FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1997                          (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

       ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO TO DELIVER CIVIL RIGHTS SPEECH
                AT BIRMINGHAM CHURCH ON WEDNESDAY

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In honor of Martin Luther King's 68th
birthday, Attorney General Janet Reno will deliver a significant
civil rights speech at the 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham, Alabama, on Wednesday, January 15.  Thirty four years
ago, the church was the site of a bombing which killed four
African American girls attending Sunday school.  

     The speech, which will discuss the need to reject racial
separation, will offer a glimpse of the Department's civil rights
agenda for the next term.  

     Prior to the speech, Reno will tour the Birmingham Civil
Rights Institute, located across the street from the church.

SPEECH
               DATE:  Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 15, 1997
               TIME:  10:00 AM CST - event begins
                      10:30 AM CST - Reno speaks
               SITE:  16th Street Baptist Church
                      Birmingham, Alabama
TOUR
               DATE:  Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 15, 1997
               TIME:  9:00 AM CST  (limited space)
               SITE:  Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
                      520 16th Street North
                              # # #
96-017