[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1039-E1040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     THE DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2001

  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my full support for 
H.R. 1184, a bill that requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 
coins in commemoration of the contributions of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr., to the United States. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this 
bill, which was introduced by my good friend and colleague 
Representative Jim Leach on March 22, 2001. A similar piece of 
legislation has been introduced in the other body by U.S. Senator Mary 
Landrieu on February 15 for herself and 24 other members of the Senate.
  Dr. Martin Luther King proved to be a man larger than life, and had 
an extraordinary impact not only on the civil rights movement, but on 
the history of America. The 40th anniversary of his ``I have a dream'' 
speech, delivered at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, is fast 
approaching in the year 2003. That may seem far in the future, but in 
the realm of coin design, we do not have the luxury of waiting because 
of the time that it will take the Mint to prepare dies and to make this 
a part of the overall commemorative program.

[[Page E1040]]

  In the last session of Congress, legislation was introduced in both 
the House and Senate to mint a coin in honor of Dr. King, but 
unfortunately no action was taken on these measures. In my 
Congressional District, however, there was enthusiastic support for 
honoring Dr. King with a commemorative coin. In fact, the Borough 
Council of Fair Lawn, New Jersey, passed Resolution 315-2000 urging 
that a bill permitting the minting of a coin in honor of Dr. King be 
passed by the U.S. Congress.
  I am very pleased that this measure is supported by the Mayor of the 
Borough of Fair Lawn, David L. Ganz, who is not only a coin collector, 
but also a former member of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory 
Committee, and a long-time advocate of using commemorative coins only 
for a proper purpose. In an article appearing in the January 16, 2001, 
issue of Numismatic News, a weekly trade publication, he argues that 
``the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. transcend the work 
of presidents and academicians and cut across cultural lines. His 
life's work ultimately affected the fabric of American society . . . 
worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 . . . [and leading to] social 
justice for a whole class of citizens and a generation of American.''
  I submit this insightful article to be included in the Congressional 
Record.
  H.R. 1184 provides a remarkable opportunity to honor a remarkable 
man. I urge the members of the Banking and Financial Services 
Committee, and ultimately this body, to promptly pass H.R. 1184.

               [From the Numismatic News, Jan. 16, 2001]

