Voting Rights Act of 
1965 after that.
  I was proud to stand with President Lyndon Johnson as he signed the 
Civil Rights Act of 1964 because nothing is more important than 
ensuring that the rights enshrined in our Constitution are granted to 
everyone in our society.
  In many respects, the movement that was sparked by this tragic 
bombing 50 years ago continues today. We must continue to make every 
effort to rid our nation of discrimination of any kind.
  Our work today goes beyond voting rights or the right to own 
property. The battle we must focus on now is one of social justice.
  Americans of all walks of life deserve to be treated fairly and 
decently, whether it's in the workplace, in our businesses, or in 
political discourse.
  As we reflect on this tragedy, let us not forget Dr. King's wise 
words, which he penned from a Birmingham Jail 50 years ago this month.
  He said, ``Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.''
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick), who has visited the Sixteenth 
Street Baptist Church with us, and I thank him for doing that.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. I thank my friend from Alabama (Mr. Bachus).
  Mr. Speaker, I rise also to urge passage in support of the bill as we 
commemorate the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham.
  It was a Sunday morning. It was September 15, 1963. And I think it's 
appropriate that we mention their names again: Addie Mae Collins, 
Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNair.
  They were entering their church before the 11 a.m. service when a 
bomb detonated on the church's east side, and the explosion killed all 
four young girls and maimed dozens of the parishioners there.
  The bombing of that church gave further momentum in the struggle to 
end segregation and helped to spur support for the passage of the 
landmark Civil Rights Act right here in this Chamber.
  Last month, many of us were honored to commemorate that event and 
another event that served as a catalyst

[[Page 5804]]

for action in the civil rights movement. I also joined Members of 
Congress in the annual pilgrimage across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 
Selma, Alabama, the event that marked the beating of peaceful voting 
civil rights marchers, known as Bloody Sunday, on March 7, 1965. And 
the pilgrimage was meaningful, as other Members of Congress and I 
reflected together on how far we've come as a country.
  Bloody Sunday and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing remind 
us of the long and difficult struggle to end segregation; and it is 
immensely important, Mr. Speaker, that we commemorate these moments and 
these four little girls, that they led to the advancement of civil 
rights for the African American community and for our entire country.
  Again, I urge passage of the bill.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 4 minutes of my 
time be given to Ms. Sewell to manage, and I reserve the balance of my 
time. I do that in acknowledgement of her fine work on this legislation 
and those of her colleagues who visited the church.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Alabama?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman 
from Alabama. It has been a pleasure to not only represent Jefferson 
County with him, but to serve in this body with him. And I thank you 
for yielding me that time.
  I now yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia 
(Mr. Lewis); and while he may represent Georgia, we claim him as 
Alabama's native.
  Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friends, Congresswoman 
Sewell and Congressman Bachus.
  It is true that I grew up in Alabama, and I represent Georgia, but 
Alabama is in my blood.
  I want to thank the two of you for bringing this resolution forward 
to honor these four beautiful little girls killed by a bomb while 
attending Sunday school on September 15, 1963, at the Sixteenth Street 
Baptist church.
  On that Sunday, when I heard about the bombing that morning, I 
traveled to the city of Birmingham and stood outside of the church with 
my friend and my coworker, Julian Bond. We stood and we looked at the 
church. Later, I had an opportunity to attend the funeral of three of 
the little girls.
  That bombing took place 18 days after Martin Luther King, Jr., had 
stood here in Washington and said: ``I have a dream, a dream deeply 
rooted in the American Dream.''
  That was a sad day. It tore out the essence of our hearts. But we 
didn't give up. We didn't become bitter. We didn't become hostile. We 
continued. Because of what happened in Birmingham, it inspired us to go 
to Selma to fight for the right to vote.
  I think we're doing the right thing today by honoring these four 
little girls. They must be looked upon as those who gave their very 
lives, gave their blood to help redeem the soul of America and move us 
closer to a beloved community.
  I wonder sometimes why, what, and how. We're a different country and 
we're a better country because they gave their all.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to another 
native of Alabama who happens to represent Georgia, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Bishop).
  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
  Alabama named me, but Georgia claimed me.
  I remember vividly the Sunday of the bombing as a young boy in 
Mobile, Alabama. I'm reminded of the words of James Weldon Johnson:

