[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 24, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: May 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
KING HOLIDAY AND SERVICE ACT OF 1994
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the hour of 2:15
p.m. having arrived, the Senate will now resume consideration of H.R.
1933, which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 1933) to authorize appropriations for the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, to extend
such Commission, and to support the planning and performance
of national service opportunities in conjunction with the
Federal legal holiday honoring the birthday of Martin Luther
King, Jr.
The Senate resumed consideration of the bill.
Pending:
Helms Amendment No. 1738, to ensure that only private funds
are used by the Commission.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the time between
2:15 and 2:30 is limited to debate on this measure, equally divided
between the Senator from North Carolina and the Senator from
Pennsylvania.
Who yields time?
The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. WOFFORD. Mr. President, it has been nearly 40 years since I first
met Martin Luther King and went to work with him off and on in Alabama
and in the South.
Martin Luther King was then leading what he named the Montgomery
Improvement Association, a citizens' effort to change that one
community in Alabama after Rosa Parks had stood up for her rights by
insisting on keeping her seat on the bus. She stood up for her rights
by sitting down and refusing to move to the back of the bus. Then she
and thousands of others stood together by staying off those buses and
walking, week after week, month after month. And in the front lines was
a young minister, thrust into leadership he did not seek. But Martin
Luther King stepped up to the demands of history, rejecting violence
even when a bomb exploded at his home.
For decades, lawyers had fought in the courts to end segregation, but
Martin Luther King took that peaceful battle into the streets. He
challenged us to live up to the promise of America. He proved that
citizens can make a difference in their communities and their country
by saying ``no'' through nonviolent protests, and ``yes'' through
constructive service. He gave life to the idea that rights and
opportunities of citizenship bear with them civic responsibilities, and
that it is no one-way street.
For about a decade, now, we have paid tribute to the man and the
movement with a national holiday on the third Monday of each January
with the leadership of a Federal Holiday Commission in his name. In
1989 the Senate voted 90 to 7 to authorize funding for this Commission
with the support of President Bush. And now President Clinton, Jack
Kemp, Coretta Scott King, the head of the Commission, are just a few of
the many who are urging us to do the same. But in Martin's spirit of
always striving, always improving, we must ask ourselves whether we can
improve the way in which we honor his memory. And the answer clearly is
yes.
The dream of which he spoke so eloquently has not been fulfilled.
Just ask the young men and women of Schenley High School and other
parts of Pittsburgh, whom I met with earlier today, and who are
watching us from the gallery right now. As I said in the debate
yesterday, the best way to honor Martin Luther King is to dedicate
ourselves to act to fulfill that American dream in all parts of our
land and public life. And that is the purpose of this bill.
Nothing would have more disturbed the Martin Luther King that I knew
than people honoring him by merely taking the day off. He would want
this holiday honoring his birthday to be a day--not a day off, but a
day on; a day of action, not apathy; reflection, not recreation;
service, not shopping; a day not only of words, but of deeds.
This holiday should test Martin's proposition that everybody can be
great because everybody can serve.
The King Commission has performed well. It has not been perfect--few
institutions are --but it has great potential for good, potential to
help us meet the challenges of race and the other divisions that still
exist in our society, challenges of violence in our society with
children killing children and so many of our streets unsafe to walk in.
Just as Martin seized the moment to make things better in Montgomery
through the Montgomery Improvement Association, let us seize this day
to make our communities and our country better. Let us take this
opportunity to honor Martin Luther King's spirit and memory by making
the holiday on his birthday a day to do the hard work of citizenship,
the work that is America itself.
Imagine what a million Americans could do in just 1 day of community
service working together, and think what they could do if they carried
on that service throughout the whole year working together.
Mr. President, I cannot think of a worse signal to send to America
than to cut off the funding of the Martin Luther King Holiday
Commission at just this moment when we can go forward with a new
mandate to make it an even better day in which we help improve America
for all Americans.
So I ask my colleagues to support the reauthorization of the King
Holiday Commission, to vote against the amendment of the distinguished
Senator from North Carolina.
