Honoring the life and accomplishments of Mrs. Coretta Scott King and her contributions as a leader in the struggle for civil rights, and expressing condolences to the King family on her passing.

Mr. Speaker, the great Coretta Scott King, perhaps best known as being the wife of the Reverend Martin Luther King, was, like her husband, a pioneer in the civil rights field in her own right.

Rising from the dust of rural poverty of a small town in Alabama, she will be remembered as being an outstanding advocate of racial peace and nonviolent social change. Ms. King was a strong woman, one of the few women leaders in a civil rights movement which, at the time, consisted almost exclusively of men. Mrs. King was one of the first who broke the mold. A mother of four, which in and of itself is more than a full day's work, she also was a woman who took on a high profile position in the civil rights movement in a most difficult time of conflict in our country.

Soon after the death of the late Martin Luther King, she quickly developed her own voice and even her own causes. Although there was some overlap with her husband's battles, she broadened the civil rights agenda quite a bit, focusing on the inclusion of women in our society here at home, speaking out against the war in Vietnam, and promoting peace internationally.

She quickly moved on to stand in for her late husband at the Poor People's Campaign at the Lincoln Memorial on June 19, 1968, just two months after his assassination. At the Memorial, she spoke not just about the Reverend's vision, but also about her own, a vision about gender as well as race, wherein she called upon American women to ``unite and form a solid block of women power to fight the three great evils of racism, poverty, and war.'' She then joined the board of directors of the National Organization for Women, as well as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and became widely identified with a broad array of international human rights issues, rather than being focused primarily on race here in the United States. This broadened view, she went on to say, was her way of carrying on the legacy of her husband, the great Reverend Martin Luther King.

In doing so, she led the effort to memorialize Dr. King, and was the greatest advocate for a national holiday in his honor, which came to fruition on January 20th in 1986, and has been celebrated on the third Monday in January every year since then.

She later founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change in Atlanta, an institution dedicated to scholarships and activism, with the purpose of continuing on his work and providing a research center for scholars studying the civil rights era.

To the end, Mrs. King remained to be a most loved woman by all. Often compared to

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as a woman who overcame tragedy, held her family together and then became an inspirational presence around the world. Her admirers always said that Mrs. King took on a particularly difficult task, that of carrying on her husband's work and teachings-- with a sense of spirit and purpose that made her more than just a symbolic figure, but a true leader.

Indeed, her death is a heartfelt loss, not only for African Americans, but for our Nation. I wholeheartedly believe that the people of our Nation need to work to uphold the legacy of these two brave women and the civil rights movement, which, although it has come a long way, has taken recent strides in the wrong direction under a more than callous Republican leadership. Mrs. King was a most inspirational woman, whose unwavering spirit stepped in to continue the struggle for the ideals of the great Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.

All of my heart and prayers go out to the King family.

Mr. Speaker, it was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. I rise today along with my colleagues to celebrate and remember the life of a remarkable woman and support H. Res. 655. I know that I speak for my colleagues here today when I say that America has lost one of its great citizens.

Mrs. King's greatness lay in the special talents she had and her ability to use them in the numerous roles she played in her life. She started her adult life as an accomplished musician, receiving music degrees from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. It was in Massachusetts that she met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They were married on June 18, 1953. In 1954, with her husband's installation at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL, Mrs. King accepted the roles and responsibilities of a pastor's wife.

Mrs. King's singular talents may have been known just to members of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church if it had not been for the winds of change swirling around Montgomery in 1955. With the arrest of Rosa Parks for her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery public bus, the struggle for civil rights for Blacks in America formally began. Dr. King was at the epicenter of the civil rights movement, and Mrs. King was there by his side.

It is amazing that Coretta Scott King could play such a vital role in the civil rights movement while simultaneously raising a family. She was the mother of four at a time when a woman was expected to be a homemaker and not much else. Not content to stand on the sidelines of history, Mrs. King spoke on the cause of equality to church, civic, college, fraternal and peace groups. She also produced and performed in a series of freedom concerts as fundraisers for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the direct action organization of which Dr. King served as first president.

