Congresswoman Waters Speaks in Support of Bill Awarding Congressional Gold Medal to Four Girls Killed at 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) delivered the following remarks today on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of a resolution awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the four little girls who lost their lives in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing of 1963. Below are the Congresswoman remarks as prepared for delivery:

"I rise today in support of H.R. 360. The bill posthumously honors the lives ofAddie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, whowere tragically lost 50 years ago in the bombing of the Sixteenth StreetBaptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The horror of this senseless actof violence stunned the nation and served as a catalyst for the Civil Rightsmovement.

"I would like to thank my colleagues on the FinancialServices Committee, especially Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Chairman EmeritusSpencer Bachus, for their work to ensure that these girls receive our highestcivilian honor as we commemorate the 50^th anniversary of their deaths. "The Sixteenth Street Church was not an accidentalbombing 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 equalrights. The church was a known sanctuary for civil rights leaders, includingDr. Martin Luther King, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and theCongress on Racial Equality which had become involved in a campaign to register African-Americans vote in Alabama."On that fateful morning of September 13, 1963, roughlyone month after the March on Washington, the girls went to Sunday school tohear a sermon entitled "The Love that Forgives" when the bomb exploded, killingthem, and injuring many others. The bombers had hidden under a set ofcinder block steps on the side of the church, tunneled under the basement, andplaced a bundle of dynamite under what turned out to be the girl's rest room."The cruelty and violence of this act shocked thenation and drew international attention to the violent struggle for civilrights, inspiring a wave of legislative action in Congress."By 1964, Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act, alandmark achievement in the fight to outlaw discrimination.By 1965, Congress had passed the VotingRights Act, which aimed to eliminate voting restrictions that unjustlydisenfranchised qualified voters."50 years later, it is fitting that we honor the lives ofthe four innocent children who inspired such monumental and lasting change inour country."

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