[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Martin Luther King 
Day that we celebrated earlier this week. Americans celebrated the life 
and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King who would have turned 78 this 
month. While there is much left to be done, Dr. King's dream of a 
colorblind society is closer to reality this year than last.
  Dr. King championed nonviolent resistance as a means to bring about 
fundamental change. He sought such change to bring about equality 
between peoples of all races, an end to segregation and racial 
injustice and improved working conditions for all.
  Dr. King was a master of rhetoric, and he used his power to bring 
together Americans from a variety of backgrounds to march in pursuit of 
equality and justice. And Dr. King achieved great success at attaining 
these lofty goals, despite his murder at the age of 39.
  At only 26 years of age, Dr. King became a national figure by leading 
the Montgomery bus boycott. At that time, Dr. King was the new pastor 
of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and was spurred to action by the 
arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give her seat on a public bus to a 
white man. Dr. King inspired action through his words, ``There comes a 
time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of 
oppression.'' With that, he called for a citywide boycott of public 
transit and demanded first come, first served seating, courteous 
treatment by bus operators, and the employment of African American bus 
drivers. The boycott lasted 382 days and in that time, Dr. King's house 
was bombed and he was arrested. Ultimately, the United States Supreme 
Court outlawed racial segregation on public transportation.
  With the success of the Montgomery bus boycott, Dr. King noted, ``We 
have gained a new sense of dignity and destiny. We have discovered a 
new and powerful weapon, nonviolent resistance.''
  Nonviolent resistance, which had been pioneered by Mohandas Gandhi in 
India, became a cornerstone of King's strategy to gain full civil 
rights and equality for all people. Over the next 13 years, Dr. King 
achieved basic civil rights for African-Americans, desegregation, the 
annulment of Jim Crow laws and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  Dr. Martin Luther King Day allows us to reflect on the steps that we, 
as a nation, have made towards fulfilling Dr. King's dream. Dr. King's 
1963 March on Washington was organized around numerous demands for 
civil rights, many of which are still very relevant today. One such 
demand was full and fair employment, including a raise in the minimum 
wage from $1.25 to $2 at that time.

                              {time}  1215

  I am proud that last week is part of the 110th Congress' first 100 
hours. The House of Representatives addressed this issue by raising the 
minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. This will significantly benefit a 
great many low-income families, including the 2.1 million African 
American minimum wage earners. Other legislation in the first 100 hours 
will improve health care and education for American families, including 
3.9 million African American Medicare beneficiaries and 2.3 million 
African American college students.
  This past weekend I commemorated the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., 
at the Jackie Robinson Park and at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in 
my district. At these celebrations my constituents and I examined our 
progress over the past 40 years since Dr. King's tragic death and 
remember his line from ``I Have a Dream'' about the fierce urgency of 
now. Dr. King preached then that now is the time to make justice a 
reality for all of God's children, and it is still that time now.
  With continued and wide disparities and access to higher education, 
wages, and access to health care, we as a Nation still have much work 
before us. Now, even as we celebrate one of the truly great men in this 
Nation's history, it is time to recommit ourselves to the vision of Dr. 
King and bring about racial equality and opportunity for every 
American.

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