Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our honored guests, members of the house of representatives, the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of United States. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the United States house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. [applause] good morning and welcome to the United States capitol. This is a red letter day for the american people, and i am glad you are all here and are taking part in the celebration. Since the era of reconstruction, this chamber, which once was the hall of the house of representatives, has become home to statues sent by the states. Today, we gather to dedicate a National Statue of the late rosa parks in recognition of her many contributions to this nation and to the cause of freedom. It is the first statue of an africanamerican woman to be placed in this capital. [applause]we are honored to be joined by the president of the United States and members of his and ministration his administration. [applause]this is a homecoming of sorts for mrs. Parks, who for more than 20 years was an assistant to representative john conyers of michigan. [applause]i want to thank all of the members of congress who are here and work to make this day possible. Also with azar eugene dolled tor, andllalb, the sculpu the codesigner of the statue. [applause]it is safe to say this was not just any project. These gentlemen rose to the occasion. Gentlemaen, please stand to be recognized. [applause]to unveil the statue, we will be joined by sheila keyes and alain steele, a longtime friend. And cofounder of the rosa and Raymond Parks institute for self development. Thank you both for joining us and thanks to all of the civil rights guests who honor us today with your presence. Every now and then, we have got to step back and say to ourselves, what a country. This is one of those moments. All men and women are created equal, but as we will hear during the ceremony, some grow to be larger than life and to be honored as such. Welcome. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of the colors by the United States armed forces color guard, the singing of our national anthem, and the retiring of our colors. Oh, say, can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming whose broad stripes and right stars right stars through the perilous fight the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o, say, does that starspangled banner yet wave of the free and the home of the brave ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing as the chaplain of the United States us senate gets gives the invocation. Let us pray. Oh mighty god, sovereign of our nation and lord of our lives, thank you for this opportunity to place a statue in the us Capital Building that honors a gifted, courageous and talented woman, rosa louise arcs parks. We praise you, lord, with infusing her with the resolve to sit down so that millions could stand up, helping to launch a nationwide effort to end the segregation of public facilities. We are grateful for her commitment to bring deliverance to those held captive by tnjustice, to restore the sitgh rallye ethically and more clic blind, and mend the wounds of those hurt by the sins of omission and those who fail to act. Mayor life and legacy inspire us to courageously tackle the challenges of our times, laboring to ensure justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. We pray in your sovereign name. Amen. [amen] please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated for the unveiling of the statue. [applause]ladies and gentlemen, the statue of rosa parks. [applause]ladies and gentlemen, the United States army corps United States army chorus. Heaven ring bring with the harmonies of liberty [chorus singing] [chorus singing] [chorus singing] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the assistant democratic leader of the United States house of representatives , the honorable james clyburn. [applause] enqueue. Thank you. Mr. President , speaker boehner, leader pelosi, leaders reaid ad mcconnell, friends, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. This is a good time and a great place to honor the most honorable woman. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the signing of the emancipation proclamation which jumpstarted a march to freedom for many, who while in servitude built this great edifice. This year is also the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. It was a watershed event in our quest for human dignity. Rosa parks, the first lady of civil rights, the mother of the movement, the saint of an endless struggle, however one wished to refer to her, the statue. Forever ordains rosa parks as an icon of our nations struggles till about its declaration that we are all created equal. One hour ago, i sat across the street witnessing the opening arguments in the case before the United StatesSupreme Court, the case many feel could turn the clock back on much of the progress that has been made and for which we pause today to honor rosa parks. The struggle goes on. The movement continues. The pursuit is not over. To honor rosa parks in the fullest manner, each of us must do our part to protect that which has been gained, defend the great document upon which those rains were obtained, and will continue our pursuit of a more Perfect Union. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the democratic leader of the United States house of representatives, the honorable nancy pelosi. [applause] good morning. Mr. President , leader reid, eater macconnell, mr. Speaker, members of the house and senate, distinguished guests. Thank you, mr. Speaker, for making this day possible. [applause]one distinguished guest who is not with us or maybe has come late to john lewis. We are on the steps of the Supreme Court earlier this morning. Mr. Clybourn stated until this start of the program the start of the program. It is an honor to sit in the congress of the United States to john lewis. [applause]and it is a joy to be here to honor rosa parks. When rosa parks was a little baby, her mother sang her the o freedom, let it ring. She heard that song in church. It would become the anthem and mission of her life. Rosa parks would say i would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be free. Rosa parks is being remembered with this statue in the capital, but this is not the first time her greatness has been recognized here. She has