[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 24 (Tuesday, March 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S1711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MARTIN LUTHER KING MEMORIAL

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President I rise today to express my strong 
support for legislation authorizing the placement of a Martin Luther 
King, Jr. Memorial on the Capitol Mall.
  Mr. President, the Capitol Mall has an important place in our nation, 
and in the hearts of its people. It is on the Mall that we honor the 
heroes who made our country great. Under the Commemorative Works Act, 
which governs placement of memorials on the Mall, the honor of 
placement there is reserved for memorials of ``preeminent historical 
and lasting significance to the Nation.''
  These words clearly apply to the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, 
Jr. Dr. King changed America by awakening her conscience. His campaign 
of nonviolent protest brought to light the injustices of a racially 
segregated society and played a major role in fostering the legislation 
necessary to do away with many forms of official discrimination. In the 
words of the national Capital Memorial Commission, Dr. King ``has had a 
profound effect on all Americans which will continue through history.''
  America is more just and honest because of the efforts of this man of 
God. We remain far from perfect as a nation, but, in confronting our 
problems in regard to race relations and violence, we can look to the 
legacy of Doctor King for guidance.
  Dr. King sought a nation in which each of us would be judged 
according to the content of our character, in which opportunity would 
replace want, and acceptance would replace discrimination. He addressed 
these problems through his speeches and grass roots activism. He 
addressed them as a scholar and a statesman, as a father and as a 
husband, as a man, and as a man of God.
  Doctor King called on the better angels of our character, only to die 
from an assassin's bullet. But his spirit lives on so long as we strive 
to make his dream a reality. He called on us as a nation to treat one 
another as brothers and sisters, to care for one another and to strive 
together for a better world. It is up to us to answer his call, to 
honor him for making it, and to spread his word by making it a part of 
a national memorial in the heart of our nation's capital.

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