       Stony the road we trod,
       Bitter the chastening rod,
       Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
       Yet with a steady beat,
       Have not our weary feet.
       Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
       We have come over a way that with tears have been watered,
       We have come, treading our path through the blood of the 
     slaughtered,
       Out from the gloomy past,
       Till now we stand at last,
       Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

  Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley: 
four little girls are bright stars in the constellation shining down 
now as beacons of light for freedom and justice.
  So today, 50 years after the senseless bombing in Birmingham, it's 
altogether fitting and proper that we should look back and commemorate 
the significance of the sacrifice of these young girls, these four 
young lives.
  Truly, it was a turning point; and the murder of these youngsters, 
whose only crime was going to the bathroom in church, sparked a Nation 
not only to mourn the death of innocence, but to act to quell the 
turmoil and to move us toward freedom.
  I'm happy to join my colleagues, Congresswoman Sewell, Congressman 
Bachus, and all of the colleagues here in this House, to appropriately 
pass legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to these four 
young martyrs in the fight for freedom.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Cleaver).
  Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I say congratulations to Ms. Sewell and Mr. 
Bachus.
  I had returned home from a movie. If we went to church, we had the 
opportunity to do other things; and I went on to church, and so my 
parents allowed me to go to the movies.
  When my sisters and I walked back into the house, our mother was in 
the living room with some friends and they were crying. We didn't know 
what happened, and she said that they had killed some little black 
girls down in Birmingham.
  I had no idea that I would eventually become deeply involved in the 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and I realized later that the 
reason for the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church is that 
it had been the headquarters, the meeting place of the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference led by Martin Luther King, Jr.; the 
vice president, Ralph David Abernathy, and my father in the ministry, 
who wrote to me, ``I am your Paul; you are my solace.'' And there was 
also Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, who says he taught me how to preach.

                              {time}  1330

  They met there, and that was reason enough to blow up that building 
and kill these little girls, innocent little girls.
  I was pleased in 1979 when Richard Arrington was elected mayor of 
Birmingham. And I remember thinking Fred Shuttlesworth had coined the 
term ``Bombingham'' because his own home was blown to bits; and on the 
day Richard Arrington, a Black man, was elected mayor, I said, ``It is 
no longer Bombingham; it is now Birmingham.''
  Ms. Sewell, congratulations to you. This should be done, it is being 
done, and it furthers the way of that name from ``Bombingham'' to 
``Birmingham.''
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
  What we need to fully realize is that the civil rights victories were 
achieved with the guiding principle of nonviolence. There are many 
regions and nations of the world that have been trapped in endless 
cycles of ethnic and political violence across multiple generations 
that have torn the fabric of their societies and families. We always 
like to think that could never happen here. It did not happen during 
the civil rights movement because of the principle of nonviolence.
  I journeyed, at John Lewis' invitation, to India where we retraced 
the steps of Martin Luther King as he retraced the journey of Ghandi. 
Dr. King took his own religious convictions, affirmed and strengthened 
by those of Ghandi, and brought back a powerful nonviolent movement 
which overcame police dogs, water hoses, brutal beatings, bombs, 
bullets, and acts of violence in a nonviolent way. And love carried the 
day against hate. That was a proud moment for our country, and it is a 
model as we go forward.

[[Page 5805]]