I thank the Senator from North Carolina for his cooperation as we
proceeded in this debate, and I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kohl). Who yields time? The Chair
recognizes the Senator from North Carolina.
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the yeas and nays have not been ordered on
the amendment; is that correct?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, the yeas and nays have been ordered.
Mr. HELMS. May I inquire about the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have been ordered.
Mr. HELMS. On both.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On final passage.
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, for the information of my colleagues, the
amendment at the desk terminates Federal funding of the Martin Luther
King Holiday Commission. It does not eliminate the Commission; it
simply says that it should operate with private funds, just as the King
Center in Atlanta does. This amendment actually puts the King
Commission where it was in 1984 when it was created. It honors the
stated wishes of the founders of the Commission, who argued through
their supporters on the Senate floor that the Commission would operate
only on private funds and that the taxpayers would never foot the bill
for this project.
When the King Commission was first extended back in 1986, the
distinguished Republican leader, Mr. Dole, had the following to say:
It should be emphasized that no federal money is
appropriated for the Commission; rather it operates entirely
on donated funds * * * Under the extension legislation the
Commission would continue to be funded from these sources * *
* expanding the size of the Commission should also enhance
its ability to raise private sector funds.
Another of our distinguished colleagues, Mr. Hollings, said this of
the King Commission:
No Federal funds would be required, and the activities of
the Commission will continue to be funded by private
donations.
So you see, Mr. President, there was a time when all of my colleagues
were adamant about keeping taxpayer funds out of the King equation.
That their positions have now changed is a clear illustration of why we
have saddled the American people with a $4\1/2\ trillion debt.
As I said yesterday, the King Holiday Commission has come to the
Congress four times--in 1984, 1986, 1989, and 1994. Each time they have
proposed several creative rationales for their continued existence.
The first rationale in 1984 was to create a King holiday. In 1986
their rationale was to see to it that the King holiday was properly
celebrated by all the agencies of the Federal Government. In 1989, they
came to us for the third time, stating that the Commission needed to
live another 5 years to ``lobby and agitate'' in all 50 States, until
each State had its own Martin Luther King holiday. In 1989, they also
demanded for the first time that the American people pay for their
activities.
I must admit Mr. President, that their track record is pretty good.
There is a Federal holiday honoring Dr. King. All 50 States have their
own version of the King holiday.
There does not seem to be much left for the King Commission to do.
However, they have found more ways to spend other people's money,
proving that Federal programs never fade away they keep on spending and
spending us right into the poor house.
So here we are. We have yet another rationale for the existence of
the King Commission. The proponents now say that the King Commission
needs to live 5 more years in order to provide grants to young people
to supplement President Clinton's National Service Corps. The taxpayers
will be remembering that one for a long time. That is the program which
pays teenagers and college students to volunteer for community service
at a rate which sometimes reaches $25,000 per year.
Mr. President, when the Senate voted on this volunteer service bill
on September 8, 1993, it agreed to pass on a $1.5 billion bill to the
taxpayer. I will not get into another debate on the merits of that act
but, I would like for the managers of the King legislation to tell me
how the 5-year, $2 million King expenditure will materially impact,
much less aid, a program which will spend $1.5 billion of the American
people's money.
Mr. President, the answer seems pretty clear to me. The King
Commission's supposed contribution to the National Service Act is only
a pretense to keep this badly managed program alive, because this
Senate simply will not stop spending on any program once it starts.
It is time to restore some sanity to the budget. Yesterday we made a
small start with the King Commission by eliminating first class travel
and accommodations by the Commission directors and staff and we stopped
the permanent loan of Federal employees to do the Commission's work. We
must finish yesterday's work. The King Commission has done its job, let
us use no more gimmicks and excuses. Let us put the King Commission
back where it started and let the private sector foot the bill,
voluntarily.
Mr. WOFFORD. Mr. President, how much time is left?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is a vote at 2:30, which is in 1 minute.
