To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley to commemorate the lives they lost 50 years ago in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, where these 4 little Black girls' ultimate sacrifice served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.
PL 113-11 (H.R.360), enacted 05/24/2013

[113th Congress Public Law 11]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 127 STAT. 446]]

Public Law 113-11
113th Congress

                                 An Act


 
 To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins, 
 Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley to commemorate the 
  lives they lost 50 years ago in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street 
  Baptist Church, where these 4 little Black girls' ultimate sacrifice 
  served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. <<NOTE: May 24, 
                          2013 -  [H.R. 360]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: 31 USC 5111 
note.>> 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress Finds the following:
            (1) September 15, 2013, will mark 50 years since the lives 
        of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 
        Cynthia Wesley were suddenly taken by a bomb planted in the 
        Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
            (2) The senseless and premature death of these 4 little 
        Black girls sparked ``The Movement that Changed the World''.
            (3) On that tragic Sunday in September of 1963, the world 
        took notice of the violence inflicted in the struggle for equal 
        rights.
            (4) The fact that 4 innocent children lost their lives as 
        they prepared for Sunday School shook the world's conscience.
            (5) This tragedy galvanized the Civil Rights Movement and 
        sparked a surge of momentum that helped secure the passage of 
        the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and later the Voting Rights Act of 
        1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
            (6) Justice was delayed for these 4 little Black girls and 
        their families until 2002, 39 years after the bombing, when the 
        last of the 4 Klansmen responsible for the bombing was charged 
        and convicted of the crime.
            (7) The 4 little Black girls are emblematic of so many who 
        have lost their lives for the cause of freedom and equality, 
        including Virgil Ware and James Johnny Robinson who were 
        children also killed within hours of the 1963 church bombing.
            (8) The legacy that these 4 little Black girls left will 
        live on in the minds and hearts of us all for generations to 
        come.
            (9) Their extraordinary sacrifice sparked real and lasting 
        change as Congress began to aggressively pass legislation that 
        ensured equality.
            (10) Sixteenth Street Baptist Church remains a powerful 
        symbol of the movement for civil and human rights and will host 
        the 50th anniversary ceremony on Sunday, September 15, 2013.
            (11) It is befitting that Congress bestow the highest 
        civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, in 2013 to the 4 
        little

[[Page 127 STAT. 447]]

        Black girls, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, 
        and Cynthia Wesley, posthumously in recognition of the 50th 
        commemoration of the historical significance of the bombing of 
        the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall make 
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of 
a gold medal of appropriate design to commemorate the lives of Addie Mae 
Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred 
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this 
Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal with suitable 
emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Award of Medal.--Following the award of the gold medal described 
in subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the Birmingham Civil 
Rights Institute in Birmingham, AL, where it shall be available for 
display or temporary loan to be displayed elsewhere, as appropriate.
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the costs 
of the medal, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses, and amounts received from the sale of such duplicates 
shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck under this Act are national 
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of 
title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

    Approved May 24, 2013.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 360:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 159 (2013):
            Apr. 24, considered and passed House.
            May 9, considered and passed Senate.

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