  We in America have the right to petition our government in a peaceful 
way. Let us use that example and that tradition.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to yield the balance 
of my time to the gentlewoman from Alabama to manage as she sees fit 
and give her the right to close, which I think should be her honor.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Alabama?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Alabama controls the 
remaining 5 minutes.
  Ms. SEWELL. I again thank the gentleman from Alabama. It is indeed an 
honor to be able to manage the floor with you on this bill and 
cosponsor it with you, and I thank you for your generosity.
  At this time I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlelady 
from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, often we are taught in the Christian 
Baptist and African American tradition, which is paraphrasing the words 
of the Bible, give honor unto those upon whom honor is due. For that 
reason, I can give tribute to the two Members of Congress without 
reservation for recognizing the importance, both Congresswoman Sewell 
and Congressman Bachus, for giving honor to those families who 
languished for over 50 years and wondered did anybody care. We thank 
Congresswoman Sewell for her great leadership and Congressman Bachus 
for joining and exuding the kind of partnership, the spirit of his 
family tradition against all adversity, saying I want to join and to 
speak of nonviolence.
  I rise today with great enthusiasm for H.R. 360 and say to the family 
members, the sisters, the friends of Addie Mae Collins, Carole 
Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Denise McNair, it has been too long.
  And so we rise today to be able to make amends for justice that had 
not been served because of the callousness and indifference, sometimes 
of criminal collusion, and many times the lack of enforcement of 
devastation against coloreds, Blacks, Negroes, and African Americans. 
There was an era that we look sadly upon; but now today, in the spirit 
of Dr. King's message of nonviolence, we are able to say yes, 
profoundly yes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Ms. SEWELL. I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlelady.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentlelady for her kindness.
  We are able to now say profoundly to these girls' relatives that we 
honor the children who lost their future. We honor them by saying to 
their families, We care for you. And in the words of John F. Kennedy:

       We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as 
     old as the Scriptures, and it is as clear as the American 
     Constitution--justice delayed is sometimes justice denied.

  But as Martin Luther King said in the Birmingham jail: ``Go wherever 
injustice is.''
  Today on the floor of the House, we will remedy injustice. I'm 
delighted to be a supporter and cosponsor of this great resolution.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis).
  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the 
gentlewoman from Alabama for yielding me this time. I want to commend 
her for her leadership and commend the leadership of Representative 
Bachus from Alabama.
  I remember that day vividly as a young activist at the time. We 
thought it was unbelievable that this kind of tragedy could take place. 
But I think it reminds all of us that yesterday is yesterday. We look 
forward to tomorrow, and I again commend the gentlewoman from Alabama 
and Mr. Bachus for reminding us of that time and what can happen when 
we join hands together.
  And so I thank you both.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson).
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I think many times 
people wonder why so often we go back and give homage to our past. It's 
because we still suffer the damages of the past. And we don't forget 
the families that have given up so much just for us to be able to vote. 
And we still struggle for that vote. We still struggle for the right to 
vote, but we must continue. And I want to say to these families, and I 
know some of them personally, how much we appreciate the fact that they 
have been loyal to the cause, loyal to this country, loyal to our 
military, and stand strong today. And so I want to thank you very much 
for giving honor. I thank my colleague.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude by thanking 
all of my colleagues, especially my colleagues from Alabama, and all of 
my colleagues who have participated in today's debate. It is indeed an 
honor and a privilege for me, a native of Selma, Alabama, a 30-year 
member of Brown Chapel AME Church, to have the humble honor to be a 
sponsor of this bill.
  I know that I drink deep from wells that I didn't dig, my whole 
generation does. It is a long time overdue, but I just want to say 
humbly, Thank you, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 360. 
And again, I thank the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus). It has been 
an honor to serve with you and to share this time with you.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, it is important to remember that the 4 men 
suspected of the bombing, Bobby Frank Cherry, Herman Cash, Thomas 
Blanton, and Robert Chambliss, were not immediately prosecuted because 
authorities believed it impossible to obtain a conviction in the heated 
racial climate of the mid-1960s. Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley 
successfully prosecuted Robert Chambliss 13 years after the bombing. 
After the indictment and conviction of Robert Chambliss the bombing 
investigation was closed. The investigation was reopened in 1995 due to 
the efforts of Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Rob 
Langford and local African-American leaders. In 2001 and 2002 a joint 
Federal and State task force, under the supervision of United States 
Attorney Douglas Jones and Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, 
successfully prosecuted Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry with the 
assistance of State and local law enforcement personnel. We in Alabama 
and the Nation Owe a Debt of Gratitude for the tireless efforts of then 
Attorney General Bill Baxley, FBI Special Agent Rob Langford, Local 
African-American leaders, United States Attorney Douglas Jones, and 
Alabama Attorney General William Pryor as well as those state and local 
law enforcement personnel who brought these perpetrators to justice.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise as a 
supporter of today's legislation that would award a Congressional Gold 
Medal to commemorate the lives of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, 
Carole Robinson and Cynthia Wesley.
  This year we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the atrocious 
bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that 
killed these four little girls on their way to Sunday School. While 
nothing can bring these innocent victims back, today we honor their 
legacy with this bill to award them Congressional Gold Medals.
  Earlier this year I attended the anniversary of Freedom March in 
Selma. It was a moving experience. The stories of the struggle for 
civil rights remind us to continue to fight for the rights and freedoms 
of all Americans. Today we take another step forward by honoring these 
four innocent girls who lost their lives on that fateful day, 50 years 
ago.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a sense of 
indignation, sadness, and deep and abiding pride in the memory of four 
little girls from Alabama who were callously murdered by the bomb of a 
homegrown terrorist.
  Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robinson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair 
did not get a chance to celebrate any more birthdays, run through the 
fields of Alabama, go to the prom, dance at a wedding, or simply grow 
up and enjoy life as Americans.
  As was reflected in the prayer given last week in this Chamber by 
world-renowned soul and gospel singer Yolanda Adams we have been taught 
to embrace God's grace and mercy, and for those who will listen, to 
stand in the sunlight of joy as one looks toward the hopefulness of the 
future, while standing tall as a Black woman in the memory of my four 
little girls, your girls--these little girls were America's children, 
and bore the brunt of a

