[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 73 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 73

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      January 21, 2009.
Whereas Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior, was born January 15, 1929;
Whereas Dr. King attended segregated public schools in Georgia, and began 
        attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 15;
Whereas in February of 1948, Dr. King was ordained in the Christian ministry at 
        the age of 19 at Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta, Georgia, and 
        became Assistant Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church;
Whereas Dr. King was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948 from Morehouse 
        College, a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951 from Crozer Theological 
        Seminary in Pennsylvania, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in theology 
        in 1955 from Boston University;
Whereas in Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. King met Coretta Scott, his life partner 
        and fellow civil rights activist;
Whereas on June 18, 1953, Dr. King and Coretta Scott were married and later had 
        two sons and two daughters;
Whereas in 1954, Dr. King accepted the call of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in 
        Montgomery, Alabama, and was pastor from September 1954 to November 
        1959, when he resigned to move back to Atlanta to lead the Southern 
        Christian Leadership Conference;
Whereas Dr. King led the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott for 381 days to 
        protest the arrest of Rosa Parks and the segregation of the bus system 
        of Montgomery, during which time Dr. King was arrested and the home of 
        Dr. King was bombed;
Whereas Dr. King responded to arrests and violence with non-violence and courage 
        in the face of hatred;
Whereas the Montgomery bus boycott was the first great nonviolent civil rights 
        demonstration of contemporary times in the United States;
Whereas on December 13, 1956, the Supreme Court declared laws requiring 
        segregation on buses unconstitutional;
Whereas between 1957 and 1968, Dr. King traveled more than 6,000,000 miles, 
        spoke more than 2,500 times, and wrote five books and numerous articles 
        supporting efforts around the country to end injustice and bring about 
        social change and desegregation;
Whereas from 1960 until his death in 1968, Dr. King was co-pastor with his 
        father at Ebenezer Baptist Church;
Whereas on August 28, 1963, Dr. King led the March on Washington, DC, the 
        largest rally of the civil rights movement, during which, from the steps 
        of the Lincoln Memorial and before a crowd of more than 200,000 people, 
        Dr. King delivered his famous ``I Have A Dream'' speech, one of the 
        classic orations in American history;
Whereas Dr. King was a champion of nonviolence, fervently advocated nonviolent 
        resistance as the strategy to end segregation and racial discrimination 
        in America, and in 1964, at age 35, became the youngest man to be 
        awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for his efforts;
Whereas through his work and reliance on nonviolent protest, Dr. King was 
        instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 
        Voting Rights Act of 1965;
Whereas the work of Dr. King created a basis of understanding and respect and 
        helped communities, and the United States as a whole, to act 
        cooperatively and courageously to restore tolerance, justice, and 
        equality between people;
Whereas on the evening of April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated while 
        standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where 
        he was to lead sanitation workers in protest against low wages and 
        intolerable working conditions;
Whereas Dr. King dedicated his life to securing the fundamental principles of 
        the United States of liberty and justice for all United States citizens;
Whereas Dr. King was the leading civil rights advocate of his time, spearheading 
        the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1950s and 
        1960s and earning world-wide recognition as an eloquent and articulate 
        spokesperson for equality;
Whereas in the face of hatred and violence, Dr. King preached a doctrine of 
        nonviolence and civil disobedience to combat segregation, 
        discrimination, and racial injustice, and believed that people have the 
        moral capacity to care for other people;
Whereas Dr. King awakened the conscience and consciousness of the United States 
        and used his message of hope to bring people together to build the 
        ``Beloved Community'', a community of justice, at peace with itself;
Whereas in 1968, Representative John Conyers introduced legislation to establish 
        the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. as a Federal holiday;
Whereas Coretta Scott King led the massive campaign to establish Dr. King's 
        birthday as a Federal holiday;
Whereas in 1983, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed legislation 
        creating the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, which is now 
        observed in more than 100 countries;
Whereas Dr. King's wife and indispensable partner, Coretta Scott King, was a 
        woman of quiet courage and great dignity who marched alongside her 
        husband and became an international advocate for peace and human rights;
Whereas Coretta Scott King, who had been actively engaged in the civil rights 
        movement as a politically and socially conscious young woman, continued 
        after her husband's death to lead the United States toward greater 
        justice and equality, traveling the world on behalf of racial and 
        economic justice, peace and non-violence, women's and children's rights, 
        gay rights, religious freedom, full employment, health care, and 
        education until her death on January 30, 2006;
Whereas the values of faith, compassion, courage, truth, justice, and non-
        violence that guided Dr. and Mrs. King's dream for America will be 
        celebrated and preserved by the Martin Luther King, Jr., National 
        Memorial on the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the 
        Jefferson Memorial and in the new National Museum of African American 
        History and Culture that will be located in the shadow of the Washington 
        Monument;
Whereas Dr. King's actions and leadership made the United States a better place 
        and the American people a better people;
Whereas 45 years after Dr. King delivered his historic ``I have a dream'' 
        speech, millions of United States citizens gathered on the National Mall 
        on January 20, 2009, to witness the historic Inauguration of the 44th 
        President of the United States, Barack Obama, the first African-American 
        President of the United States; and
Whereas the historic Inauguration of President Barack Obama dramatized the 
        change that Dr. King helped to usher in for the creation of a more 
        perfect union: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) observes the 80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.;
            (2) pledges to advance the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; 
        and
            (3) encourages the people of the United States to--
                    (A) observe the 80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., 
                and the life of Dr. King;
                    (B) commemorate the legacy of Dr. King, so that, as Dr. King 
                hoped, ``one day this Nation will rise up and live out the true 
                meaning of its creed: `We hold these truths to be self-evident; 
                that all men are created equal'''; and
                    (C) remember the message of Dr. King and rededicate 
                themselves to Dr. King's goal of a free and just United States.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.