[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 20, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S35-S36]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CELEBRATING MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.'S BIRTHDAY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I wish today to honor the life of Dr. 
Martin Luther King, Jr.
  I would like to take this opportunity not only to talk about the man 
but also the movement. During a time of segregation, violence, 
unnecessary bloodshed, and ignorant bigotry, a man named Martin Luther 
King, Jr., graced the world with his poignant determination for peace. 
His life continues to inspire not only Americans but the world in 
continued efforts for equality amongst all men and women.
  This week the Nation reflects on Dr. King's life and legacy. I 
remember being a young man during his lifetime. I remember not only the 
struggles he faced but the justice he longed for. As I reread Dr. 
King's letter from Birmingham Jail, where he wrote about trying to 
explain to one's child why she can't go to a public amusement park 
because she was Black; where he wrote about the humiliation of nagging 
signs that read ``white'' and ``colored;'' where he wrote about the 
internal fight against a ``degenerating sense of nobodiness,'' I ask 
our Nation not to return to such a time but instead continue to move 
our Nation forward in accepting all people.
  While Dr. King was fighting for national civil rights, I was growing 
up in Baltimore City, MD. I attended a segregated public school, and I 
remember with great sadness how discrimination was not only condoned 
but, more often than not, actually encouraged against Blacks, Jews, 
Catholics, and other minorities in the community. I remember the local 
movie theater denying admission to African Americans. I remember the 
community swimming pools that had signs hanging that read, ``No Jews, 
No Blacks allowed.'' In the wake of death threats, physical attempts on 
his life, home bombings, and jail time, Dr. King fought for the rights 
Americans hold so dear. He fought for the right to vote, the right to 
equal access, the right to an equal education, and the right to be 
treated and seen as an equal.
  More than 40 years later, our Nation has made significant progress. 
We have elected our first African-American President, we have women 
running Fortune 500 companies, we have the first female Speaker of the 
House, we have our first Latina Supreme Court Justice, and many more 
accomplishments have occurred. And while we have come a long way from 
segregated lunch counters and firehouses and dogs being unleashed on 
protesters, we still have not reached the mountaintop. There are still 
laws, policies, and negative perceptions that infringe on individual 
civil rights.
  The issues of today are not so different than the issues of Dr. 
King's time. We are at war. There is discrimination. There are 
disparities. There is hate. We must fight and expose these injustices. 
Dr. King believed that you must expose injustices ``with all the 
tension its exposure creates.'' We must take up these issues. We must 
address health care disparities, discrimination in all forms, abuses in 
our criminal justice system, and bad legislative policies. We must not 
shy away from what great people before us worked so hard to bring to 
light. This is not the time for what Dr. King called the ``moderate.'' 
This is not the time for those who say they agree with us in the goal 
but fail to take direct action. This is the time for action against 
injustices.
  When more than 40 million Americans don't have access to quality 
health care, an injustice has occurred. When Americans receive 
discriminatory sentencing, an injustice has occurred. When Americans 
are subjected to discriminatory lending, an injustice has occurred. 
When hate crimes are perpetrated, an injustice has occurred. When our 
country uses torture, an injustice has occurred. When any form of 
discrimination is used, an injustice has occurred.
  So I ask my fellow colleagues in the Congress and my fellow Americans 
nationwide, as we start a new year, a new decade, remember that ``human 
progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through 
the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God . . .'' 
Stand with us as we take up the controversial issues of the day--
immigration, employment nondiscrimination, pay equity for women, hate 
crimes, sentencing reform, education reform, and remember such actions 
are taken in dedicated efforts toward a more loving and just union.
  Dr. King said that the ultimate measure of a man or woman is not 
where he or she stands in the moments of comfort and convenience, but 
where

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he or she stands at times of challenge and controversy. He stood up and 
fought for what was just in a world of controversy. I ask you all to 
stand up on the shoulders of Dr. King and fight for the elimination of 
hate and discrimination. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will always be 
remembered for his courage, elegance and tireless endurance for the 
fight of equality in America.

                          ____________________