many connections to congress. She is no stranger to these halls. She was recognized with a congressional gold mumble goldmedal and strapped with the title mother of the modern Civil Rights Movement. With the words quiet strength, dignity, encourage your coshia personal and courage. For 18 years, she was an assistant to john conyers. [applause]they worked together to advance the cause of civil rights and equality. We always ask john conyers to tell us stories about rosa parks. One that i think that is appropriate at this time is john conyers first met her when he was just out of school. He traveled south to join the Civil Rights Movement after law school and he met her then. She worked on his first campaign. She would later become his first congressional higher, the first hire, the first her city hired on his congressional staff. Ready soon, john conyers found out that pretty soon, john conyers found out that people were visiting the office to see rosa parks and not john conyers. [laughter]how about this mr. President . One day she went to him and said she wanted to thank him for allowing her to be honored all over the country and would be willing to take a pay cut for time away from the office. [laughter]because of the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus and that of leader reid, rosa parks was the first woman to lie in state in the rotunda of the capitol of United States of the United States. [applause]on her birth, her mother had song of letting freedom ring. How proud her mother would be to see her baby eulogized at her passing by two president s, former president clinton and future president barack obama. [applause]imagine that. I had the privilege of speaking at her funeral, too. But what can you say in the company of that greatness . What i said was that legislation had been introduced by Jesse Jackson junior and senator john kerry to place the statue of rosa parks in the capital of the United States. [applause] i got an uproarious reaction to it. What can you say among president s, past and future, preachers from all over the country . A statue. I promised them that the legislation would pass, and quickly. That funeral was november 2, and on december 1, president george w. Bush signed it into law. [applause] 50 years to the day that rosa parks sat down on the bus and in montgomery, alabama. 50 years to the day. [applause] rosa parks should feel right at home in the capital, joining sojourner truth, dr. Martin luther king and many other american heroes. She will inspire all who walked these halls, especially young people, with her quiet strength, her pride, her dignity, her courage. I told you she was recognized by congress and friends of congress. Now i would like to share with you comments from one of my invited to get. The race all great, willie mays baseball great, willie mays. These are the same injustices that rosa parks did when he was growing up. He could not be here today but sent a letter and said i could share these words about her. He said more than this, and i gave the complete letter to roses. Niece. Ice he said, change does not happen fast. One persons actions inspiring another. She simply did what was natural. She was tired so she sat down. That simple act sparked outrage. That outrage spread, and one persons actions inspired change. We will try to remember to encourage change when served justice. Today, we will remember with admiration the simple act of a brave woman. We will remember, we will honor, rosa parks. Lovely words from a fellow alabama and alabaman, all american icon, willie mays. Her bravery, serving justice, and inspiring change, may this statue long be a tribute to her strength and spirit, the legacy and leadership areas may god bless the memory of rosa. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the republican leader of the united dates senate, the honorable mitch mcconnell. [applause] mr. President , you honor us with your presence. Thanks for being here. [applause] speaker boehner, leader reid, leader policy, members of the parks family, distinguished guests and friends, we gather here today to remember a woman whose legacy has already outlived her time among us. We honor her, not only with our presence, but with this permanent win minor of the cause reminder of the she embodied. With this statue we affirm that the courage and the cause of rosa parks not only earned her a place in the hearts of all americans, but a permanent place among the other figures in the fall in this hall of national memory. Rosa parks may not have led us to victory against the british, she did not give a single speech in the senate or the house am a poor blast off into space, or point the way west in the western wilderness. Yet, with quiet courage, and unshakable resolve, she did something no less important on a cold, alabama evening in 1955. She helped unite the spirit of america. Which the founders so perfectly expressed in the opening words of the declaration of independence. Would the form of government they so brilliantly outlined in our constitution. For some, rosa parks served as an inspiration to stand up against injustice. For others, she was spurred to reflection and self realization. She had the ideals of freedom, democracy, and Constitutional Rights with the reality of life as others lived it. As president bush put it upon signing the bill that authorized the statue, she set in motion a National Movement for equality and freedom. Which is why we are here today. Rosa parks is often portrayed as a quiet, unassuming figure. She lives in americas collective memory, in a pair of rimless lasses glasses, hair pulled back, neatly dressed in a simple hats and dress or scaring stoically ahead in that famous photo as prisoner 7053. We should not let that overshadow her tenacity. This was a woman who paid her own way through school by cleaning classrooms when she was just a child. A woman who was so determined to exercise her civic freedoms that she took the segregationist era literacy exam. A test designed to keep so many africanamericans before her from registering to vote. Not once, or twice, but three times. Until she passed it. Today as americans, we are united in reimagining rosa louise parks, clutching her purse in those tense moment as Montgomery City bus number 2857 rolled down cleveland avenue. We are reminded of the power of simple acts of courage. On an otherwise ordinary evening in montgomery, she did the extraordinary by simply staying put. In the process, she helped all of us discover something about ourselves. And about the great region through regenerative capacity of america. We have the ability as a nation to recognize past mistakes. We have had the strength to confront those mistakes. It has always required people like rosa parks to help us get there. As of the changes she helped set in motion, entire generations of americans have been able to grow up in a nation where segregated buses only exist in museums. Where children of every race are free to fulfill their god given potential. And where this simple carpenters dr. Daughter from tough lady from tuskegee could become a zero. What a story, what a legacy, what a country. Thank you. