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 from across the country. as we have seen in recent tragedies, acts of violence often produce the opposite outcome that the desired perpetrators have. less than one 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 was put into law the voting rights act. today the house continues to act. the legislation before us awards the congressional medal -- congressional gold medal which is the highest civilian honor given by congress to the four girls who sacrificed -- 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 urge passage of this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the

addie mae collins, cynthia wesley, carole robertson, denise mcnair. four of god's children, four beautiful children of america. may i have two minutes? i thank the gentleman for yielding two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. beautiful young girls . you go down into the basement of the children you see their pictures, the memorial. and your heart cries. they were brutally murdered while attending sunday school, the leader, spencer bachus, and terri sewell has 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 st 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, i'm sure jefferson mea

joining mess is congresswoman terry sewell, also joining me is diane braddock, the sister of carol robertson of the girls who was killed in that bombing. ladies, good morning. congresswoman, i want to start with you. explain how this measure came about to want to move ahead with this ceremony? >> you know, it's a long overdue recognition, in this the 50th anniversary year, the alabama delegation came together, both republicans and democrats, we thought it was very important and befitting that we acknowledge and honor the lives of addie mae, carol, cynthia, as well as denise mcnair. so that's what we wanted to do. it's the 50th anniversary, a long time overdue. i'm just honored that dianswer and lisa mcnair, the sister of denise, are here with us and will be in the gallery during the vote. >> congresswoman, as you dough, sarah rudolph, one of the sisters, lost his eye during that bombing, she called this a hole low gesture and plans to seek restitution. it wasn't until 2000 that the fbi declared this as an act by the kkk. what do you say to those like ms. rudolph who say your measure doesn't