This weekend, Rep. Shalala (FL-27) joined civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (GA-5), Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and fellow Members of Congress on the Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
On the final day of the Pilgrimage, Rep. Shalala joined with her Congressional colleagues in crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where 55 years ago, on the day that is now known as Bloody Sunday, 600 women and men – including Rep. Lewis – marching from Selma to Montgomery for the right to vote were violently attacked by police.
“This weekend we followed the footsteps of those brave men and women who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, who risked their lives for the promise of equal right,” said Rep. Shalala. “It was a privilege to join with my friend Rep. Lewis, and it is the honor of a lifetime to serve alongside him in Congress, as he reminds us every day to celebrate the courage and sacrifice of those true American heroes by continuing to fight for freedom and justice.”
Before crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the delegation traveled to Montgomery, where they visited the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and the First Baptist Church. They then traveled to Birmingham, where they participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the 16th Street Baptist Church and visited Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