[[Page 5806]]

very ugly side during a very nasty, ugly, vicious, cruel, and 
inexorably painful era in the history of the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, on August 27, 1963, at the March on Washington, the 
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered the speech that both 
challenged and inspired a nation. ``I have a dream,'' he said, that 
``one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls 
will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as 
sisters and brothers.''
  Nineteen days later, on September 15, 1963, the nation learned that 
there was still a long path to travel before it realized Dr. King's 
dream. For on that day 50 years ago, the nation was shocked--and the 
City of Birmingham was rocked--by an explosion at the 16th Street 
Baptist Church that severely damaged the church, injured 22 people, and 
claimed the lives of four beautiful and innocent little girls: Addie 
Mae Collins, Carole Robinson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair.
  But the horror and heartbreak of that tragedy galvanized a nation to 
act. Less than two years later, the nation responded to one of the 
worst and cowardly acts of hatred with two great acts of justice that 
have changed America for the better and still stand today as monuments 
to what can be achieved when challenged to live up to the true meaning 
of its creed.
  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are a 
part of the legacy of Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robinson, Cynthia 
Wesley and Denise McNair.
  Today we celebrate their lives--lives cut down as they should have 
been learning to bake cakes, play hopscotch, and learn the violin, 
instead they were murdered in a place which should have been a safe 
haven, a sanctuary. The death of the four girls drew national attention 
to the fight for civil rights and is credited with creating a surge of 
momentum for the civil rights movement.
  It is also important that we pass on the lessons learned through this 
deep tragedy so that we do not repeat it. Little girls and little boys 
around this great nation should hold hands and walk together regardless 
of race, color, religion, or creed.
  This bill simply directs the Speaker of the House and the president 
pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a 
Congressional Gold Medal to commemorate the lives of Addie Mae Collins, 
Denise McNair, Carole Robinson and Cynthia Wesley in recognition of the 
historical significance of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist 
Church. But this bill is more than that. It is a reckoning.
  This legislation, which I am proud to co-sponsor and strongly 
support, is intended to complete some of the nation's most important 
unfinished business. And that is to address one of the most depraved 
acts of violence against school-aged girls belonging to a racial group 
which was vulnerable, politically powerless, and innocent, and against 
those persons who risked life and limb to help them secure the rights 
promised in the Declaration of Independence and made real in the 
Constitution.
  The Congressional Gold Medal recognizing the 50th Anniversary of 16th 
Street Baptist Church bombing is long overdue. I thank my CBC colleague 
who hails from Alabama, Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Birmingham, who 
sponsored this legislation, and Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, who 
leads the Senate effort for this special recognition as America comes 
to terms with its rich and often painful history.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1989 the Civil Rights Memorial was dedicated in 
Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the modern Civil Rights 
Movement. The Memorial honors the lives and memories of 40 civil rights 
martyrs who gave their lives in the struggle for justice and equality. 
But we know that many more people lost their lives to racial violence 
during that era. In honoring the four little girls of Birmingham today, 
let us resolve to remain steadfast in the quest to obtain justice for 
these other heroes.
  Mr. Speaker, fifty years later we have made much progress from the 
dark days of Birmingham. In those days there simply was no justice for 
African Americans because the criminal justice system--from the police, 
to the prosecutors, to the juries, and to the judges--was perverted by 
racial bigotry.
  Inspired by the sacrifice of four little girls in Birmingham, 
Americans of good will and of all races and creeds, worked to hasten 
the day when all would be treated equally before the law and every 
person would be judged by the content of their character.
  It is, of course, fitting and proper that H.R. 360 bears the names of 
Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robinson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair. 
Although forever linked together in history, we must not forget that 
each of them was an individual. Each had her own hopes and dreams for 
the future. Sadly, they were robbed of that future by the cowardly act 
of persons motivated by racial hatred. But in sacrificing their 
futures, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robinson, Cynthia Wesley, and Denise 
McNair helped to transform America into a place where little girls and 
little boys today can know that their dreams can come true and their 
futures will be bright and that racial hatred is no longer an 
insuperable barrier to realizing the American Dream.
  Mr. Speaker, nearly 50 years ago, on June 11, 1963, President John F. 
Kennedy addressed the nation from the Oval Office on the state of race 
relations and civil rights in America. In his historic speech to the 
nation President Kennedy said:

