{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://westerman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/westerman-delivers-remarks-unveiling-daisy-bates-statue-us-capitol", "WESTERMAN DELIVERS REMARKS AT UNVEILING OF DAISY BATES STATUE IN U.S. CAPITOL", "2024-05-08", "2024", "2024-05", "Republican", "House", "AR", "Bruce Westerman", "W000821", "westerman.house.gov", "westerman", "https://westerman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Bruce Westerman (AR-04) delivered remarks at the unveiling of a statue of civil rights activist and journalist Daisy Bates in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.\n\nCongressman Westerman's remarks, as delivered:\n\n\u201cImagine, as an eight-year-old girl, you learn that years before, your mother had been raped, murdered, and dumped in a pond. That was young Daisy Gatson Bates\u2019 story in the small town of Huttig, Arkansas, not far from the Louisiana line.\n\nOn top of that, imagine you learn the white men who did this to your black mother were never brought to justice - never held accountable \u2013 how would you feel?\n\nFifty-four years later, in an interview, she said, \u2018I was so tight inside, there was so much hate. And I think it started then without me knowing it. It prepared me, it gave me the strength to carry this out.\u2019\n\nFortunately, Daisy Bates took the advice of her dying adopted father and channeled her anger and hate into a lifelong motivation to make a difference, to seek justice in a world where there was injustice.\n\nBen Victor, the sculptor of the statue, when asked, \u2018what stands out to you most about Daisy Bates?\u2019 He replied, \u2018her courage really stands out to me. I\u2019ve depicted her in motion because she was a woman with a cause. She is smiling, showing her optimism in the face of great adversity. And of course, her role as a journalist and publisher are highlighted by the pen and notepad in her right hand and the newspaper in the left.\u2019\n\nDaisy bates was a courageous woman. She often spoke about being afraid. Afraid when rocks were being thrown through her window. Afraid that a bomb or assassination could happen. Afraid when she told the Little Rock Nine, quote \u2018one of us might die in this fight. And I said to them, if they kill me, you would have to go on. If I die, don\u2019t you stop.\u2019\n\nWe know that courage does not mean an absence of fear. But true courage, the example of courage Daisy Bates gave us all, is to face our fear, to overcome it, and to do the right thing. What a remarkable story the great state of Arkansas has chosen to tell by placing this beautiful statue, the statue of Daisy Bates, here in our nation\u2019s Capitol, in this sacred hall.\n\nHopefully, as her story is told over, and over again, it will be a small semblance of the justice she so faithfully sought. Not just justice for herself, but justice for all.\n\nIt is a day we can be proud to honor one of our own. It is a day to be proud to be an Arkansan. Thank you.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:01:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://westerman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/westerman-delivers-remarks-unveiling-daisy-bates-statue-us-capitol"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9022471494972706, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}