Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6) issued the following statement on today's dedication of the Rosa Parks Statue during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
The civil rights pioneer from Alabama is the first African-American woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the Capitol. The statue has been permanently placed in National Statuary Hall, which is adjacent to the historic Rotunda and which served as the meeting room for the House of Representatives from 1807-1857.
"By the simple action of sitting down in a bus in Montgomery in 1955, Rosa Parks stood up for the basic rights of millions of Americans of her generation and generations to follow. Hers is a hallowed name in the history of a civil rights movement that helped both Alabama and our nation better live up to the great ideals of our Constitution. The statue of Rosa Parks will hold an honored and deserved place in the heart of the U.S. Capitol, a symbol of freedom," said Congressman Bachus.
Congressman Bachus is a co-chair of this weekend's Faith & Politics Institute Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama along with Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Congresswoman Martha Roby. A bipartisan delegation of House and Senate Members will visit civil rights movement landmarks in Birmingham, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, and Selma.