The Senator controls 1\1/2\ minutes.
pennsylvania and the king commission
Mr. WOFFORD. Mr. President, this past King holiday in Pennsylvania we
put the idea of this bill into practice. Most of my staff and I spread
out at a dozen sites across the State, engaging hundreds of
Pennsylvanians in local public service and antiviolence efforts in the
spirit of this year's holiday theme, ``Stop the Killing: Start the
Healing and Building.'' We wanted to show that this holiday should not
be only about civil rights, it should be about civic responsibility
too--about taking responsibility to improve the communities in which we
live. For Martin understood better than anyone that in a democracy,
civil rights bear with them certain civic responsibilities, they are
opposite sides of the same coin. That the only way to build a just
society is to be a full and active participant in it. And I believe
that the time has come when Americans are ready to be asked again what
they can do for their country.
So on the holiday, my staff and I spent the morning working with the
United Way of Allegheny County delivering food to homeless shelters.
Throughout Philadelphia we provided support staff to community police
substations. In Chester we helped paint and repair a homeless shelter.
In Erie we marched against youth violence. In other towns, we served
meals to the elderly and worked with the tutored troubled teens.
Community service, in all its forms, is one common sense response to
the problem of youth violence. Rigorous, demanding service can give
young people a different kind of gang. One that does some good, not
only for the community, but for themselves. Because it can instill the
kind of discipline, work skills, personal responsibility, and respect
for law that are essential to becoming productive citizens.
We need to teach young people how to talk to each other and disagree
without resorting to guns and knives--with programs like the first-ever
state-wide Martin Luther King, Jr., Youth Assemble held in Harrisburg
in 1993.
My Harrisburg office director, Ms. LaVerna Fountain, worked with the
King Commission to bring together over 600 young people of all
different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds to learn Dr. King's
principles of nonviolent conflict resolution and the value of community
service.
And the work did not stop when the conference ended. Each of the
teenagers that attended pledged to engage in at least 20 hours of
additional community service. They promised to share Dr. King's message
of nonviolence with at least 10 more young people and to live by that
message themselves. In asking them to serve, we dared them to reach
their own mountaintops, and help our Commonwealth and country come one
step closer to the Promise Land which Martin saw. Many students like
Miss Amy Cammack from Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg are
working to put together our second annual Pennsylvania Martin Luther
King, Jr., Youth Assembly which will be from June 17-19 at Millersville
University. We hope to bring Dr. King's message to even more
Pennsylvanians and we want these conferences to spread to every State.
The King Commission, which has sponsored five national youth
assemblies, hopes that our action in Pennsylvania will become
contagious and they stand ready to help other States organize their own
statewide youth assemblies.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record some
documents with information on the present observance of the Martin
Luther King holiday.
There being no objection, the materials was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Positive Results of the 1993 Pa. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Assembly
Pennsylvania was the first state in the nation to hold a
statewide MLK, Jr. Youth Assembly. To date no other state has
held a statewide conference of this magnitude.
All youth attendees at the 1993 Martin Luther King, Jr.
Youth Assembly signed a contract to perform 20 hours of
community service in the coming 12 months. They also signed a
contract to share the nonviolence message with 10 other
teenagers.
Nearly 600 teenagers attended the 1993 Conference. These
teenagers converged on Harrisburg and learned the Six Steps
and Principles of Nonviolence as espoused by Dr. King.
Three primary programs are the direct result of the first
Pa. Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Assembly held in 1993. They
are:
Twice Monthly meetings held in the home of one of the Youth
Leaders. These meetings bring together a diverse group of
teenagers to discuss important issues such as violence, youth
leadership, community service, cultural diversity. Each
meeting begins with a review of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s
Six Steps and Principles of Nonviolence and includes a
discussion on how these steps and principles were applied in
their daily lives when confronting a potential violent
situation. The group is called the ``Discovering the Leader
Within You'' Youth Group, a Teach Teens to Teach Teens Focus.
The group organized under the 4-H Leadership Program. It was
a mandate as established by the teenagers to discover the
history of other ethnic groups, including European/Caucasian
ethnic groups. Additionally, the African-American history
begins pre-slavery. The goal is to introduce African-American
youth to a proud, honorable heritage.
