mr. bonner: thank you, mr. speaker. this is the right thing to do at the right time and for the right reasons. and hopefully in some small way this legislation will bring some form of closure to a cowardly act, one so outrageous it became a turning point in the passage of the civil rights act of 1964. on behalf of the people of alabama, i want to say a special thank you to our colleague, congresswoman terry sewell, and the dean of our delegation, congressman spencer bachus, in working together hand in hand to bring this very appropriate bill to the floor for consideration and a vote. while nothing he we do here will ever replace the loss of these four innocent young girls, especially to their families and to their loved ones who lived with the void in their hearts for the last 50 years, may this action today ensure that their spirit lives on forever. with that i urge the adoption of this bill and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from alabama reserves. the gentlelady

mr. bonner's chewning we look at tax reform that is a fundamental discussion we have to have. how did these things get into the tax code? 4 million words. it is very fresh rating to small businesses and individuals who try to comply. i know the chairman brought up tax reform. what is the irs engaged in regarding taxi from? -- tax reform? are there specific proposals? >> we have offered up specific -- we have offered proposals in the past. i do not think we were part of any organized discussion right now. i was hoping we would be in that. tax reform is right. it has to be done with the knowledge of what our system can do and can't do and the time it would take where we catch up with the law. there are things we bring to the table. tax reform generally would be the department of treasury and tax policy. >> both parties and folks from both ends after mark talking about spectrum. we know the house of ways and means are talking about it. it will be a part of the debate in d.c. this year. looking at stake examples or in other nations, are there therical data that show simplicity of

mr. bonner: 108 days, that's just not right, and americans are sick of it. the good news is congress has a chance to do something about it this year. mr. rogers: so what would the average american want to see in a tax code? i think number one, lower tax rates on individuals and businesses with an assurance that those rates will remain low. number two, no ridiculous special interest loopholes or giveaways, especially those that have nothing to do with creating jobs. and number three, making sure that everyone pays their fair share. if congress aims for these goals, americans should get a tax code that encourages work and investment resulting in economic growth and job creation. and let's not forget we cannot allow any future growth generated revenue to be spent on wasteful government programs. instead, the revenue should go toward eliminating the deficit and paying down our debt. let's cut spending, lower our deficit and fix our loophole-ridden tax code. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gent

mr. speaker, it is a pleasure to join my colleague, spencer bacchus, as we begin consideration of our bill, h.r. 360. i am proud to have had the entire alabama delegation, representative bonner, aderholt, rogers, roby and brooks, as well as alabama natives representative lewis and bishop join me as original co-sponsors on this legislation. i am also thankful for the leadership of both parties. speaker boehner, leader pelosi, majority leader cantor, whips hoyer and mccarthy, as well as the financial services committee chairman hensarling and ranking member waters for their support and leadership. i also want to thank the more than 296 members of congress who co-sponsored this bill. h.r. 360 requests that congress bestow its highest civilian honor, the congressional gold medal, to addie mae collins, denise mcnair, carole robertson and cynthia wesley who tragically lost their lives during the bombing of the 16th street baptist church in 1963. these beautiful girls never got a chance to live out their promise. but their lives were not in vain. as dr. king said at their funeral, they are the martyr heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity. at 10:23 on sunday, sept