Observing the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and encouraging the people of the United States to observe the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and for other purposes.

Thank you, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Lewis and all Members of Congress.

Madam Speaker, as we honor Dr. King's legacy, let's remember it is a living legacy. We are not talking about cold prose and someone who is so distant from this moment. His ideas are so alive today and so needed today; that is why a month from now, I will be introducing legislation to create a Cabinet level Department of Peace, which takes Dr. King's vision of an America which organizes around principles of nonviolence and brings it to life in addressing the issues of domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, violence in the schools, racial violence, violence against gays, police, community relations conflicts, and provides the resources so that we can deal with these as a living testimony to the love that we are showing today for Dr. King.

But he also was a visionary on the matter of war. He spoke many times warning this country about the danger of what happened in Vietnam. He spoke about the price that was being paid for the people of two nations in a speech at Riverside Church nearly 40 years ago. At Ebenezer Baptist Church he spoke about the interrelationship of all people, but how all people are one. It was that understanding of oneness that drove him to take a stand for peace.

Let us celebrate not only his life, but let the principles of his life continue to guide us as Americans. This is the moment to take a stand as we grapple with the question of Iraq.

I met with representatives of over 1,000 soldiers today who say it is time to get out of Iraq. Let us protect Dr. King's memory by standing for peace.

Madam Speaker, I would like to put into the Record Dr. King's speech from Ebenezer Baptist Church and part of his speech from Riverside Church, which need to be read today. I would also like to put in the Record a speech that I gave recently called ``Out of Iraq and Back to the American City,'' which shows that only when we take a stand for peace are we able to get the resources that we need to provide jobs and health care and education and retirement security and housing for the American people.

Make Dr. King's legacy a living legacy.

A Christmas Sermon on Peace

Dr. King first delivered this sermon at Ebenezer Baptist

Church, where he served as co-pastor. On Christmas Eve, 1967,

the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired this sermon as

part of the seventh annual Massey Lectures.

Peace on Earth. . . .

This Christmas season finds us a rather bewildered human

race. We have neither peace within nor peace without.

Everywhere paralyzing fears harrow people by day and haunt

them by night. Our world is sick with war; everywhere we turn

we see its ominous possibilities. And yet, my friends, the

Christmas hope for peace and good will toward all men can no

longer be dismissed as a kind of pious dream of some utopian.

If we don't have good will toward men in this world, we will

destroy ourselves by the misuse of our own instruments and

our own power. Wisdom born of experience should tell us that

war is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served

as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an

evil force, but the very destructive power of modern weapons

of warfare eliminates even the possibility that war may any

longer serve as a negative good. And so, if we assume that

life is worth living, if we assume that mankind has a right

to survive, then we must find an alternative to war--and so

let us this morning explore the conditions for peace. Let us

this morning think anew on the meaning of that Christmas

hope: ``Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men.'' And as we

explore these conditions, I would like to suggest that modern

man really go all out to study the meaning of nonviolence,

its philosophy and its strategy.

We have experimented with the meaning of nonviolence in our

struggle for racial justice in the United States, but now the

time has come for man to experiment with nonviolence in all

areas of human conflict, and that means nonviolence on an

international scale.

Now let me suggest first that if we are to have peace on

earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than

sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe,

our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a

world perspective. No individual can live alone; no nation

can live alone, and as long as we try, the more we are going

to have war in this world. Now the judgment of God is upon

us, and we must either learn to live together as brothers or

we are all going to perish together as fools.

Yes, as nations and individuals, we are interdependent. I

have spoken to you before of our visit to India some years

ago. It was a marvelous experience; but I say to you this

morning that there were those depressing moments. How can one

avoid being depressed

when one sees with one's own eyes evidences of millions of

people going to bed hungry at night? How can one avoid being

depressed when one sees with one's own eyes thousands of

people sleeping on the sidewalks at night? More than a

million people sleep on the sidewalks of Bombay every night;

more than half a million sleep on the sidewalks of Calcutta

every night. They have no houses to go into. They have no

beds to sleep in. As I beheld these conditions, something

within me cried out: ``Can we in America stand idly by and

not be concerned?'' And an answer came: ``Oh, no!'' And I

started thinking about the fact that right here in our

country we spend millions of dollars every day to store

surplus food; and I said to myself: ``I know where we can

store that food free of charge--in the wrinkled stomachs of

the millions of God's children in Asia, Africa, Latin

America, and even in our own nation, who go to bed hungry at

night.''