Monthly roundtable discussions with youth from throughout
Pennsylvania. Youth from Harrisburg travel to various areas
of Pennsylvania to meet with other teenagers and discuss
issues of importance. With a focus on how to end violence,
the youth review Dr. King's Six Steps and Principles of
Nonviolence and examine closely what they, as teenagers, can
do to end violence in their communities.
The Teach Teens to Teach Teens Nonviolence Youth Institute,
Inc. The nonprofit organization will begin to maintain
information on youth violence and programs that help to end
youth violence. With a primary goal being that of helping
communities discover ways of working with their teenagers.
____
Fiscal Management
The King Commission since 1994 has receive praise and
commendations from Presidents, Members of the Congress and
from others for its management and operations and prudent use
of tax payers monies and private donations. Congressman
Thomas Sawyer of Ohio who chairs the House Subcommittee on
Census, Statistics and Postal Personnel which has oversight
responsibilities for the King Holiday Commission has stated
that the King Commission ``is an excellent example of an
organization that has carried out its mission admirably with
only a modest amount of federal funds.''
Congressman Sawyer also stated that the King Commission
``has clearly suffered as a result of underfunding and a
mission that charged it to reach beyond any reasonable
expectation of where that funding could lead. It is
remarkable what you have been able to do with the limited
funding that you have had.''
Congressman Sawyer, a member of the King Federal Holiday
Commission and Congressman Ralph Regula, Republican of Ohio
who has served as its Vice Chairman for many years, have
written a joint letter of support to the members of the
Senate Judiciary Committee. In that letter of May 6, 1994,
they stated that ``the Commission, established in 1984, has
operated in a financially sound and responsible manner (and)
we are confident that the King Commission under the able
leadership of Mrs. Coretta Scott King, has never engaged in
any practice that would suggest the misuse of funds.''
Federal funds appropriated to the Commission are subject to
all controls exercised by the federal government for the
administration of programs and activities. The Commission is
responsible to the reviews of the Appropriations and
Oversight Committees of the House of Representatives the
Judiciary committee of the United States Senate, and the
Office of Management and Budget. All federal expenditures are
also reviewed and approved for compliance with federal
standards by the USDA, Forest Service accounting branch,
which provides fiscal support for the Commission.
The Commission's private funds are subject to an annual
audit by the Arthur Andersen Company. The Andersen audits are
published in the Commission's annual report on the King
Holiday to the President and Members of the Congress and
there have been no findings of mismanaged funds in any
reports. Private donations made to the King Corporation are
provided oversight and scrutiny by the full Commission
through a budgetary review and adoption process. Additional
scrutiny of these funds are made by the Treasurer of the
Commission and by members of its Operations Committee which
meets in between formal meetings of the full Commission.
Senator Brown has amended the bill for even additional
accounting controls.
____
The King Center
Senator Helms has stated that the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. in Atlanta raises
$20 to $30 million dollars a year. Senator Helm's statements
is absolutely incorrect and unfortunate.
The King Center operates on an annual budget of not more
than $3 million a year. The majority of these private
donations are raised through the efforts of its Founding
President and Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Coretta Scott
King.
The King Center has no endowment and over the years has
struggled to raise funds in the name of Martin Luther King,
Jr., who, remains even in death, controversial. The King
Center has never in its 25 years of existence raised anything
like $20 or $30 million in operating funds.
More than 3 million persons visit the King Center and its
Freedom Hall Complex which includes Dr. King's Crypt and
Birth Home. The King Center receives no income from these
visitors aside from purchases made at the King Center's Gift
Shop and Information Center.
The King Center is dedicated to the proposition that
nonviolence is a revoluntary force for moral transformation.
It is teaching nonviolence methods and the application of
those methods for solving pressing social problems
confronting thousands of youth across America, including
those in gangs and detention centers. The Center is also
conducting training workshops in Kingian nonviolence for
hundreds of police, law enforcement, and corrections
personnel in many cities.