            King Consideration Will Return in 107th Congress

       When the 107th Congress convenes, dozens of bills will be 
     introduced that, over the succeeding two years, will multiply 
     to the thousands and eventually become about 600 laws. Some 
     will name post offices for former members of Congress, 
     federal buildings for prominent Americans, and some will even 
     change tax laws, promote social justice or shape a kinder and 
     gentler society.
       One bill--which will surely repeat its previous 
     introduction in the 106th Congress by then-chair of the House 
     Banking committee and the chair of the House coinage 
     subcommittee--bears reconsideration, and passage: recognition 
     of the life's work and accomplishments of Rev. Dr. Martin 
     Luther King Jr., who surely changed the texture, complexity 
     and general tenor of American society, perhaps more than any 
     other individual.
       H.R. 3633, a bill to authorize half dollar, dollar and $5 
     gold pieces honoring the American civil rights leader, was 
     introduced in the House in February 2000. In the following 
     months, it obtained co-sponsors, but not sufficient to move 
     the matter to the legislative approval needed to create a new 
     coin.
       The point can be argued. Franklin D. Roosevelt brought the 
     nation out of the Great Depression, fought a war and created 
     Social Security and a host of other programs that defined 
     part of American political culture in the second half of the 
     20th century (after his death). Lyndon Johnson created a 
     Great Society, Harry Truman a Square Deal, John F. Kennedy a 
     New Frontier and, earlier, Woodrow Wilson made a world safe 
     for democracy. There are also Ronald Reagan, who presided 
     over the demise of the communist threat from the Soviet 
     Union; Theodore Roosevelt, who launched America's military 
     greatness and internationalism; and even Herbert Hoover, a 
     great humanitarian who solved the issues of a starving 
     Europe, much as Gen. George Marshall did a generation later. 
     But in terms of historical perspective, which is what coinage 
     of a nation should truly reflect, the accomplishments of Dr. 
     Martin Luther King Jr. transcend the work of presidents and 
     academicians and cut across cultural lines. His life's work 
     ultimately affected the fabric of American society--its 
     military policies, economic and social fabric, religious 
     institutions and the intellectual development of a generation 
     of Americans, and beyond.
       His accomplishments were worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize in 
     1964 (something he shared with Theodore Roosevelt, who won it 
     in 1905), and there can be little doubt that the Montgomery, 
     Ala., bus boycott in the early 1950s led to a peaceful 
     revolution and social justice for a whole class of citizens 
     and a generation of Americans.
       Like many who are termed heroes, Dr. King proved that he 
     also had feet of clay, and in no small measure the private 
     files maintained on him by the late J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI 
     director, are responsible for the attacks on the King 
     reputation and his legacy.
       Born in 1939, the son of Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. 
     (``Daddy'' King), young Martin attended Morehouse College in 
     Atlanta and Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. He 
     received a Ph.D. in theology in 1955 and became pastor of 
     Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery--the same year 
     that other events were to grip the nation.
       In December 1955, after Rosa Parks refused to obey 
     Montgomery's policy mandating segregation on buses, black 
     residents launched a bus boycott and elected King as 
     president of the newly formed Montgomery Improvement 
     Association. As the boycott continued during 1956, King 
     gained national prominence.
       His house was bombed, and he and other boycott leaders were 
     tried in court and convicted on charges of conspiring to 
     interfere with the bus company's operations. But in December 
     1956, Montgomery's buses were desegregated when the U.S. 
     Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws 
     unconstitutional.
       In 1957 King and other black ministers founded the Southern 
     Christian Leadership Conference. As SCLC president, King 
     emphasized the goal of black voting rights when he spoke at 
     the Lincoln Memorial during the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for 
     Freedom.
       It was in the 1963 March on Washington that he won his 
     nonviolence spurs. On Aug. 28, 1963, his oratory attracted 
     more than 250,000 protesters to Washington, D.C., where, 
     speaking from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King 
     delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech.
       ``I have a dream,'' he said, ``that one day this nation 
     will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold 
     these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
     equal.''
       During the year following the march, King's renown as a 
     nonviolent leader grew, and, in 1964, he received the Noble 
     Peace Prize. ``Man must evolve for all human conflict a 
     method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The 
     foundation of such a method is love,'' he told the Swedish 
     Academy.
       King's ability to achieve his objectives was also limited 
     by the increasing resistance he encountered from national 
     political leaders. When urban racial violence escalated. J. 
     Edgar Hoover intensified his efforts to discredit King. 
     King's own criticism of American intervention in the Vietnam 
     War soured his relations with the Johnson administration.
       It was in the late winter or early spring of 1968 that Dr. 
     King went to South Side Junior High School in Rockville 
     Centre, N.Y., a community of modest size (about 26,000 
     people) on Long Island's south shore. There, I met him as he 
     spoke one evening in the school auditorium; he was a 
     remarkable speaker, and though I disagreed with him at the 
     time in the way he criticized our southeast Asia conflict, I 
     came away with a sense that he was a remarkable man--someone 
     I was proud of as an American.
       Not long afterward, he delivered his last speech during a 
     bitter garbage collectors' strike in Memphis. ``We've got 
     some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn't matter with 
     me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.'' The following 
     evening, on April 4, 1968, he was assassinated by James Earl 
     Ray.
       In 1986, King's birthday, Jan. 15, became a federal 
     holiday, placing him on par with several U.S. presidents. In 
     the last session of Congress, Rep. James A.S. Leach, R-Iowa, 
     and Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., were key sponsors of the King 
     commemorative coin legislation. In the waning days of the 
     session, Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ., and Steve Rothman, D-N.J., 
     signed on, bringing co-sponsors up to 138 members--not a 
     majority in the 435-member House.
       The real question is whether the 2003 date marking the 40th 
     anniversary of the ``I have a dream'' speech is worthy of 
     commemoration. I submit that a society that is unwilling to 
     honor human dignity on its coinage is simply missing the boat 
     and fails to understand the historical perspective of 
     coinage, and how commemoratives like other coins stand for 
     all time.
       Don't mistake these comments for suggesting that the coin 
     will be a good seller; to the contrary, it probably will not 
     be. Controversy does not work to increase sales. The Crispus 
     Attucks Revolutionary War coin (with 500,000 pieces 
     authorized) sold a disappointing 26,000 in uncirculated and 
     54,000 in proof.
       But if the question is asked who had more impact on 
     American society, Eunice Shriver and the Special Olympics or 
     Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., there is simply no contest. In 
     considering whether the U.S. Botanic Gardens' 175th 
     anniversary or the I Have A Dream speech has had a lasting 
     impact on American society, the Lincoln Memorial address 
     prevails.
       We probably don't want to go into a discussion of the 
     merits of some of the other modern commemorative coins (38th 
     anniversary of the Korean War, for example), but it seems 
     clear enough that if the test is an accomplishment that 
     stands for all time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., warts and 
     all, is worthy of numismatic commemoration.
       Whether there will be a reintroduction and action in the 
     107th Congress remains to be seen. What is clear enough is 
     that if 2003 is to be the year, time is growing short to 
     allow for the creation, production and marketing of this 
     distinctive and important commemorative product.

     

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