It really boils down to this: that all life is

interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of

mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever

affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to

live together because of the interrelated structure of

reality. Did you ever stop to think that you can't leave for

your job in the morning without being dependent on most of

the world? You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom

and reach over for the sponge, and that's handed to you by a

Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that's

given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go

into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and

that's poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe

you want tea: That's poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or

maybe you're desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and

that's poured into your cup by a West African. And then you

reach over for your toast, and that's given to you at the

hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the

baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning,

you've depended on more than half of the world. This is the

way our universe is structured, this is its interrelated

quality. We aren't going to have peace on earth until we

recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of

all reality.

Now let me say, secondly, that if we are to have peace in

the world, men and nations must embrace the nonviolent

affirmation that ends and means must cohere. One of the great

philosophical debates of history has been over the whole

question of means and ends. And there have always been those

who argued that the end justifies the means, that the means

really aren't important. The important thing is to get to the

end, you see.

So, if you're seeking to develop a just society, they say,

the important thing is to get there, and the means are really

unimportant; any means will do so long as they get you

there--they may be violent, they may be untruthful means;

they may even be unjust means to a just end. There have been

those who have argued this throughout history. But we will

never have peace in the world until men everywhere recognize

that ends are not cut off from means, because the means

represent the ideal in the making, and the end in process,

and ultimately you can't reach good ends through evil means,

because the means represent the seed and the end represents

the tree.

It's one of the strangest things that all the great

military geniuses of the world have talked about peace. The

conquerors of old who came killing in pursuit of peace,

Alexander, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, and Napoleon, were

akin in seeking a peaceful world order. If you will read Mein

Kampf closely enough, you will discover that Hitler contended

that everything he did in Germany was for peace. And the

leaders of the world today talk eloquently about peace. Every

time we drop our bombs in North Vietnam, President Johnson

talks eloquently about peace. What is the problem? They are

talking about peace as a distant goal, as an end we seek, but

one day we must come to see that peace is not merely a

distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we

arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through

peaceful means. All of this is saying that, in the final

analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is

preexistent in the means, and ultimately destructive means

cannot bring about constructive ends.

Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned

about if we are to have peace on earth and good will toward

men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all

human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of

God. And so when we say ``Thou shalt not kill,'' we're really

saying that human life is too sacred to be taken on the

battlefields of the world. Man is more than a tiny vagary of

whirling electrons or a wisp of smoke from a limitless

smoldering. Man is a child of God, made in His image, and

therefore must be respected as such. Until men see this

everywhere, until nations see this everywhere, we will be

fighting wars. One day somebody should remind us that, even

though there may be political and ideological differences

between us, the Vietnamese are our brothers, the Russians are

our brothers, the Chinese are our brothers; and one day we've

got to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. But in

Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. In Christ there is

neither male nor female. In Christ there is neither Communist

nor capitalist. In Christ, somehow, there is neither bound

nor free. We are all one in Christ Jesus. And when we truly

believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won't

exploit people, we won't trample over people with the iron

feet of oppression, we won't kill anybody.

There are three words for ``love'' in the Greek New

Testament; one is the word ``eros.'' Eros is a sort of

esthetic, romantic love. Plato used to talk about it a

great deal in his dialogues, the yearning of the soul for

the realm of the divine. And there is and can always be

something beautiful about eros, even in its expressions of

romance. Some of the most beautiful love in all of the

world has been expressed this way.

Then the Greek language talks about ``philia,'' which is

another word for love, and philia is a kind of intimate love

between personal friends. This is the kind of love you have

for those people that you get along with well, and those whom

you like on this level you love because you are loved.

Then the Greek language has another word for love, and that

is the word ``agape.'' Agape is more than romantic love, it

is more than friendship. Agape is understanding, creative,

redemptive good will toward all men. Agape is an overflowing

love which seeks nothing in return. Theologians would say

that it is the love of God operating in the human heart. When

you rise to love on this level, you love all men not because

you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, but you

love them because God loves them. This is what Jesus meant

when he said, ``Love your enemies.'' And I'm happy that he

didn't say, ``Like your enemies,'' because there are some

people that I find it pretty difficult to like. Liking is an

affectionate emotion, and. I can't like anybody who would

bomb my home. I can't like anybody who would exploit me. I

can't like anybody who would trample over me with injustices.

I can't like them. I can't like anybody who threatens to kill

me day in and day out. But Jesus reminds us that love is

greater than liking. Love is understanding, creative,

redemptive good will toward all men. And I think this is

where we are, as a people, in our struggle for racial

justice. We can't ever give up. We must work passionately and

unrelentingly for first-class citizenship. We must never let

up in our determination to remove every vestige of

segregation and discrimination from our nation, but we shall

not in the process relinquish our privilege to love.

