[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 57-58]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today I rise to pay tribute to a great 
man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929. 
As a nation, we have celebrated his life and accomplishments every 
third Monday in January since 1986. However, in my home State of 
Illinois, we have been celebrating this great man for almost 30 years, 
since 1973.
  Late in 1955, Montgomery, AL, civil rights activist Rosa Parks 
refused to obey the city's rules mandating segregation on buses. Five 
days later, Dr. King was elected by his supporters to be president of 
the Montgomery Improvement Association. As president, he participated 
in the bus boycott that eventually led to the Supreme Court declaring 
Montgomery's segregation laws unconstitutional. As Dr. King gained 
national prominence he was repeatedly attacked for his beliefs and 
because of the color of his skin. Sadly, violent acts against Americans 
of different beliefs, ethnic groups, and hues continue to plague our 
nation today.
  Building on the success of the Montgomery boycott movement, Dr. King 
and other southern African-American ministers founded the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference. With his colleagues, Dr. King promoted 
the goal of voting rights when he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial during 
the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom.
  Dr. King also guided mass demonstrations in Birmingham, AL, with 
others in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The protests 
caught headlines around the world, as clashes between protesters and 
police turned violent. Despite police dogs and fire hoses, Dr. King 
persevered, leading to the decision by President Kennedy to submit 
broad civil rights legislation to Congress, and eventually to the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964.
  Despite becoming Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1964, Dr. King 
continued to face many challenges to his nonviolent tactics. While 
attempting to assist a garbage workers' strike in Memphis on April 4, 
1968, Dr. King was assassinated. The world changed for many on that 
day. Many thought that Dr. King's message of tolerance, equality, and 
love for our fellow men and women would die with his death. It did not. 
Rather, Dr. King's message and legacy continue to spread.
  In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 
on September 11, many have found it difficult to adhere to Dr. King's 
message.
  As we searched for understanding, many mistook symbols of religious 
tenets, such as beards and turbans, for symbols of distrust and terror. 
Arab Americans and Sikh Americans have been harassed, threatened, and 
assaulted because of the physical and religious similarities they share 
with the terrorists who took the lives of thousands of Americans four 
months ago. The passage of a resolution condemning hate crimes against 
Sikh Americans, which I sponsored and worked to include in the 
antiterrorism bill, underscores Congress's commitment to prevent any 
such acts of bigotry and violence.
  A Human Rights Watch report revealed that over 1,100 individuals have 
been detained as part of the Justice Department's terrorism 
investigation after the September 11 attacks. Scores of detainees are 
still in custody today, some having been detained for over two months 
with no explanation to family members or friends. We need to be 
careful. History has taught us that in times of war, our government has 
sometimes acted in haste and in error. We can point to incident after 
incident where the Executive Branch implemented measures that in 
hindsight went too far and infringed on our civil liberties. Let us 
make sure that history does not repeat itself as the Justice Department 
continues its investigation of the terror attacks of September 11.
  In celebrating Dr. King's birthday, we continue to learn from his 
words. I am proud to say our nation is a melting pot of different 
ethnic groups, and together we form the strongest nation in the world. 
In his famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech, Dr. King said, ``Let us not 
wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that 
even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still 
have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have 
a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the meaning 
of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal.''
  Let us not forget the truths Dr. King taught us. We must join 
together to celebrate his triumphs, and live out his words, that all 
men and women, having been created equal, will be treated with equal 
dignity and respect.
  Mrs. CARNAHAN. Madam President, earlier this month I had the 
opportunity to visit our troops in Afghanistan who are on the front 
lines in the global war to conquer terrorism. I also spoke with new 
Afghani leaders, who desire a far different future for their people. 
While visiting with them, I was reminded of a quote from Martin Luther 
King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham city jail: ``Injustice anywhere is a 
threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network 
of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one 
directly affects all indirectly.''
  The life of Dr. King always reminds me of the power of one; the 
possibility that each of us has for righting wrong, no matter who we 
are or where we are. When Dr. King began his work, he was not a 
prominent political figure. He did not have great financial resources 
at his command. He was a simple Baptist preacher.

[[Page 58]]

  He was walking in the footsteps of those who had gone before him. 
People like Sojourner Truth who embodied the power of one. She was not 
famous in any way; she was a humble slave woman with a commanding 
presence and a heart-wrenching story.
  There was Harriet Beecher Stowe, writer of ``Uncle Tom's Cabin.'' She 
was not a social philosopher or a theologian; she was a housewife with 
seven children.
  Rosa Parks was not a revolutionary; she was a woman who was tired 
after a day's work and wanted to sit down on a bus.
  None of these people began with great wealth, fame, or political 
power. Yet they harnessed the inner strength to challenge traditional 
thinking and to change the course of our Nation, not with guns and 
hatred, but with nonviolence and love.
  This past year we saw the heroism of average working Americans--
firefighters, police officers, emergency medical personnel, postal 
workers and members of the armed forces. We learned again that each of 
us owes a debt to freedom.
  Dr. King reminded us that ``the arc of the universe is long, but it 
ends in justice.'' For more than 200 years, Americans like Sojourner 
Truth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Rosa Parks and Dr. King himself have 
pushed and prodded our Nation toward greater equality. Now in this 
century, it is up to us to continue that long journey. We cannot be 
bystanders to history. We all have some Martin Luther King in us. His 
work is now our work, and there is much to be done.

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