[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 13-14]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             COMMEMORATING DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY

 Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, Dr. King was a light for America. At 
times, he was a searching, probing light in the dark, seeking to find 
the truth and expose it to all humanity. He spoke plainly and 
eloquently of the great injustices that were occurring during his time. 
He focused his spotlight on places like Selma, Atlanta, Birmingham, and 
Little Rock, places that were in such need of healing at that time. And 
he was often a stark, blinding light for many in this country who were 
unwilling to come to terms with the great evil represented in 
segregation, discrimination, and humiliation, all of which were fueled 
by hatred and ignorance.
  For so many people of his generation, Dr. King was the first light of 
the morning, awakening them from their naive slumber to confront great 
moral questions. He and all the champions of the civil rights movement 
are responsible for forcing America to look inward and recognize the 
sickness that plagued our Nation's soul. Supreme Court Justice Louis 
Brandeis once said that ``sunlight is the best disinfectant.'' Dr. King 
fully recognized the meaning of these words as he exposed our culture's 
illness to the light of day, eventually helping America begin to heal.
  He was also a guiding light, navigating the civil rights movement 
through largely uncharted waters, and helping a great many minority 
Americans come to the realization that they were all in the same boat. 
They were no longer alone in their struggle against oppression. Indeed, 
there were many at the time who cautioned against ``rocking the boat'' 
too much. But King's leadership proved to a weary and discouraged 
people that there was a great Promised Land at the end of their 
journey. The path he illuminated required the strongest of wills, and 
for that guiding light, we are all thankful.
  Since Dr. King's time, the American people have made great strides 
toward racial equality and the elimination of poverty, yet there still 
remains much to be accomplished. And in the spirit of Dr. King's life, 
our Nation must continue to turn the light inward and expose injustice. 
Dr. King's purpose in life did not end in his death, nor did it end in 
the court cases and legislation that have further expanded freedom and 
opportunity in America since that time. Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy 
is an undying light that serves as a constant reminder of the noblest 
cause to protect and promote liberty that our Nation began with its 
founding. His undying light also calls on us never to forget our 
humanity. Even a country founded on the highest moral principles can 
retreat into oppression and injustice in periods of darkness. For 
helping lead us out of the darkness, we honor Dr. King on this day, and 
we pledge to always remember the struggle that marches on.
 Mr. KYL. Mr. President, earlier this week, our Nation 
celebrated Martin Luther King Day. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr., would have been 77 years old on January 16. It was a day to 
reflect on the life of a man admired for the dream he dreamed for 
America, and for his words and deeds in pursuit of it.
  He dreamed, as he famously said, ``that one day this nation will rise 
up and live out the true meaning of its creed: `We hold these truths to 
be self-evident: that all men are created equal.''' Dr. King argued, in 
words that stir the heart, that racial segregation must end in the 
South and that Black Americans must be granted their citizenship rights 
throughout the land and throughout our institutions: in education, in 
employment, in housing, and in the voting booth.
  His role in the push for full voting rights for African Americans is 
well known but bears repeating. In the spring of 1965, a national 
television audience was shocked by broadcasts of State troopers and 
sheriff's deputies brutally repulsing voting rights protesters in 
Selma, AL. Hours later, Dr. King declared: ``No American is without 
responsibility.'' He went to Alabama and led a march, under Federal 
protection, from Selma to the State capital. The event garnered 
national support and provided momentum for congressional passage of the 
Voting Rights Act later that year.

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  Dr. King appreciated the blessings of freedom; he wanted them for his 
people, and for all people. We remember this Protestant minister's 
eloquence and also his sense of spiritual mission--he was an ecumenical 
religious leader who brought people of all faiths, all races, together 
in mutual respect for one another.
  As Taylor Branch, his biographer, put it: ``His oratory fused the 
political promise of equal votes with the spiritual doctrine of equal 
souls.''
  His belief in nonviolent protest convinced those who listened to him 
that here was the high road to vindicating the rights of Black people 
in this country. It is a bitter fact that he lost his life to 
violence--he was only 39 when an assassin's bullet cut him down in 
Memphis--and it makes us understand his great courage in taking on the 
burden of leadership.
  In officially celebrating the life of Dr. King, we celebrate the end 
of legal segregation and the many inroads we have made against racism 
and discrimination. Of course, there is more we must do to make sure 
all Americans enjoy the blessings of freedom. He would tell us that, if 
he were here. He would also insist that we continue on in his way: with 
passion and with civility, calling on our fellow human beings to act on 
their best instincts, not their worst.
  Dr. King, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, is a model here and 
around the world--from China, and the 1989 antigovernment protests in 
Tiananmen Square, to South Africa, where apartheid rule gave way in 
1990 without provoking the civil war many had feared. In encouraging 
the holding of free elections and the formation of institutions of 
civil society in faraway places today, we promote the idea that Martin 
Luther King put forward so well: that the nonviolent settling of 
differences among men is the bedrock of democracy.
  Let us all take inspiration from the King legacy this week, Mr. 
President, and every week.

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