I've seen too much hate to want to hate, myself, and I've

seen hate on the faces of too many sheriffs, too many white

citizens' councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to

want to hate, myself; and every time I see it, I say to

myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. Somehow we must

be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say:

``We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our

capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical

force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will

still love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your

unjust laws and abide by the unjust system, because

noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is

cooperation with good, and so throw us in jail and we will

still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children,

and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you. Send your

hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the

midnight hour and drag us out on some wayside road and leave

us half-dead as you beat us, and we will still love you. Send

your propaganda agents around the country, and make it

appear that we are not fit, culturally and otherwise, for

integration, and we'll still love you. But be assured that

we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day

we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for

ourselves; we will so appeal to your heart and conscience

that we will win you in the process, and our victory will

be a double victory.''

If there is to be peace on earth and good will toward men,

we must finally believe in the ultimate morality of the

universe, and believe that all reality hinges on moral

foundations. Something must remind us of this as we once

again stand in the Christmas season and think of the Easter

season simultaneously, for the two somehow go together.

Christ came to show us the way. Men love darkness rather than

the light, and they crucified him, and there on Good Friday

on the cross it was still dark, but then Easter came, and

Easter is an eternal reminder of the fact that the truth-

crushed earth will rise again. Easter justifies Carlyle in

saying, ``No lie can live forever.'' And so this is our

faith, as we continue to hope for peace on earth and good

will toward men: let us know that in the process we have

cosmic companionship.

In 1963, on a sweltering August afternoon, we stood in

Washington, D.C., and talked to the nation about many things.

Toward the end of that afternoon, I tried to talk to the

nation about a dream that I had had, and I must confess to

you today that not long after talking about that dream I

started seeing it turn into a nightmare. I remember the first

time I saw that dream turn into a nightmare, just a few weeks

after I had talked about it. It was when four beautiful,

unoffending, innocent Negro girls were murdered in a church

in Birmingham, Alabama. I watched that dream turn into a

nightmare as I moved through the ghettos of the nation and

saw my black brothers and sisters perishing on a lonely

island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material

prosperity, and saw the nation doing nothing to grapple with

the Negroes' problem of poverty. I saw that dream turn into a

nightmare as I watched my black brothers and sisters in the

midst of anger and understandable outrage,

in the midst of their hurt, in the midst of their

disappointment, turn to misguided riots to try to solve that

problem. I saw that dream turn into a nightmare as I watched

the war in Vietnam escalating, and as I saw so-called

military advisors, sixteen thousand strong, turn into

fighting soldiers until today over five hundred thousand

American boys are fighting on Asian soil. Yes, I am

personally the victim of deferred dreams, of blasted hopes,

but in spite of that I close today by saying I still have a

dream, because, you know, you can't give up in life. If you

lose hope, somehow you lose that vitality that keeps life

moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps

you go on in spite of all. And so today I still have a dream.

I have a dream that one day men will rise up and come to

see that they are made to live together as brothers. I still

have a dream this morning that one day every Negro in this

country, every colored person in the world, will be judged

on the basis of the content of his character rather than

the color of his skin, and every man will respect the

dignity and worth of human personality. I still have a

dream that one day the idle industries of Appalachia will

be revitalized, and the empty stomachs of Mississippi will

be filled, and brotherhood will be more than a few words

at the end of a prayer, but rather the first order of

business on every legislative agenda. I still have a dream

today that one day justice will roll down like water, and

righteousness like a mighty stream. I still have a dream

today that in all of our state houses and city halls men

will be elected to go there who will do justly and love

mercy and walk humbly with their God. I still have a dream

today that one day war will come to an end, that men will

beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into

pruning hooks, that nations will no longer rise up against

nations, neither will they study war any more. I still

have a dream today that one day the lamb and the lion will

lie down together and every man will sit under his own

vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid. I still have a

dream today that one day every valley shall be exalted and

every mountain and hill will be made low, the rough places

will be made smooth and the crooked places straight, and

the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh

shall see it together. I still have a dream that with this

faith we will be able to adjourn the councils of despair

and bring new light into the dark chambers of pessimism.

With this faith we will be able to speed up the day when

there will be peace on earth and good will toward men. It

will be a glorious day, the morning stars will sing

together, and the sons of God will shout for joy.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 61, and thank my friend from Georgia, John Lewis, for authoring this important resolution.

