WASHINGTON (WIAT) – On Wednesday, Congress honored the four little girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that happened 60 years ago in Birmingham.

On September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed by the KKK. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Morris Wesley died beneath the rubble.

On Wednesday, Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D) read their names aloud in the nation’s capital, ensuring their legacy lives on.

“It was their memory that burned in the minds of foot soldiers as they fought to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” Sewell said. “And it was their sacrifice that brought our nation closer to realizing its highest ideals of equality and justice for all.”

In 2013, Sewell passed her first bill in Congress, which awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the four little girls posthumously. She said she wanted to make sure their lives are never forgotten.

“Without the influence of the four little girls I not only question where America would be but where I would be,” Sewell said. “Sixty years after their passing I get to walk the halls of Congress as Alabama’s first Black congresswoman. I do so because of their sacrifice and because they cannot.”

This week the city of Birmingham is remembering the four little girls as part of its 60th commemoration of the civil rights movement and the events that happened here in Birmingham.