It is easy to forget the duress under which Mrs. King lived such an exemplary life. The threat of violent death was always present. The King family home was bombed in 1956. Death threats against her family arrived by phone and mail constantly, and Martin was stabbed and nearly killed in a New York department store in 1958. The threat became reality with Dr. King's assassination on April 4, 1968. No one would accuse Mrs. King of cowardice if she had retired from public life after Dr. King's death. But Dr. King's dream of an undivided America became her dream, and Mrs. King continued to work as an advocate for equality through nonviolent resistance.

Mrs. King devoted much of her energy to developing the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta as a living memorial to her husband's life and dream. She led goodwill missions around the world speaking at massive peace and justice rallies. She was the first woman to deliver the class day address at Harvard University and the first woman to preach at a statutory service at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Mrs. King led the campaign to establish Dr. King's birthday as a national holiday. In 1983, the 98th Congress passed H.R. 5890 instituting the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, which Mrs. King chaired for its duration. And in January 1986, Mrs. King oversaw the first legal holiday in honor of her husband--a holiday which has come to be celebrated by millions of people.

My thoughts and prayers are with the King family. I hope that this resolution honoring Mrs. King will be a comfort to them at this difficult time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding. I could not let the moment go by without at least a comment.

During the mid-1960s, the King family moved into the neighborhood where I lived and worked. That is in the North Lawndale community on the west side of the City of Chicago in the 1500 block of South Hamlin. They brought with them an aura of excitement.

I was a young schoolteacher who taught not very far from the location, and my friend and I would leave school in the afternoon and come by the King house. It was really an apartment. Sometimes Dr. King would come out and just kind of talk with us for a moment or two. They often ate at a restaurant, Edna's Restaurant, and Mr. Conyers may know it. They would bring to the restaurant a whole horde of people. Everybody would come and watch.

And so on behalf of all of the people who lived in that community, I simply express condolences to the King family, but also express the great feeling of joy and inspiration that they brought to our community when they lived on the west side of Chicago during the mid-1960s as they came north with the northern crusade.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. She was the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and an important figure in the civil rights movement in her own right. She passed away Monday night in California.

Coretta Scott King was born in Marion, AL, on April 27, 1927. She attended Antioch College in Ohio and earned a B.A. in music and

education. During her postgraduate studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston she met her future husband, Martin Luther King, Jr., who was studying systematic theology at the nearby Boston University. They were married on June 18, 1953 in her hometown of Marion.

While she devoted most of her time to raising their 4 children, her husband's prominent involvement in the civil rights movement meant that she, too, was deeply involved. She took part in sit-ins at segregated restaurants, organized marches, and performed in many ``freedom concerts.'' She even marched with Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma, AL, to Montgomery in 1965. Just days after her husband was slain she and three of her children traveled to Memphis to lead a march honoring his life.

She not only honored his life but also ensured that his legacy would live on. In 1969 she founded the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Non-Violent Social Change in Atlanta, GA, as well as the Coalitions of Conscience to advocate for human rights issues.

King has carried the message of nonviolence and her husband's dream to nearly every corner of the globe. In 1962 she served as a delegate to the 17-nation disarmament conference in Geneva, Switzerland. She was the first woman to deliver the class address to Harvard University students and the first woman to preach at a service in St. Paul's Cathedral in London. She stood beside Nelson Mandela when he became the first democratically elected president of South Africa and she was an eye-witness to the signing of the Middle East peace accords.

Coretta Scott King was a woman of great influence, wisdom, compassion, and determination. She was a woman who devoted her life to making our world a better place. I leave you with a quote from Coretta Scott King, ``Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.''

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of the life of Coretta Scott King. This morning, I woke, like many of you, to hear of the sad news of the passing of Mrs. King. As I watched the news and read the papers, I came across an article that said ``Coretta Scott King played a major backup role in the civil rights movement until the death of her husband, Martin Luther King.'' The words ``backup role'' stood out to me, because in my mind she always has been very much at the forefront. For so long she was simply known as the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, but she was so much more.

Oftentimes we hear of the many great men who led the civil rights movement, but it was women who were in the heart and soul of that movement.

