By Staff
from staff reports
All eyes were on Alabama Sunday as the two Democratic frontrunners for president - U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton - helped civil rights leaders commemorate the anniversary of the voting rights march.
On March 7, 1965, 600 marchers were beaten by police and state troopers as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
On March 4, 2007, police and state troopers cleared the way for marchers to safely cross.
Clinton and Obama spoke at churches a block apart Sunday morning.
Clinton, D-N.Y., joined a packed house at First Baptist Church in Selma for its morning service, then was joined by her famous husband for the annual re-enactment of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that drew an estimated 20,000 observers.
Joined in the pulpit King once frequented by some of the same men who played integral parts in challenging the conscious of America, Clinton issued a challenge of her own. &#8220How can we sleep when there's 40 million fellow Americans that don't have health insurance,” she said.
She received several rousing ovations, in a church service that featured Charles Steele, national president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC, founded by King, was celebrating its 50th anniversary. Clinton lauded the SCLC, saying &#8220we should not forget the blows they took.”
&#8220We have a march to finish,” she said. &#8220Not until the Count Every Vote Act is passed, where every vote is counted and you can verify your vote