[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 52 (Thursday, April 3, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMEMORATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF DR. MARTIN 
                            LUTHER KING, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 1, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the House 
Resolution commemorating the 40th anniversary of the assassination of 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In mourning the loss of Dr. King, we must 
also simultaneously celebrate the life and legacy of this courageous 
civil rights leader.
  For the better part of his life, Dr. King stood in protest to 
inequality. He provided a voice to people once silenced by bigotry and 
intolerance. He preached nonviolence as a means of securing the 
fundamental principles of equality and justice, endowed to all people 
in the United States Constitution. Through his actions and life, Dr. 
King aided in creating the world we live in today. I am deeply humbled 
and inspired by his resolve to achieve change in America. Dr. King's 
work as a civil rights activist and leader has been studied in depth. 
But, often overlooked is his stance against the war in Vietnam. In the 
wake of Jeremiah White's comments, I believe that it is important to 
understand that Dr. King was more than the icon we have created in our 
efforts to sanctify him. Yes, he lifts the dreamer and man who worked 
for racial reconciliation, but he was as well a leader with a strong 
moral vision who was willing to call our great Nation to task when it 
failed to live up to the standards he saw created by our Declaration of 
Independence and Constitution.
  Many parallels exist between Dr. King's opposition to the war in 
Vietnam and my opposition of the war in Iraq. Dr. King believed, as I 
believe, that the United States Government will never invest the 
necessary funds and energy required to improve the situation of the 
poor in America, as long as the country's resources are being diverted 
to a war. Similarly, Dr. King and I both agree that war 
disproportionately affects the poor, as more of them are sent to fight 
and die on foreign soil. As Dr. King once stated, ``A time comes when 
silence is betrayal,'' and today that time has come for us in relation 
to Iraq.
  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man of steadfast conviction, 
determination, sheer grit, and uncompromising faith. That is why today. 
I stand here advocating the House Resolution commemorating the 40th 
anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man 
who has impacted the lives each and every American.

                          ____________________