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the majority leader of the United States sent it senate, the honorable harry reid. 100 years after rosa parks was born, more than half a century after she sparked the Civil Rights Movement, the United States is still striving to ensure every american is not only created equal by god, but treated equally in the world. As america shapes its future, struggles with its past, a past in which equality was our principal, but not always our practice, two of the best Motion Pictures this year were nominated for academy awards. Lincoln and django unchained offered cinematic treatments of our nation and slavery. One film provides a view of the evils of slavery. The other depicts our difficult journey to end it. 150 years after president lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, we are still considering, in film, in photo, in art, in activism, how to eradicate slaverys unsavory successors. Racism and in the quality. Inequality. In the doorway to my office, i have a doorway to the president in the oval office. Let me tell you why it is there. I got up to read the newspaper, and i saw this picture in the Washington Post that appeared all over the country. We have these wonderful military officers who serve in the honor guard in the white house. Rest in the fancy uniforms, they serve their tour of duty, and traditionally what happens is the president invites them into the oval office office. The officer and his family. This officer was invited with his wife and two children. He, as an american african american, are his children and wife. The picture was not posed. The photographer did not have time to take the picture that he wanted. This little boy, jacob, said to the president , this innocent little boy, said to the president of the United States the president could not hear him. He said, what did you say buddy . He said, can i fill your hair . I am sure this boy had been teased at school because of his hair. So the president leaned over, and this angelic child is feeling his hair. When he finished, he looked up at the president of the United States and said, it is just like mine. [applause] i show that picture to everyone coming to my office in the entryway. Even today, after months and months, the signed picture the president give to meet causes me to shed a tear. To me, it is a potent reminder that although our journey is not over, this country has come far in its short history toward righting injustice and living up to its founding principles. Without the sacrifices of rosa parks, this president s day, this photograph, so much of the progress we have made to perfect our union would not have been possible. Today, our nation pays enduring tribute to the woman who moved the world when she refused to move her seat. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the United States house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. [applause] i want to thank all of you for joining us in this wonderful ceremony today. In many ways, the statue speaks for itself. Which is a blessing, because no words could do justice to rosa parks. Here in the old hall as she casts an unlikely silhouettes. Unassuming and a lineup of proud stairs. Challenging all of us once more to look up and draw strength from stillness. As a child, rosa parks was shy, reserved, at least on the outside. On the inside, she was absolutely absorbing the gospel. Listening closely to god. Who, as she said, was everything to me. Through every ordeal, she would repeat some scripture to herself area at from corinthians, we were all made to drink from one spirit. From luke, the parable of the persistent widow who prays and craze for an unjust judge until finally he sees the light are. When warned that she would be arrested, rosa parks did not have to look for a far for courage. She did not have to look anywhere. I felt determination, over my body, like a quilt on a winter night. Humility is not compatible with bravery. We put god before ourselves when we make in god we trust not just a motto, but a mission, as rosa parks did every burden can be lifted. Today we speak for a nation committed to remembering, and more importantly, emulating rosa parks. So we place her here in the chamber where many fought to prevent a day like this. Right in the days of jefferson davis, the president of the confederacy. It rings to mind brings to mind lady liberty herself, rising woman the titans of finance and presiding over new york harbor. Clear for all to see. When these trappings of ceremony come down and people from all walks of life and back round and beliefs passed through here, some to cast a vote, some on a tour, the ordinary route, but one that have a century ago would have been improbable. I can think of no more perfect way to capture the vision of a more Perfect Union than to which ms. Bartz has already started. Ms. Parks has already started. It is my honor to except the statue of rosa louise parks, a lady liberty for our time and alltime. With that, it is my pleasure to introduce the president of the United States. [applause] thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, leader reid, leader mcconnell, leader pelosi, leader cliburn, friends and family of the distinguished guests rather tear today. This morning, we celebrate the seamstress, slight in stature, but mighty in cordage. Courage. She defied the odds and injustice. She lived a life of activism but also a life of the nifty and grace. Dignity and grace. In a single moment, with the simplest of gestures, she helped change america and the world. Rosa parks held no elected office. She possessed no fortune. She lived her life far from the formal seats of power. Today, she takes her rightful place among those who have shaped this nations course. I think all those persons, in particular the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, both past and present, for making this moment possible. [applause] a childhood once friend once said about ms. Parks, nobody ever cost her and got away with it. Bossed her around and got away with it. That is what an alabama driver learned in 1955. 