Madam Speaker, yesterday the Nation observed for the 21st time the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Each year this day is set aside for Americans to celebrate the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. The Martin Luther King holiday reminds us that nothing is impossible when we are guided by the better angels of our nature.

Dr. King's inspiring words filled a great void in our Nation, and answered our collective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles. Yet, Dr. King knew that it wasn't enough just to talk the talk; he knew he had to walk the walk for his words to be credible. And so we commemorate on this holiday the man of action, who put his life on the line for freedom and justice every day.

We honor the courage of a man who endured harassment, threats and beatings, and even bombings. We commemorate the man who went to jail 29 times to achieve freedom for others, and who knew he would pay the ultimate price for his leadership, but kept on marching and protesting and organizing anyway.

Dr. King once said that we all have to decide whether we ``will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. Life's most persistent and nagging question, he said, is `what are you doing for others?' ''

And when Martin talked about the end of his mortal life in one of his last sermons, on February 4, 1968, in the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, even then he lifted up the value of service as the hallmark of a full life. ``I'd like somebody to mention on that day Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others,'' he said. ``I want you to say on that day, that I did try in my life . . . to love and serve humanity.

Madam Speaker, during these difficult days when the United States is bogged down in a misguided and mismanaged war in Iraq, which has claimed the lives of too many of our brave young service men and women, we should also remember that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was, above all, a person who was always willing to speak truth to power. There is perhaps no better example of Dr. King's moral integrity and consistency than his criticism of the Vietnam war being waged by the Johnson administration, an administration that was otherwise a friend and champion of civil and human rights.

Speaking at the historic Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, Dr. King stated:

I am as deeply concerned about our own troops there as

anything else. For it occurs to me that what we are

submitting them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalizing

process that goes on in any war where armies face each other

and seek to destroy. We are adding cynicism to the process of

death, for they must know after a short period there that

none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really

involved. Before long they must know that their government

has sent them into a struggle among Vietnamese, and the more

sophisticated surely realize that we are on the side of the

wealthy, and the secure, while we create a hell for the poor.

Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak

as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of

Vietnam. . . . I speak as a citizen of the world, for the

world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak

as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation:

The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to

stop it must be ours.

Madam Speaker, these words were spoken by Dr. King 1 year to the day before his death. Thus it is that nearly 40 years after his death, Dr. King continues to teach us all.

Madam Speaker, the death of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will never overshadow his life. He was both a dreamer and a man of action. He leaves a legacy of hope, tempered with peace. It is a legacy not quite yet fulfilled.

Madam Speaker, Dr. King's dream of equality under the law will never die so long as there are those like us in the Congress, and millions of people in this country and around the world, who are willing to continue the fight to make it real for all persons.

Madam Speaker, this Monday the Nation observed for the 21st time the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday On Monday, we celebrated the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. The Martin Luther King holiday reminds us that nothing is impossible when we are guided by the better angels of our nature.

Dr. King's inspiring words filled a great void in our Nation, and answered our collective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles. Yet, Dr. King knew that it wasn't enough just to talk the talk, that he had to walk the walk for his words to be credible. And so we commemorate on this holiday the man of action, who put his life on the line for freedom and justice every day.

We honor the courage of a man who endured harassment, threats and beatings, and even bombings. We commemorate the man who went to jail 29 times to achieve freedom for others, and who knew he would pay the ultimate price for his leadership, but kept on marching and protesting and organizing anyway.

Dr. King once said that we all have to decide whether we ``will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. Life's most persistent and nagging question,'' he said, is ``what are you doing for others?''

And when Martin talked about the end of his mortal life in one of his last sermons, on February 4, 1968, in the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, even then he lifted up the value of service as the hallmark of a full life. ``I'd like somebody to mention on that day Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others,'' he said. ``I want you to say on that day, that I did try in my life . . . to love and serve humanity.''

Madam Speaker, during these difficult days when the United States is bogged down in a misguided and mismanaged war in Iraq, which has claimed the lives of too many of our brave young service men and women, we should also remember that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was, above all, a person who was always willing to speak truth to power. There is perhaps no better example of Dr. King's moral integrity and consistency than his criticism of the Vietnam War being waged by the Johnson Administration, an administration that was otherwise a friend and champion of civil and human rights.

Speaking at the historic Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, Dr. King stated:

I am as deeply concerned about our own troops there as

anything else. For it occurs to me that what we are

submitting them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalizing

process that goes on in any war where armies face each other

and seek to destroy. We are adding cynicism to the process of

death, for they must know after a short period there that

none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really

involved. Before long they must know that their government

has sent them into a struggle among Vietnamese, and the more

sophisticated surely realize that we are on the side of the

wealthy, and the secure, while we create a hell for the poor.

Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak

as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of

Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste,

whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being

subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the

double price of smashed hopes at home, and death and

corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for

the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I

speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own

nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the

initiative to stop it must be ours.

Madam Speaker, these words were spoken by Dr. King 1 year to the day before his death. Thus it is that nearly 40 years after his death, Dr. King continues to teach us all.

The Life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929.

Martin's youth was spent in our country's Deep South, then run by Jim Crow and the Klu Klux Klan. For a young African-American, it was an environment even more dangerous than the one they face today.

A young Martin managed to find a dream, one that he pieced together from his readings--in the Bible, and literature, and just about any other book he could get his hands on. And not only did those books help him educate himself, but they also allowed him to work through the destructive and traumatic experiences of blatant discrimination, and the discriminatory abuse inflicted on himself, his family, and his people.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that we celebrate here today could have turned out to be just another African American who would have had to learn to be happy with what he had, and what he was allowed. But he learned to use his imagination and his dreams to see right through those ``White Only'' signs--to see the reality that all men, and women, regardless of their place of origin, their gender, or their creed, are created equal.

Through his studies, Dr. King learned that training his mind and broadening his intellect effectively shielded him from the demoralizing effects of segregation and discrimination.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a dreamer. His dreams were a tool through which he was able to lift his mind beyond the reality of his segregated society, and into a realm where it was possible that white and black, red and brown, and all others live and work alongside each other and prosper.

But Martin Luther King, Jr., was not just an idle daydreamer. He shared his visions through speeches that motivated others to join in his nonviolent effort to lift themselves from poverty and isolation by creating a new America where equal justice and institutions were facts of life.

In the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote, ``We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Men are Created Equal.'' At that time and for centuries to come, African Americans were historically, culturally, and legally excluded from inclusion in that declaration.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's ``I Have a Dream'' Speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, was a clarion call to each citizen of this great Nation that we still hear today. His request was simply and eloquently conveyed--he asked America to allow of its citizens to live out the words written in its Declaration of Independence and to have a place in this Nation's Bill of Rights.

The sixties were a time of great crisis and conflict. The dreams of the people of this country were filled with troubling images that arose like lava from the nightmares of violence and the dissension that they had to face, both domestically and internationally.

It was the decade of the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam war, and the assassinations of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Malcolm X, Presidential Candidate Robert Kennedy, and the man we honor here today.

Dr. Martin Luther King's dream helped us turn the corner on civil rights. It started with a peaceful march for suffrage that started in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965--a march that ended with violence at the hands of law enforcement officers as the marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. But the dream did not die there.

Dr. King led the Montgomery bus boycott, often with Rosa Parks. The boycott lasted for 381 days, as an end result, the United States Supreme Court outlawed racial segregation on all public transportation. Dr. King used several nonviolent tactics to protest against Jim Crow laws in the South. Furthermore, he organized and led demonstrations for desegregation, labor and voting rights.

On April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York City, he spoke out against the Vietnam War, when he saw the devastation that his nation was causing abroad and the effect that it had on the American men and women sent overseas. I quote:

. . . it became clear to me that the war was doing far more

than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was

sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to

fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative

to the rest of the population. We were taking the black young

men who had been crippled by our society and sending them

eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast

Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East

Harlem.

When the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was stolen from us, he was a very young 39 years old. People remember that Dr. King died in Memphis, but few can remember why he was there.

On that fateful day in 1968 Dr. King came to Memphis to support a strike by the city's sanitation workers. The garbage men there had recently formed a chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to demand better wages and working conditions. But the city refused to recognize their union, and when the 1,300 employees walked off their jobs the police broke up the rally with mace and billy clubs. It was then that union leaders invited Dr. King to Memphis. Despite the danger he might face entering such a volatile situation, it was an invitation he could not refuse. Not because he longed for danger, but because the labor movement was intertwined with the civil rights movement for which he had given up so many years of his life.

The death of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will never overshadow his life. That is his legacy as a dreamer and a man of action. It is a legacy of hope, tempered with peace. It is a legacy not quite yet fulfilled.

I hope that Dr. King's vision of equality under the law is never lost to us, who in the present, toil in times of unevenness in our equality. For without that vision--without that dream--we can never continue to improve on the human condition.