       We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as 
     old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American 
     Constitution. . . .
       [T]his Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will 
     not be fully free until all its citizens are free.

  H.R. 360 is intended to help bring justice to those whom justice has 
been delayed for more than two generations. In doing so, this 
legislation will help this Nation fulfill its hopes and justify its 
boast that in America all persons live in freedom.
  And Mr. Speaker, let us also remember young Virgil Lamar Ware, a 
thirteen-year-old black boy who was killed by segregationists while 
riding on the handlebars of his brother's bicycle. His killers had just 
attended a segregationist rally held in the aftermath of the Sixteenth 
Street Baptist Church bombing.
  It is a sad but unfortunately not uncommon occurrence that it is 
innocent children who suffer when adults give in to hate. But as the 
scriptures teach us, unearned suffering is redemptive. And the blood of 
the innocents--Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robinson, Cynthia Wesley and 
Denise McNair--helped to redeem our country and make it better.
  I urge all Members to join me in supporting this fitting tribute to 
their heroism and sacrifice by voting to pass H.R. 360.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I stand in solidarity with my 
colleagues in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the bombing 
of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. On that 
Sunday morning of September 15, 1963, twenty-two people were wounded 
and four young African American girls, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia 
Wesley, Carole Robertson, as well as Denise McNair lost their lives in 
an act of racial hatred.
  The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was a prime target because of its 
landmark status in the Civil Rights Movement, having hosted civil 
rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However, these 
individuals, who sought to strike fear in the hearts of those fighting 
for civil and human rights, undoubtedly failed. The bombing of these 
innocent individuals seeking to find solace in their spiritual faith 
redoubled the ardor of those fighting against racial prejudice and for 
equality.
   Having been born into segregation, I know the sting of invidious 
discrimination. Nevertheless, it is heartening to see that all these 
years later we have made much positive progress toward equality as 
evidenced by the election of President Barack Obama and my own election 
to Congress. Notwithstanding the many strides toward freedom, the 
righteous struggle against hatred in all its forms continues. Let us 
today reaffirm our abiding commitment for human and civil rights for 
all.
   In closing, Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly endorse and support H.R. 
360, which posthumously awards a Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae 
Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, in 
recognition of the 50th commemoration of the bombing of the Sixteenth 
Street Baptist Church.
  Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleagues from 
Alabama, Ms. Sewell and Mr. Bachus for their work on H.R. 360. I was 
pleased to support awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae 
Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley in 
commemoration of the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist 
Church. Bestowing this honor is a fitting tribute to these young girls 
who are martyrs in the cause for freedom and justice. May we never 
forget the sacrifice of these young girls and their families and the 
impact it had on the United States civil rights movement.

                              {time}  1340

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 360, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.

[[Page 5807]]

  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________