[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S271-S272]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, on January 20, we celebrate the 91st 
anniversary of the birth of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 
the short 39 years that he spent on Earth, Dr. King inspired more 
change, touched more lives, and lifted up more voices than most of us 
could hope to in many lifetimes. With his message of compassion, he 
shepherded a civil rights movement defined by love and peacefulness, 
despite the violence and hatred raging all around. He bravely preached 
the equal value of every human soul, and he was killed for it. That 
day, we lost a champion for justice who can never be replaced.
  Nearly 52 years after Dr. King's murder, it is important to pause and 
reflect on the profound impact that his dream of peace and equality has 
had on our Nation's character. Dr. King's legacy includes expanded 
voting rights, more inclusive housing policies, and the legal 
prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race. Not only that, but 
his advocacy for economic justice illuminated the ways that race and 
class intersect in America, inspiring future generations to demand 
freedom from all vectors of oppression.
  But today is also an opportunity to reflect on what is still needed 
to make Dr. King's dream a reality. Our criminal justice system still 
operates as a tool with which to surveil and subjugate minority 
communities.
  People of color, especially African Americans, are still 
disenfranchised at substantially higher rates and have to navigate 
sophisticated voter deception and intimidation practices in order to 
exercise their right to vote. And White supremacists are still marching 
in the streets while the occupant of our country's highest office 
proclaims that there are ``good people on both sides.''
  It turns out that the forces of injustice that Dr. King fought to 
eradicate are strong and adaptable. Often, when we think we have 
defeated them, they have in fact taken a new, unfamiliar form, or 
simply hidden below the surface, waiting for an opportunity to emerge. 
Sadly, there are too many in power right now who offer platforms and 
shelter to these forces. They threaten to drag our country back to a 
darker time.
  We can't let that happen. I appreciate how daunting that imperative 
is--goodness knows that I ask myself all the time how I, just one man, 
can possibly effect the change that I hope to see in the world. But it 
helps to remember that Martin Luther King was also just one man, one 
ordinary man called to an extraordinary mission.
  So all we need to do is model ourselves in Dr. King's image. Easy, 
right? Maybe not. But a good way to start is to recall his lesson that 
``life's most persistent question is: what are you doing for others?'' 
Dr. King taught us that justice doesn't have to be sweeping and grand--
it can be quiet; it can take root in small moments. The world that he 
envisioned can be planted with good deeds between neighbors, helping 
hands offered to friends, and displays of empathy for complete 
strangers.
  When we do these things, we recognize each other's humanity, we bond 
ourselves to one another, and then we come to see that none of us is 
striving alone for a better world. That togetherness, that solidarity, 
will always win out over hatred and fear.
  Another thing we can do is support the systems and institutions that 
have the power to uphold equality. This is where I make my plug for the 
census. The upcoming decennial census will be used to determine 
congressional representation and the fair distribution of

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Federal resources for things like schools, hospitals, and housing. It 
has the potential to ensure that all Americans get the services and 
political representation to which they are entitled, or it could 
further skew the playing field in favor of the already privileged. It 
all depends on whether minority communities are fully counted.
  Historically, they have not been. That is why I am asking each and 
every American to please, please participate in the census this year. 
Dr. King taught us that every human being is equal, that all of us 
deserve to live with dignity and respect. He shined a light on the 
forgotten and the oppressed and demanded better for them. Help to honor 
his memory by making sure that no one goes uncounted. Carry on his 
legacy by demanding a government that serves and protects each of its 
citizens equally. In this way, we can continue building the world that 
Dr. King envisioned.
  (At the request of Mr. Rounds, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)

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