WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 1963 (UPI) -- The bombing of a Negro church in Birmingham was denounced in the U. S. Senate Monday by Democrats and Republicans who called for swift punishment of those responsible for the crime. One Republican, Sen. Jacob K. Javits (N.Y.), demanded a speedup in Senate action on civil rights legislation as a result of the Sunday violence, which took the lives of four Negro girls.
Senators denounced the bomb as a "national crime" "disgraceful," "outrageous" and "utterly reprehensible."
Javits touched off the angry round of reaction when he arose in the Senate to denounce the attack. He said that Alabama Gov. George Wallace "cannot escape responsibility for it."
Senate Democratic leader Mike Mansfield (Mont.) said the bombing was "reprehensible...there can be no excuse for an occurrence of this kind under any possible circumstances."