I am reminded that in the City of Cleveland there were several ministers that were involved with Dr. King. One of them, Dr. Hoover, another, Dr. Otis Moss, another minister, and one of the daughters of those ministers, her name is Carol Hoover, ultimately became the head of the Chamber of Commerce in the City of Cleveland.

And the reason I mention Carol Hoover is because Carol Hoover gave me my only opportunity to sit in a living room and have a long conversation with Mrs. King.

And the thing that I remark about that opportunity was she was very soft spoken. She was so very, very regal in her style, and so very confident and comfortable in helping me understand what my role was in public life.

I will never forget that opportunity that Carol Hoover gave me, and I will never forget Mrs. Coretta Scott King. If only we had a few more women like Coretta Scott King who handled tragedy so very well, but stood up, continued to raise a family, and helped us lift up her wonderful, wonderful husband.

As we celebrate the life of this great woman let us continue to remember the work that she did. Let us encourage our children to understand what she went through in order to be such a great leader, and let us to continue to pray for all of her family.

It is because of Coretta Scott King that the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King lives on to this day. It was Coretta whose hard work and determination led to the founding of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change and the establishment Martin Luther King's birthday as a national holiday. It is for these reasons and so many others that we honor and celebrate this great woman and her contributions to this country.

She was the pillar of her family. Supporting her husband while raising four children during what were tumultuous times in our nation's history. Those of us who are mothers know that raising a child, particularly black children then and even in today's society is not an easy task. She was truly phenomenal.

It is important that we understand that the dream of equality for all people was not just Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream but it was a shared dream of both he and Coretta Scott King. It was through her vision as well that today we are closer to that dream.

As a tribute to this woman, I encourage everyone to help keep both Coretta and Dr. King's dream alive by working for peace and justice for all people.

Mr. Speaker, the passing Monday night of Coretta Scott King, filled me with sadness, an emptiness, and a determination to see her work through to the end. She was a courageous, heroic, and beautiful individual who sacrificed her life so Americans might relish in the gift of equal justice. Coretta Scott King and her late husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were Americans of monumental strength and stature through their lives. In times of struggle, frustration, injustice, and violence, they spoke of composure, grace, love, and equality.

They will be remembered for their tireless and ceaseless efforts to advance race relations, civil rights, social justice and human rights.

I would like to share a few quotes with you. These are moments in which the voice, character, and spiritual tenacity of Mrs. King was captured. When a heroine passes away, we look to her words, and our memories, to convey the spirit and tenacity she carried with her, brought into every room, and left imprinted on our souls.

Corretta Scott King once said, ``Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.'' Whether segregation, sexual orientation, the rights of the poor or the rights of women, Mrs. King spoke with a voice that resonates beyond the limits of radiowaves and printed pages and out to who are desperately in need of help.

I have known Coretta Scott King over the last several years, and she had a rare gift to motivate others to carry on the legacy of equality, the idea of freedom, and social justice which was first accomplished by her husband and partner, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is our duty in her honor to never waver in the face of injustice and degradation.

``Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won; you earn it and win it in every generation.'' These words of Coretta Scott King are increasingly relevant.

As a member of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, my thoughts can't help but turn to yesterday's confirmation of Justice Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. I have had concerns about Justice Alito's past judicial record. I am still apprehensive, and I would like to take this opportunity to point out what I believe is a test of civil liberties presented today.

The tragic passing of Coretta Scott King, a formidable human rights and civil liberties activist, and the concurrent confirmation of Justice Alito, may foreshadow difficult times ahead for American freedoms. Much of what Coretta Scott King fought for is now threatened by Justice Alito's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. His dubious record on voter's rights, discrimination issues, civil rights, civil liberties, reproductive freedom, the right to privacy and environmental protections, among others, fly in the face of the life and work of Coretta Scott King. The passing of Coretta Scott King and the confirmation of Justice Alito should be a wake-up call to America.

Dr. and Mrs. King will forever hold an esteemed place in my heart and the hearts of all Americans. As an African-American woman, and a Member of Congress, I shall endeavor in my own way to continue their fight for equality and justice every day.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman; and thank you, Mr. Ranking Member, for this opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I consider it a singular privilege and a superlative pleasure to speak today in honor of Mrs. King.

