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

i'm just honored that dianswer and lisa mcnair, the sister of denise, are here with us and will be ingallery 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 meet the definition of justice? >> you know, obviously the family members can seek legal restitution, but this particular medal i think, while it can't bring back the lives of those lost, it is an effort on our part to really acknowledge nationally the sacrifice this family has made. you know, today is a celebration of the life and legacy of the four little girls. >> dianswer, this is certainly a landmark day for you and your family. your family becoming the faces of civil rights in the movement in this country. what is it about this tragic story that you think still capital investigates all of us here in the country? >> well, i think the story capital invest

baptist church in birmingham where children ad did i may collins, cynthia wesley, carol robinson and denise mcnair were murdered. they too deserve our commemorative consideration this year. and our hearts are still heavy with the loss last manned of hadiya pendleton, another wrung young woman of color from chicago gunned down in another victim of the city's epidemic of violence, days after returning from marching here in d.c. for an inaugural parade for the inauguration of barack obama. we bring had diao forward because even as the national mall is a place of healing, those who go to it can only be guaranteed further with greater forms of action beyond the maps, beyond the mall's mapped boundaries. the to carry us forward through tragedy and towards transformation we say the names of dr. michael eric dyson and reverend marcia dyson, scholars and leaders like them, they have taught me and so many others so much about intellectual inquiry that flows through the head and the heart and always between peoples. to the 250,000 plus attendees of the march, whose names we do not know well enough, we hope t