12 years earlier, if he had kicked her off his bus simply because she entered through the front door when the back door was too crowded. He grabbed her sleeve and pushed her off the bus. It made her mad enough, she would recall, that she avoided writing his bus for a while. His bus for a while. When they met again that evening in 1955, rosa parks would not he pushed. The driver got up from his seat and insist that she give up hers, he would she would not be pushed. When he threatened to have her arrested, she simply replied, you may do that. And he did. A few days later, rosa parks challenged her arrest. A littleknown pastor, new to town and only 26 years old, stood with her, a man named Martin Luther king jr. So did thousands of montgomery, alabama commuters. They began a boycott, teachers and laborers, clergy and domestics, through rain and cold in sweltering heat, day after day, week after week, month after month, walking miles if they had to. Arranging carpools where they could. Not thinking about the blisters on their feet. The weariness after a full day of work. Walking for respect. Walking for freedom. Driven by a solemn determination to affirm their godgiven dignity. 380 five days after rosa parks refused to give up her seat, the boycott ended. Black men and women and children reid boarded re boarded the buses of montgomery, newly resegregated. They sat in whatever seat happened to be open. [applause] with that victory, the entire edifice of segregation, like the ancient walls of jericho, began to slowly come tumbling down. It has been often remarked that rosa parkss activism did not begin on that bus. Long before she made headlines, she had stood up for freedom, for equality, fighting for voting rights. Rallying against discrimination in the criminal justice system. Serving in a local chapter of the naacp. Her quiet leadership would continue long after she became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement. Working with congressman to find homes for the homeless. Preparing disadvantaged youth for a path to success. Striving each day to write some wrong right some wrong, somewhere in this world. And yet, our minds fasten on that single moment in the bus. Ms. Parks, alone in that seat, clutching her purse, staring out a window. Waiting to be arrested. That moment tells us something about how change happens or does not happen. The choices we make or dont make. For now, we see through a glass. Scripture says, and it is true. Whether out of inertia or selfishness, out of fear or a simple lack of moral imagination, we so often spend our lives excepting injustice , accepting injustice rationalizing inequity, tolerating the entire liberal tolerating be intolerable. But like the passengers on the bus, we see the way things are and r, children hungry in the land of plenty, entire neighborhoods ravaged by violence, families hobbled by job loss or illness, and we make excuses for inaction. And we say to ourselves, it is not my responsibility. There is nothing i can do. Rosa parks tells us, there is always something we can do. She tells us, we all have responsibilities to ourselves and to one another. She reminds us that this is how change happens. Not mainly through the exploits of the famous and powerful. But through the countless acts of often the anonymous courage and kindness and fellow feeling and responsibility that continually expand our conception of justice. Our conception of what is possible. Rosa parks cingular act of disobedience launched a movement. The tired feet of those who walked the dusty roads of montgomery helped a nation see that to which it had once been blind. It is because of these men and women that i stand here today. It is because of them that our children grow up in a land more free and more fair. A land truer to its founding creed. That is why this statue belongs in this hall. To remind us, no matter how humble or lofty our positions, just what it is that leadership requires. Just what it is that citizenship requires. Rosa parks would have turned 100 years old this month. We do well by placing a statue of her here. But we can do no greater honor to her memory then to carry for the power of her principal, and courage born of conviction. May god bless the memory of rosa parks, and may god bless the United States of america. [applause] anho please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, the United States army chorus. America, america god spread his grace on thee o beautiful, for spacious skies for amber waves of grain for purple mountains majesty among the fruited plain , america god shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please stand as the chaplain of the united dates house of representatives, the reverend patrick conroy, gives the benediction. Let us pray. We give you thanks, almighty god, for your gift to our nation of rosa parks. Youre good and faithful servant. One of the finest citizens of montgomery, she took a heroic stand by sitting. Her prophetic action, one among so many during an oddly greatest grace time during our american history, change the course of Human History as it has lived on our continent. A central catalyst in the event s which came to define the civil rights era, or cause lay deep in the record of so many racial injustices. Now, this congress, united as once it was, when honoring her with the congressional gold medal, honors the mother of the modernday Civil Rights Movement with this statue. As we leave this lace, may we never forget the incredible bravery and sacrifices of those like rosa parks who call us to greatness as american citizens. Give us the grace, oh god, to remain vigilant in guaranteeing that no person in our great land should ever suffer injustice, like so many of our National Heroes and heroines once did. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, please remain at your seats for the departure of the official party. Following the departure of the official party, guests are invited to form a viewing line to pass the statue at felipe hall. Additional instructions will be provided to our guest at the capitol visitor center