Mr. Speaker, Dr. King expressed some of the great ideals of our time, ideals like injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. But it was Mrs. King who went to South Africa and, in a sense, made real that ideal by reminding the South Africans that apartheid was unacceptable, and causing many of us to understand that injustice in South Africa was a threat to justice in America.

Dr. King expressed the ideal that we should transform neighborhoods into brotherhoods; but it was Mrs. King who met with gang members and caused them to understand that it was their neighborhood and their brotherhood that was needed to cause these to be good neighborhoods.

Dr. King reminded us that life is an inescapable network of mutuality tied to a single garment of destiny, that whatever impacts one directly impacts all indirectly. But it was Mrs. King who went to Mrs. Mandela and who visited with her as her husband was on the eve of leaving prison because she understood that Nelson Mandela's suffering was indirectly impacting the suffering of all people in the world.

So I am honored today to honor the first lady of the civil rights movement, who has been said to have been a person with a gentle spirit, but with a will, a will of steel. And while she was the first lady, I think many of us will always see her as our queen. Thank you, Queen Mother King.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to honor and commemorate Coretta Scott King, a tireless advocate for civil rights and the widow of the great civil rights leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, we continue to mourn the loss of a great woman and a pioneer of civil rights. While Dr. King was the visionary behind the civil rights movement, Mrs. King was the architect. She made real the ideals expressed by

Dr. King. A driving force, she valiantly worked to found the King Center to both preserve the history of the civil rights movement and to train the many men and women in the philosophy of non-violent resistance.

Mrs. King was first and foremost a woman of strong character. She was a leader in her steadfast presence, her determination, and her courage. As one of the first people to speak out against apartheid, she embodied her husband's words ``injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.''

Her passion for equality and justice led her on numerous peace delegations around the world. Her actions and work with gang members demonstrated the value and the necessity of transforming neighborhoods into brotherhoods. Mrs. King spoke out against attacks on affirmative action and against racial profiling. As a result of her unrelenting campaign efforts, a bill was signed in support of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday.

Devoting relentless energy to her noble work, Mrs. Coretta Scott King has made a tremendous impact on American history. She will be missed by all those who knew her and remembered by all those who have benefited from her enormous contributions.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bid a last farewell to Mrs. Coretta Scott King, a woman of great character and conviction who worked tirelessly to make the dream of her husband a reality.

Although we know her as the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that label is far too small to encompass the life of this remarkable woman. Born April 27, 1927 in Marion, Alabama, to Bernice McMurry Scott and Obeadiah Scott, Coretta was an accomplished student, graduating at the top of her high school class while becoming an exceptional musician. Although her parents worked hard to ensure that she was protected from the hardships of the segregated South, she was very aware of the fact that she and all blacks were deprived of many rights. In her 1969 autobiography, ``My Life With Martin Luther King Jr.'' Coretta stated: ``From the first, I had been determined to get ahead, not just for myself, but to do something for my people and for all people.'' Little did she know that fate would have her help shape the mind of a world leader.

She met a young King in Boston while he was a student at Boston University and she a student at the New England Conservatory. After receiving her degree in voice and violin, the young couple moved to Montgomery, Alabama. Fifteen months later on December 1, 1955, a woman by the name of Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a city bus . . . and the rest is history.

Over the next 13 years she and her husband pushed our nation to tear down the walls of oppression and to reach for its great potential. By 1968 she had lived a life worth writing about, but it was the woman she became after the assassination of her husband in 1968 that will define her legacy.

Only months after his death, she created the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change as a living memorial to her husband's life and dream. Leading marches, giving speeches and meeting with various world leaders, Coretta devoted all her energies to alleviating the pain and suffering of the disenfranchised at home and abroad. She probably will be most remembered for her successful campaign to establish a national holiday to honor the life and works of her husband.

Mr. Speaker, throughout our history, great men and women have come and gone from these halls of Congress. However, their contributions to the American discourse did not die with them because we as a body have picked up where they left off, just as those who come after us will undoubtedly do. We all know that none of us are more important than this institution and what it represents. Coretta realized the same was true of her husband's dream. Though he was a great man, his dream was greater than him.