For those who have already forgotten, or whose vision is already clouded with the fog of complacency, I would like to recite the words of the good Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., himself:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the

sons of former slaves and the sons of former shareholders

will be able to sit down together at the table of

brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the State of Mississippi,

a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering

with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an

oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four

little children will one day live in a nation where they will

not be judged by the color of their skin, but for the content

of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its

vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping

with words of interposition and nullification--one day right

there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be

able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as

sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted,

every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough place

will be made plain and the crooked places will be made

straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and

all flesh shall see it together.

Dr. King's dream did not stop at racial equality, his ultimate dream was one of human equality. There is no doubt that Dr. King supported freedom and justice for every individual in America. We continue that fight today and forever, in the great spirit that inspired the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Madam Speaker, I thank all my colleagues for being here and remembering Dr. King's dream and for all that has been done to keep his dream alive.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 61) observing the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and encouraging the people of the United States to observe the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker and ladies and gentlemen of the House, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to insert additional material concerning House Resolution 61 into the Congressional Record.

I also want everyone to know that the gentleman from Georgia's resolution, John Lewis, Members will be able to join on it up until the time that we have a recorded vote in case there are Members coming back that may not be aware of this.

Today we have joined so many others in the Nation in honoring, in my judgment, our greatest American, Martin Luther King, Jr.

As the original author of the bill 4 days after his assassination, and one who worked on it for 15 years until it was passed in 1983, I am delighted to support and endorse the resolution of another supporter and one who worked closely with Dr. King, the gentleman from Georgia, John Lewis.

It was an interesting time for me yesterday. Not only did City Year, a national service movement that has young people pledging to work in schools, parks, and neighborhoods full-time for 10 months, headed by their president, Penny Bailey, in which I delivered my remarks about Dr. King, but I was also at Central Methodist Church in downtown Detroit, where Dr. King frequently came for his Easter or the Friday before Easter addresses, and where I was honored on his last visit to be supported by his actual endorsement.

And so I come here doubly proud of the fact that I was able to work with Dr. King as a young lawyer, but also to enjoy his support. Much of it came, of course, from Rosa Parks, who left Alabama and came to Detroit when she couldn't get work anymore. And she was a seamstress. And I was very happy to welcome her to my congressional office, where she worked for more than two decades. And her and Dr. King's fame and recognition kept growing and growing as she was called around the world to receive tributes.

And I remember Dr. King's very important receiving of the Nobel Prize. And it was about the question of peace. And it was not just racial discrimination. Dr. King was not a one-note person. He was a visionary. Jobs, justice, economic justice, political justice, and peace.

And we find ourselves wrapped up in these same considerations even today as we begin the third week of the 110th Congress. We need voter integrity. We need protection for those who seek the ballot. But more than anything else, I am reminded of the fact that we need to find a way out of the war in Iraq, an unnecessary, sad occasion in our history.

And you keep thinking, what would King have said? And I remember that one thing he said is that those who fail to talk about what is important really miss their chance in history to do something that is significant.

Madam Speaker, because we have so many speakers, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield now to the one person in the House and the United States Senate who now presently knows and knew Dr. King and his family, and the civil rights movement more than any other person among us, and that is, of course, the Honorable John Lewis from Georgia, and I recognize him for 3 minutes.

I thank the previous speaker, who is one of the few here on the floor that was around back then when these debates and this long 15-year period took place. I thank him for his contribution.

Madam Speaker, I now turn to the able gentlelady from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), and I recognize her for 2\1/2\ minutes.

I thank the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield) 2\1/4\ minutes.

Madam Speaker, I would like now to call upon David Scott of Georgia and to yield to him 2 minutes.

Madam Speaker, I am now pleased to yield to my good friend, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, 2 minutes.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased now to yield to my old friend, the delegate from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) 2 minutes.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I thank the Members that have participated in this activity. We will have 5 days to continue to introduce our comments into the Congressional Record, and I also remind those that would like to join in the cosponsorship of Congressman Lewis' resolution, they still have an opportunity to do so.

Madam Speaker, I will introduce into the Record five articles dealing with Dr. King. One is from the Washington Post entitled, ``From Dr. King, a reminder on Iraq.'' Another from the same source, ``The quest to keep King's legacy alive.'' Another, ``Walking just like King did.'' Another, ``Democrats hail civil rights leader King.'' Finally, the last one, ``Martin Luther King papers go on display.''

Madam Speaker, what I would conclude with is the pleasure that I have in seeing this holiday increasingly observed from year-to-year. Martin Luther King's birthday is not a shopping day. It is not a day off. It is not a day that you worry about getting some things done around the house. There are untold thousands of celebrations, some large, some small, some in churches, some signified by marches. There are so many different ways that he is being observed.