Despite the chaos and violence that is present in the
streets and neighborhoods of America and elsewhere in the
world, The King Center is seeking every day to meet new
challenges by creating what Dr. King called ``a new
revolution of values'' through nonviolence education and
leadership training programs.
Each July, adults and youth from all over the nation travel
to Atlanta to attend the Center's Annual Workshop on
Nonviolence. These leadership programs prepare people not
only to be more effective in their efforts to impact positive
social change but also to resolve conflicts more peacefully.
The King Center has been involved in almost every major
social change coalition of the past twenty-five years.
Internationally, the King Center was recently asked by the
African National Congress to provide voter education and
training for Black South Africans in preparation for an
orderly and peaceful national election which had the
potential for violence. King Center staff brought its
effective training to more than 150,000 Black South Africans.
The record will show that since the King Center was
founded, it has educated and trained thousands of people from
around the world in ``Kingian Nonviolence''. From its
inception the King Center was designed to be more than a
memorial, it was designed to be, additionally, a living
memorial and a center for research, education, and training.
From time to time, the King Center has received Federal
grants for specific purposes. One of these is to help provide
economic empowerment in low-income communities so that
residents can improve their quality of life and share in the
American dream.
The King Center could not possibly exist on Federal grants
alone. It must depend upon private donations which are indeed
minimal in comparison with other organizations and
institutions. No, the King Center is not a burden on the
American tax payer. Quite the contrary, the King Center is a
blessing, for its is trying, in the name of Martin Luther
King, Jr., to make America a better Nation for all of its
people and a safer place for our children and future
generations.
____
Lloyd Davis
Senator Helms stated that there was a fellow (Lloyd Davis)
in Atlanta that had been on detail to the King Federal
Holiday Commission for ten years and that his salary was
$80,000 a year--a burden on the taxpayer.
Mr. Davis currently serves as Executive Director of the
King Federal Holiday Commission. The idea for a King Federal
Holiday Commission to oversee the development and
institutionalization of the King Holiday was his idea.
Mr. Davis interrupted his Federal career in June of 1981
and resigned in order to accept the position of Executive
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the King
Center in Atlanta. This was in response to a request from
Mrs. Coretta Scott King, founding President and Chief
Executive Officer of the King Center.
Eight years later, Mr. Davis returned to the Federal
Government after Mr. Jack Kemp became Secretary of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Mr. Davis
was subsequently asked to accept a detail from HUD to serve
as Executive Director of the King Federal Holiday Commission.
Mr. Davis left the King Commission in March 1992 to return
to his duties at HUD, but six months later, members of the
King Commission petitioned Secretary Kemp to have Mr. Davis
returned to the Commission, for after an extensive search,
they could find no one qualified to take his place.
Mr. Davis' family resides in Maryland but he works seven
days a week in Atlanta because he deeply believes in what he
is going and is willing to pay the price and to make the
required sacrifices. Each year he has returned to the Federal
Government virtually all of his 6 weeks of earned annual
leave.
Lloyd Davis deserves our commendation.
Mr. WOFFORD. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from North Carolina
for some of his amendments--not the one we are about to vote on--the
ones we accepted, including ending first-class travel. Nothing would
make Martin Luther King happier than if people were not traveling first
class in his name. He was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, and you always
travel third class.
Nothing would make Martin Luther King more upset than not turning it
into a day of work, service and action. That is what we have the
opportunity to do now. The last time the Senator from North Carolina
proposed terminating the modest expenditures for the Martin Luther King
Holiday Commission, this body voted 86 to 11 to continue.
It seems to me nothing that has happened in our country since then
makes it any less important than the spirit of Martin Luther King be
extended and remembered and be exemplified by those of us who are
carrying on. Therefore, I think the signal to the country should not be
a sunset on funding for Martin Luther King, but it should be a sunrise
of action in this country in his name where we honor him not just by
his words, of which there were no more eloquent in our history other
than Lincoln's perhaps, but emulate his deeds and make this a day of
deeds. And that I think we have within reach by reauthorizing the
Commission with this new creative mandate.