Had she allowed it to die with him, we all would have suffered a great disservice. Through her tireless work post-1968, she has ensured that our nation will never forget the dream of Dr. King, and more importantly, that we will never stop working towards its fulfillment.

For her great service to America and her unyielding spirit, I ask that my colleagues join me in paying tribute to Mrs. Coretta Scott King and in bidding her a final farewell.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Conyers for yielding to me. Mr. Conyers, you mentioned that I was born in Montgomery. Coretta Scott King was born in Marion, which is in the heart of my Congressional District. I am honored to stand here today as the person who still represents some of her family in the State of Alabama.

I only met her once as a younger Member of this institution and as someone who was not around to participate in the glorious days of the movement. I only met her once, at a Congressional Black Caucus in 2002. And I was a little bit in awe of her, Mr. Conyers, because when you grow up in the State of Alabama, Coretta Scott King is a heroine, and she has a very, very special place all over this country.

There are two things I want to say about her today. When she was born in Marion in 1929, she could not have conceived, her parents could not have conceived, and as she grew into young womanhood, she could not have conceived that the person who represented her City of Marion would one day be an African American. That would not have crossed her mind.

And when she formed her partnership with Martin Luther King, they had all kinds of dreams for this country. I wonder if they ever anticipated that they would accomplish the things that they did, the holiday, the King Center, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. They were big dreamers, but I do not know if they could even have seen those things.

So that is the first aspect of Coretta Scott King that we are to acknowledge today, that she had an opportunity to see her South and her country transformed in ways that were inconceivable, and she lived to see it. She lived to tell about it. She lived to appreciate it and to breathe it.

The second point that I want to make is, every time I saw her on television as a young man, every time I saw her, I was always struck by the power of her quiet dignity, and I mention that, Mr. Speaker, because we live in an age where sometimes our side thinks we have to outshout the other side, they think they have to outshout our side.

What this wonderful women appreciated is that there is a power and a force to quiet, persuasive argument. And she kept updating the legacy. In the 1980s it meant arguing against apartheid, and then arguing against the ugly rise of southern conservatism. It meant in the 1990s arguing for fair welfare policies. In the early 21st century it meant arguing for more enlightened policy around the world. She kept updating the legacy, and as she kept updating the legacy she freshened it and she put her own touch on it.

I conclude with just that observation. My colleague from Ohio was so right. My colleague from the District was so right. This woman was not a backstage figure, she was a co-anchor and a co-pillar of this movement.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. McKinney).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.

At a time like this, I tend to think of who are the people I respect the most and who are the people that have had impact over the world and my country as I have grown up and become an adult. I think of someone like Winston Churchill. I think of someone like Martin Luther King. I think of someone like Coretta Scott King. I think of someone like Nelson Mandela. And I think about my colleague John Lewis. These are my heroes. And it is interesting to me that most of them are men and women of color.

I think of, when I was first elected in 1987, whom did I want to meet? I wanted to meet our President, Ronald Reagan; and I wanted to meet a man called John Lewis, who, when I was in college, led a civil rights movement with Martin Luther King and crossed the Selma Bridge. There were only two people I wanted to meet: one was Ronald Reagan and the other was John Lewis.

I think of Martin Luther King, Sr., whom some people refer to as Daddy King, who lost his younger son A.D., in a drowning; and then he lost his older son, Martin Luther King, Jr., in an assassination; and then he lost his wife in a bombing in our country. This precious woman's life was snuffed out. And I think of Martin Luther King, Sr., eulogizing his wife and saying, I have lost two sons; I have lost my wife. And then he looked out in the audience, and he said, in so many words, but I am a grateful man because I have my daughter, Christine, and her family and I have Coretta and her family. And the focus of his presentation was how grateful he was to have her. Well, he had her; we all had Coretta Scott King. We all had her, and we have all been blessed by her leadership.

Coretta Scott King was a hero of the civil rights movement as a partner to Martin Luther King, clearly; but in her own right she played an absolutely instrumental role in her husband's work and carried on his legacy of fighting for human rights and equality. Their legacy is one of lasting change, making for a Nation that is freer, more compassionate, and more accepting. And while I was not by their side, I got to see what they did in my lifetime.

