Spencer Bachus: “(Mr. Speaker, it is important to remember that the 4 men suspected of the bombing, Bobby Frank Cherry, Herman Cash…”

“(Mr. Speaker, it is important to remember that the 4 men suspected of the bombing, Bobby Frank Cherry, Herman Cash, Thomas Blanton, and Robert Chambliss, were not immediately prosecuted because authorities believed it impossible to obtain a conviction in the heated racial climate of the mid-1960s. Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley successfully prosecuted Robert Chambliss 13 years after the bombing. After the indictment and conviction of Robert Chambliss the bombing investigation was closed. The investigation was reopened in 1995 due to the efforts of Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Rob Langford and local African-American leaders. In 2001 and 2002 a joint Federal and State task force, under the supervision of United States Attorney Douglas Jones and Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, successfully prosecuted Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry with the assistance of State and local law enforcement personnel. We in Alabama and the Nation Owe a Debt of Gratitude for the tireless efforts of then Attorney General Bill Baxley, FBI Special Agent Rob Langford, Local African-American leaders, United States Attorney Douglas Jones, and Alabama Attorney General William Pryor as well as those state and local law enforcement personnel who brought these perpetrators to justice.”