I was so pleased yesterday to be at the church that Dr. Martin Luther King had the privilege of addressing on numerous occasions. Then earlier I was with some very young people who were just learning about Dr. King, and they were taking a day on instead of a day off. They are working with schools and other youngsters in parks and recreation, in the City Year agency led by Penny Bailey.

So, Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the Congress under the leadership of the gentleman from Georgia would have this resolution brought to the floor today.

[From the Washington Post, Jan. 13, 2007]

The Quest To Keep King's Legacy Alive

(By Hamil R. Harris)

On Monday, the country honors the Rev. Martin Luther King

Jr., who would have been 78 years old. The civil rights

leader, who was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39,

launched many of his efforts from the pulpit. To mark his

birthday, religious leaders were asked: Is King's legacy of

social activism still alive in the faith community today?

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/Push

Coalition: ``The activist black churches are still the

conscience of our nation. . . . I was with Dr. King on his

last birthday. We must remember that a lot of churches didn't

support King then. He was expelled from the National Baptist

Convention. Our mission today is to green line a red-lined

America. It is good to talk about raising the minimum wage in

Congress, but for those who don't have jobs, the issue

doesn't touch them. We need to continue to work on an urban

agenda.''

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, director of the Commission on

Social Action of Reform Judaism: ``Dr. King's legacy is very

much still alive and his legacy continues to inspire the

faith community across the country. I know that . . .

reformed congregations around the country will do something

special for the King holiday to honor his legacy. . . . There

will be congregations all over the country involved in social

activist enterprises, including in the Washington, D.C.,

area. All of the rabbis that I know will be preaching about

Dr. King and the issues that we are wrestling with today,

such as economic justice and the war in Iraq.''

The Rev. Artie L. Polk, assistant pastor of Mount Gilead

Baptist Church in the District and founder of the Martin

Luther King memorial breakfast celebration in Prince George's

County: ``It is a real challenge to keep the King legacy

alive, especially in light of this new prosperity gospel

where preachers are talking about name it and claim it. Too

many people are focused today on themselves instead of

keeping alive King's legacy of service and commitment to the

least of these.''

Mohammed Shameem, a broadcast engineer from Bowie who

volunteers at the Prince George's Muslim Association in

Lanham: ``More so than ever before, people of the faith

community should adhere to Dr. King's principles in terms of

equality and unity in the community because our civil rights

are being eroded today, and the civil rights of Muslims are

being trampled upon. Social activism calls for pointing out

injustice. Hardworking and innocent Muslims are being

profiled just because of their faith. A group of imams were

stopped in the airport because they were being profiled.''

Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson, prelate of the 2nd

Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church:

``The movement is still regarded as effective for that time,

but that style has changed. The frightful part is that in the

old days, there was a theological mandate to do social

activism, now among Generation Next, there is an emphasis on

acquisition and materialism, much to the exclusion as to what

is good for the whole community. There is nothing wrong with

a prosperity message, but you have to guide people to

understand the whole gospel, which also includes helping

others; it can't be selfcentered, it has to be others-

oriented.''

Rabbi Douglas Heifetz of the Oseh Shalom Congregation in

Laurel: ``Yes! King's legacy is alive today. It needs to be

spread far and near. For example, the Jewish community has

been extremely active in working with a coalition of other

groups to call for an end to the genocide in Darfur because

this is massive human rights abuse on a wide scale. We are

called to follow King's legacy because the Hebrew Bible calls

for ongoing social transformation to affect the lives of

people, paying special attention to the lives of those who

are most in need.''

Auxiliary Bishop Martin D. Holley of the Archdiocese of

Washington: ``King's dream is very much alive today. It is

very prophetic, especially his letter from the Birmingham

jail. Here was a man who believed so much in the dignity of

the human person that he was willing to go to jail for it He

led by example. He went beyond making statements. He paid a

heavy price. He gave his life for all people.''

Cain Hope Felder, professor at the Howard University School

of Divinity and founder of the Biblical Institute for Social

Change: ``I am sick and tired of hearing Dr. King's 'I Have a

Dream' speech when the daily reality is that for an

increasing number of Americans, and the African American poor

in particular, living is a nightmare. Dr. King's legacy is

barely alive today. There needs to be a vigorous effort for

religious leaders to be far more proactive than they have

been in the past two decades of co-optation.''

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and in support of the honoring of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I can recall, two decades ago, being on this floor with the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), and fighting to make sure that we established this holiday. Some may have forgotten that it took more than one time for this to occur. The resolution was defeated on two previous occasions. And I recall that some of us on our side of the aisle voted against it for fiscal reasons at that time.