Mr. HELMS addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina is recognized.
Mr. HELMS. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DOLE. And that I might use 2 minutes of my leader's time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, as a member of the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Federal Holiday Commission, I intend to vote for the reauthorization
bill, but I am concerned about the precedent we are setting. I have
been listening to the debate on both sides.
I have been involved with this from the very beginning. The Senator
from North Carolina repeated my remarks from 1986. We were assured
there would never be any request for Federal funds. Then we were
assured it would never go over $300,000 a year. That was worked out in
an arrangement, as I recall, with President Bush at that time, who said
he would go along with $300,000 a year.
It has been properly stated that when the Commission was first
established, Congress intended that its activities would be financed
exclusively with contributions from private sources.
In fact, I was one of those who went out and raised money in the
private sector because I thought it was an important thing. We stood
here on the Senate floor. We made a pledge to the American people: This
is going to be like all the other Commissions. We are not going to ask
for any Federal funds. In fact, one of the reasons why I supported the
original legislation was because of what we said: We are going to use
outside sources.
Like many nonprofit organizations, the Commission soon encountered
some fundraising difficulties, and it was very difficult to promote the
King holiday.
So recognizing the importance of the Commission's work, we did extend
a helping hand at the rate of $300,000 a year, and now we are being
asked to appropriate another $2 million over the next 5 years.
Now, I guess some could dispute, but I am not going to dispute, what
has happened with the Commission. It has done a lot of good work. It
has responded to thousands of inquiries from across the country. All 50
States and the District of Columbia now commemorate Dr. King's birthday
with a paid holiday.
To a large degree, the Commission has fulfilled its original mandate.
I think promoting the legacy of Mr. King is a very worthy goal and one
that I continue to support. But the bottom line is this ought to be
done with private funds.
Now, I wish we had consent to redraft the amendment. I would change
it a little from what Senator Helms says. I would freeze funding at
$300,000 a year, and then phase it down to $200,000, $100,000, and you
are out in 3 years.
We cannot do that. But it seems to me, as someone who stood on this
floor and made a promise to my colleagues in 1986--and then we said,
OK, we are going to do it for 5 years for $1.5 million, and that will
be it; that is all we are going to ask for--I am going to support the
Helms amendment just to send a message, and I am a member of the
Commission. I am prepared to go out and help Mrs. King raise money in
the private sector, as we promised and pledged we would do on the
Senate floor.
It seems to me that we are not trying to eliminate the Commission.
They may want to go out and raise $10 million, and do all kinds of good
work. But it is always easy to rely on the Federal Government: Oh, just
take it from the Federal Government; get $2 million from the Federal
Government.
I am willing to go out and raise $2 million over the next 5 years for
the King Commission. I believe in it. I think we could do it. If
everybody in this Chamber, or half of us in the Chamber, each agreed to
raise just a little bit, we would have $2 million. It would not take
very long. One big fundraiser like some people have and we would have
the $2 million. I think Mrs. King would feel better about it; I think
the Commission would feel better about it; and I know the taxpayers
would feel better about it.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question now is
on agreeing to amendment No. 1738, as amended. The yeas and nays have
been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor] is
necessarily absent.
I further announce that the Senator from Alabama [Mr. Shelby] is
absent because of illness.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
who desire to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 28, nays 70, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 127 Leg.]
YEAS--28
Baucus
Bennett
Bond
Brown
Burns
Coverdell
Craig
Dole
Faircloth
Gorton
Gramm
Grassley
Gregg
Hatch
Helms
Hutchison
Kassebaum
Kempthorne
Lott
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nickles
Packwood
Pressler
Smith
Thurmond
Wallop
NAYS--70
Akaka
Biden
Bingaman
Boren
Boxer
Bradley
Breaux
Bryan
Bumpers
Byrd
Campbell
Chafee
Coats
Cochran
Cohen
Conrad
D'Amato
Danforth
Daschle
DeConcini
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Durenberger
Exon
Feingold
Feinstein
Ford
Glenn
Graham
Harkin
Hatfield
Heflin
Hollings
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnston
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lugar
Mack
Mathews
Metzenbaum
Mikulski
Mitchell
Moseley-Braun
Moynihan
Murray
Nunn
Pell
Reid
Riegle
Robb
Rockefeller
Roth
Sarbanes
Sasser
Simon
Simpson
Specter
Stevens
Warner
Wellstone
Wofford
NOT VOTING--2
Pryor
Shelby
So the amendment (No. 1738), as amended, was rejected.
Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. President, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal
Holiday Commission was established in 1984 to encourage appropriate
celebrations throughout the United States for the first observance of
the Federal legal holiday honoring Dr. King. The Commission was
reauthorized in 1986 and again in 1989.
This year, my colleagues Senators Harris Wofford and Carol Moseley-
Braun, have introduced a bill as a companion to H.R. 1933, which will
extend the life of the Commission for 5 more years and link the
Commission with the Corporation on National and Community Service,
thereby transforming the King Holiday into a day of interracial
cooperation and national community service in the spirit of Dr. King.
The bill has my full support.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the leader of one of the most
profound social movements that this country has witnessed--the civil
rights movement. The civil rights movement transformed the landscape of
America by focusing attention on the racial injustices that have
plagued this country for over 400 years. As a result of this movement,
this esteemed legislative body passed a battery of laws, including the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that has
brought a large number of this country's historically oppressed
minorities into the mainstream of American political and economic life.
Since Dr. King's assassination in 1968, America has made tremendous
progress in breaking down obstacles to equal opportunity for racial
minorities. However, much more needs to be done. We recently have
witnessed an explosion of racial intolerance in America. The picture of
a beaten and bloodied Rodney King has been indelibly painted into the
minds of us all. The conditions of neglect that have created the
desperation of a rising African-American underclass in the bellies of
our cities--are all too real. And the words of hate and division by
Khalid Abdul Muhammad pollute the common discourse on race relations in
America.
Dr. King's message was change through direct, nonviolent social
action. The greatness of Dr. King was his unwavering commitment to put
his philosophy of nonviolence into concrete action. That ability
changed the very fabric of this land. A few weeks ago, I gave a speech
at the National Press Club here in Washington where I lamented the fact
that violence in our country is spiralling out of control. Every 14
minutes, someone dies of a gunshot wound in America, and among young
African-American males, murder is the No. 1 cause of death. Not cancer,
not AIDS, not diabetes or sickle cell anemia, but cold-blooded murder.
If Dr. King were alive today, he would obviously be deeply troubled by
not only the senseless violence occurring in the African-American
community, but the senseless violence that erupts all too often in many
places in America.
So the question must be posed: What would Dr. King do to foster
improved race relations and stem the violence that has placed too many
citizens of our country at risk? I can tell you that he would not
simply sit back and wish the problem away. Through his nonviolent
actions, Dr. King provided us with a vision of how to live together as
a pluralistic, ethnically, and culturally diverse society. He urged us
to stand up for freedom, march for righteousness and speak out against
all forms of injustice even when it is inconvenient to do so. His
steadfast insistence on employing nonviolent means to achieve an end is
a course of action that we must not ignore if we are to extinguish the
blaze of violence that is fed by many fires and threatens to destroy
the fabric of our society.
The bill that we will vote on today embodies one method by which we
can reaffirm our commitment to racial harmony and nonviolence. It
challenges Americans of all races to come together to celebrate the
legacy of Dr. King by actively working in a nonviolent fashion to make
America a better place. It therefore has my unqualified support.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, at a time when our Nation was paying lip
service to liberty but ignoring ingrained injustice, Martin Luther
King's simple, irresistible message of ``Freedom Now'' summoned America
to end the discrimination in our midst, and to embrace the enduring
principle of equal justice under law--not just in the promise of the
Constitution, but the reality of our daily lives. With the
establishment of a national holiday honoring Dr. King, he took his
rightful place as the founding father of the second American
revolution, the revolution of civil rights.
