Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Al Green (TX-9) made the following statement on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives during the consideration of S.Con.Res. 61, a resolution authorizing the remains of Rosa Parks to lie in honor in the rotunda of the Capitol.

Rosa Parks will lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda from October 30th through October 31st.

Below is Green’s statement:

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Millender-McDonald, for yielding me this time, and I also thank all who have supported this resolution on both sides of the aisle. It could not happen without the benefit of both sides working together. This is a great moment in history.

Mr. Speaker, I also thank God for the honorable Rosa Parks. It is amazing how God can use what appears to be an ordinary person to do an extraordinary thing. She was not a great lawyer; however, she changed the laws of discrimination in this country. She was not a superstar; however, she cast the light of truth on the horrors of segregation. She was not a fiery orator; however, by taking her seat, she ignited that spark that started the civil rights movement.

Thank God she took that seat. Because she took that seat, no one has to sit in the back of the bus. Because she took that seat, we can all sit at the table of brotherhood as brothers and sisters, members of one race, the human race. Because she took that seat, I can stand in the well of the House of Representatives of the United States of America.

Thank God for the honorable Rosa Parks. She was an angel of hope for the hopeless and a saint of help for the helpless. She represents the quintessential manifestation of God’s miraculous power.

Mr. Speaker, she had earned the right to lie in honor, and I thank God we have the good sense to make it happen.

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