And I also recall, after having that vote, going home and talking with my wife and saying, you know, I think I did the wrong thing; and her giving me the great advice that she gave me, she said, well, if you did, you'd better do something about it.

And at that time I had the opportunity to approach Congressman Jack Kemp, who had voted against it as well for ``fiscal reasons,'' and working with Ed Bethune and Newt Gingrich and others, attempting to garner enough support from some on our side of the aisle to ensure that the vote would go forward and that we would honor Dr. Martin Luther King.

And the argument that was made at that time that I think was successful was that we have many different points of view, as we do today on the war, as we did at that time in how we appropriately deal with the then existing threat of the Soviet Union, many different issues that divided us in terms of our approach. But it seemed important for us to come together from all these different points of view to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King's contribution to this country where he brought people who had differences of opinion together in a united effort that reminded us very vividly that we are one people dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are created equal. And it was cutting through the differences that we had at that time on a number of different issues that allowed us to come together.

And I can recall going to visit Mr. Conyers in his office and asking him whether it would be of any benefit for those of us who had initially opposed the resolution to come forward in support of it. And I can recall the gentleman from Michigan's statement at that time, suggesting that we all ought to come together.

So today, as we are again in a period of time in which there are sincere, passionate differences of opinion on issues such as the war and how we approach it, when we have some differences on how we deal with certain economic matters, when we have differences of opinion with respect to the extent and the definition of certain applications of affirmative action, isn't it good for us to at least step back and recognize that there is a commonality of purpose, a commonality of dedication, a commonality of the essence of America; that we recognize that we will never be perfect, but as we are moving to make real the promise of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, that we actually have more that joins us together than breaks us apart. Because had we not had that belief, and had we not had that as our base decision some two decades ago, we would not now have, as a recognition of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, the national holiday.

It is not an African American holiday. It is not a Hispanic holiday, it is not an Irish American holiday. It is an American holiday that recognizes that Dr. King spoke to the essence of America.

There could be nothing greater in the annals of American history, in my judgment, than his magnificent statement contained in the letter from the Birmingham jail, where he said that we, as the people, understand the difference between a just and an unjust law. He didn't say let us look at this legal book and tell us where it is. He said an unjust law is a law which violates God's law; an unjust law is that which we know is wrong. I can also remember his great words in there when people said, Well, aren't you a radical? He said, What was Jesus but a radical for love.

He asked that we come together and look in our hearts, as much as our heads, and remember that as imperfect as we are, we do all share in this tremendous legacy of America, and we honor America by trying to be more true to that promise.

I thank the gentleman for this resolution. I thank the manager of this bill for his work today and other days, and I thank the gentleman from Ohio for giving me this time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 61, which observes and celebrates the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and invites all Americans to join in this commemoration.

Dr. King's pursuit of social change and making this country worthy of its heritage was evident in all of his work. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP. He became the leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association which, of course, was the organization responsible for one of the most important nonviolent demonstrations of modern times in the United States, the 382-day bus boycott.

In 1957, Dr. King was elected President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Between 1957 and 1968, Dr. King appeared wherever he saw injustice. The injustice he saw took him many miles, and the speeches that he made are still taught in schools. They were taught yesterday. They are taught all over the country. They are things which we really do need to listen to and learn from and still have many things to learn from the things that Dr. King said.

Dr. King led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that drew the attention of the world, sparking what he called a ``coalition of conscience.''

Dr. King later directed a peaceful march here in Washington, DC, a march that a quarter of a million people attended, where he delivered his now famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech.

At the age of 35, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over all of the prize money to further the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking sanitation workers in that city, he was gunned down.

Dr. King's name is synonymous with the civil rights movement. His life was devoted to changing the conscience of this Nation. His experiences shaped his character, and through them, one of the greatest nonviolent leaders of our country has ever known was created.

Today, we honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King for his service and strength and devotion to the principle that all Americans are entitled to equal treatment under the law in this great Nation. We are a greater Nation because Dr. King lived.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

We have no further speakers at this time. However, I would note in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation, the gentleman from Michigan indicated he may have more speakers than he has time for. I would be happy to yield time to accommodate him if it comes to that.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, we have heard a number of very moving tributes to Dr. Martin Luther King and I think it is important that we continue to remember what he said. I think what Mr. Faleomavaega quoted sums it up better than anything else, and that is that a person should be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. I think that is something we should always strive for in this Nation.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.