Last month the Judiciary Committee heard testimony on legislation to
reauthorize the King Holiday Commission and give it an important new
focus of community service. Over the past 10 years, we on the
Commission--especially Coretta Scott King and others who testified,
such as former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Jack Kemp
and Senator Harris Wofford--have worked to make the King Holiday a
respected American tradition. The legislation before us will enable the
Commission to continue its important work and make the holiday a day of
community service.
Since the Commission was first established, millions of Americans
have participated in seminars, rallies, prayer services, and other
tributes. Americans of all races, cultures, and political persuasions
have come together in the same spirit of goodwill and fellowship that
characterized Dr. King's life.
The Commission has accomplished a great deal during its short life.
But, just as Dr. King had much to do, so the work of the Commission is
not complete.
Indeed, there is still much to be done with respect to educating the
American public, especially the young, about Dr. King's life, his
philosophy and his extraordinary contributions to our progress as a
nation.
In the quarter century since Dr. King's death, we have seen poverty,
crime, and violence continue to plague our communities. If Dr. King
were alive today, he would have challenged us to confront these
problems, just as he challenged us to confront the racism and injustice
facing our Nation in his day. He would not have wanted us to be
complacent. If he could advise us on how best to honor his memory, he
would urge us to act--to work together to improve our communities.
Community service is not a new idea in America. It is the essence of
democracy. Throughout our history, we have dealt most effectively with
the issues facing our country when we have come together to help one
another. The first settlers survived and prospered because they had a
strong sense of community that enabled them to meet and master any
challenge.
Dr. King was part of this tradition of service. We can honor him best
by following his example. The King Holiday and Service Act will enable
the Commission to continue its programs that bring Dr. King's teachings
to our youth, and expand its responsibilities to make the holiday a day
of service.
In addition, this bill authorizes the Corporation for National and
Community Service to make grants to implement service activities on the
King Holiday. The Commission will have an advisory role in reviewing
these grant applications. This important new role for the Commission is
a fitting way to pay tribute to Dr. King. We honor him most effectively
by holding the Nation to the high ideals he served in his own life.
I congratulate Senator Wofford and Senator Moseley-Braun for their
leadership on this legislation and for the effective way in which they
have advanced Martin Luther King's dream of opportunity for all
Americans.
Mr. President, this legislation will continue the healing process
that is so urgently needed for our Nation and for our future, and I
urge the Senate to approve it.
order for 10-minute votes
Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote
now to occur and the vote immediately to follow this vote not be for
the regular 15 minutes but be 10-minute votes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment of the
amendments and third reading of the bill.
The amendments were ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a
third time.
The bill was read a third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the
question is, Shall it pass? On this question, the yeas and nays have
been ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor] is
necessarily absent.
I also announce that the Senator from Alabama [Mr. Shelby] is absent
because of illness.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lieberman). Are there any other Senators
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 94, nays 4, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 128 Leg.]
YEAS--94
Akaka
Baucus
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boren
Boxer
Bradley
Breaux
Brown
Bryan
Bumpers
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Chafee
Coats
Cochran
Cohen
Conrad
Coverdell
Craig
D'Amato
Danforth
Daschle
DeConcini
Dodd
Dole
Domenici
Dorgan
Durenberger
Exon
Feingold
Feinstein
Ford
Glenn
Gorton
Graham
Gramm
Grassley
Gregg
Harkin
Hatch
Hatfield
Heflin
Hollings
Hutchison
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnston
Kassebaum
Kempthorne
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lott
Lugar
Mack
Mathews
McCain
McConnell
Metzenbaum
Mikulski
Mitchell
Moseley-Braun
Moynihan
Murkowski
Murray
Nickles
Nunn
Packwood
Pell
Pressler
Reid
Riegle
Robb
Rockefeller
Roth
Sarbanes
Sasser
Simon
Simpson
Specter
Stevens
Thurmond
Warner
Wellstone
Wofford
NAYS--4
Faircloth
Helms
Smith
Wallop
NOT VOTING--2
Pryor
Shelby
So the bill (H.R. 1933), as amended, was passed.
Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
____________________