[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 17, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RE-DESIGNATING THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE INTO 
                        A NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOHN LEWIS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2014

  Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the National Park 
Service's continuous effort to protect the legacy of my dear friend and 
brother, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In particular, the NPS's current 
effort to re-designate the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic 
Site into a National Historic Park is of great significance.
  Dr. King helped lead a nonviolent revolution, a revolution of values, 
a revolution of ideas. He inspired an entire generation to find a way 
to get in the way, to find a way to get in trouble--good trouble, 
necessary trouble. Through his actions, speeches, and writings, he 
helped create the climate for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  Re-categorizing this site as a park better reflects the truly 
monumental spirit of the area and its complexity. The area not only 
includes Dr. King's gravesite and birth home, which the National Park 
Service preserves, maintains and educates visitors about via tours, but 
it also stretches to contain the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where 
Dr. King, his father and his grandfather served as pastors. It also 
includes the entire block where Dr. King's birth home is located and 
contains the first integrated and longest active fire station in 
Atlanta, which Dr. King frequently visited as a boy. The block also 
consists of more than 20 historic properties, including Victorian 
homes, apartments and shotgun houses that were all restored to their 
1930 appearances.
  Last year, over 700,000 people traveled worldwide to visit the Martin 
Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. Re-designating it as a 
National Historic Park would better reflect the complexity of the area 
and would have minimal associated costs, only changing signage and 
printed materials. I applaud the National Park Service for making this 
a priority, and I ask my colleagues to support this legislation to 
preserve Dr King's life and legacy.

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