[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.

                          ____________________