I have had a number of opportunities to meet her and be in her presence, including my trip in 2005 with John Lewis and others to Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma, where I heard her speak for the last time. She led by quiet example, and her personal strength was truly an inspiration. Yes, she was a woman of extraordinary grace. She was dignified. But she had a presence that said, I have experienced so much in my life and I want a different country.

And we are a different country. We are not where she may want us to be, but we are a different and better country because of Coretta Scott King and the other heroes that I love deeply.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman and the ranking member for this time that they have allotted to recognize an American icon, a woman of great distinction, of grace, of courage, one whom I have known for a long time because she was my soror, an AKA. And we met many times to talk about issues of women, women's suffrage, we talked about sexual exploitation of women around this world and human indignities.

As I heard about her passing I could not help but to reflect on the many times that we have spent together and on the courage that I drew from her and the strength that I drew from her, because this woman showed us so much, so much class, so much leadership, and so much strength in moments of tragedy.

And this is why I come together with my friends from across the aisle, and on both sides, to talk about the legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King, the aptly named first lady of the civil rights movement. She was the embodiment of a living soul who chose to help others without regard for self. Coretta Scott King was her husband's most ardent supporter during his darkest days and his most shining triumphs.

She spent the years after Dr. King's tragic assassination as the beacon of life toward equality and human rights for women and for all Americans. Fighting alongside her husband, however, through the many blessed years of their marriage, Coretta Scott King faced hardships, derision and physical violence.

In 1956, Mrs. King was in her home with her baby daughter when someone attempted to end her life and her husband's life, who was on a crusade. They threw a bomb into their home. The bomb did not injure her nor her child, but she could have rightfully ended her involvement on that particular issue at that time.

Thirteen years later her husband was brutally murdered in his quest for a social revolution.

Mrs. King stood strong only days later and led thousands of people marching in her husband's honor. The world is a better place, Mr. Speaker, because she was a giant of a woman, a crusader for justice and a courageous woman in the face of enormous adversity and tragedy.

Coretta Scott King campaigned tirelessly wherever she saw oppression or injustice. She celebrated Dr. King's legacy and created one of her own. Women's rights groups, people who fight against hunger, unemployment, disenfranchisement, and racism owe her a debt of gratitude. She embraced her husband's method of peaceful resistance and applied it in her crusade against the violence that corrupts our Nation.

Coretta Scott King was an activist, an icon, and a great wife and mother. America was so influenced by her, Mr. Speaker. She will continue to live in our memory and in our spirit as we further her work of nonviolence.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I attended the heartfelt memorial service of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Mrs. King was a model citizen and will truly be missed by the Nation. Last week the House debated H. Res. 655, which honored the life and accomplishments of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. This resolution recognized her contributions as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and expresses condolences to the King family on her passing.

Coretta Scott King was born on April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Alabama. Mrs. King graduated from Antioch College with a degree in music and education and was granted a scholarship to study concert singing at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It was in Boston where she met a young theology student, Martin Luther King, Jr., who was attending Boston University, and her life was forever changed. They were soon caught up in a dramatic series of events that sparked the modern Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King was recognized as the face of the movement, called upon to lead various marches from city to city, with Mrs. King right by his side, encouraging citizens, regardless of race, to defy the laws of segregation.

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Channeling her grief, Mrs. King concentrated her energies on fulfilling her husband's work by building The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, as a living memorial to her husband's life and dream. However, Mrs. King's greatest accomplishment was yet to come. She set out to establish her late husband's birthday as a national holiday, and that dream came to fruition when Congress declared the first observance of this national holiday in 1986. Today, the holiday is marked by annual celebrations in over 100 countries.

Mrs. King was an influential public figure and is referred to as the ``First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement.'' She was a world-renowned speaker who gave hundreds of speeches both abroad and at home, and was active in organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women and the Women's Strike for Peace. Mrs. King was also known for her writing, most notably for her autobiography, My Life With Martin Luther King. Jr.

Mrs. Coretta Scott King had a vision and she had the wherewithal to keep that vision alive. The journey towards equality for all has been greatly advanced by her work and accomplishments. Mrs. Coretta Scott King is a true American hero and will dearly be missed by her family, the Nation, and the world.