Jeb Hensarling: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of H.R. 360 to posthumously bestow Congress' highest…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of H.R. 360 to posthumously bestow Congress' highest civilian honor to Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNair. I also want to commend my two colleagues on the Financial Services Committee--Ms. Sewell and our chairman emeritus, Mr. Bachus, both from Alabama--for bringing this bill before the House. Mr. Speaker, I was a mere child when these innocents were murdered. I am no longer a child, but I'm the father of two small children--a 9-year- old and an 11-year-old. I cannot imagine the unspeakable horror of knowing that my children were in church and that one of the great acts of evil known in our Nation's history could be perpetrated upon them. That act 50 years ago jarred millions in our Nation to the realization that racial prejudice and hatred had just manifested itself in pure, unimaginable evil. Within a year, this body had passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In his eulogy for these four little girls, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said: These children--unoffending, innocent and beautiful--were the victims of one of the most vicious, heinous crimes ever perpetrated against humanity. Yet, they died nobly. They are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity. I certainly cannot add to the words of this great American hero, martyred himself. I will just end by saying, Mr.…”