[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 127, 113th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Public Law 113-11
113th Congress

An Act


 
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. <>

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

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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.

Approved May 24, 2013.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 360:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 159 (2013):
Apr. 24, considered and passed House.
May 9, considered and passed Senate.