President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner applaud Wednesday at the unveiling of a statue of Rosa Parks. Obama praised Parks as an enduring reminder of what true leadership requires, “no matter how humble or lofty our positions."
Parks became the first black woman to be depicted in a full-length statue in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. A bust of another black woman, abolitionist Sojourner Truth, sits in the Capitol Visitors Center.
“We do well by placing a statue of her here," Obama said. “But we can do no greater honor to her memory than to carry forward the power of her principle and a courage born of conviction."
The unveiling brought Obama, Boehner and other congressional leaders together in the midst of a fierce standoff over automatic spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday.
— The Associated Press
