[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 18 (Monday, May 10, 1999)]
[Pages 802-803]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing Legislation To Award the Congressional Gold Medal 
to Rosa Parks

May 4, 1999

    I am proud to sign S. 531, a bill which authorizes me to bestow the 
Congressional Gold Medal to Rosa Parks.
    Forty-three years ago, in Alabama, Rosa Parks boarded a public bus, 
took a seat, and began a remarkable journey. Her action that December 
day was, in itself, a simple one; but it required uncommon courage. It 
was a ringing rebuke to those who denied the dignity and restricted the 
rights of African-Americans. And it was an inspiration to all Americans 
struggling together to shed the prejudices of the past and to build a 
better future. Rosa Parks' short bus trip, and all the distance she has 
traveled in the years since, have brought the American people ever 
closer to the promised land that we know it can truly be.

Note: S. 531, approved May 4, was assigned Public Law No. 106-26.

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