[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 728]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, on January 21, the Nation recognized the 
birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is important that 
we honor this day and that we do not let the significance of Dr. King 
fade from our memories, as individuals and as a nation.
  I am pleased that citizens in my State of Arizona have found ways to 
honor Dr. King and ensure that the lessons of his legacy continue to 
resound among future generations. This past weekend the Senate 
Chaplain, Dr. Black, joined me in Phoenix for a number of events 
relating the King commemoration. Dr. Black preached two sermons and 
later delivered the keynote address at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Youth Scholarship service, a candlelight ceremony at Pilgrim Rest 
Baptist Church.
  It is very fitting that these events took place in churches. Dr. 
King, after all, was a minister, and his speeches and writings invoked 
biblical themes and were delivered with the zeal of a fiery evangelist. 
Moreover, by recognizing Dr. King in a place of worship, we are 
reminded of the important role that religion plays in the public 
square.
  Indeed, the events like those I attended in Phoenix highlight the 
importance that religious institutions play in civic life, and I 
believe they embody an important past of Dr. King's legacy.
  Alexis de Tocqueville observed long ago that ``Freedom sees religion 
as the companion of its struggles and triumphs, the cradle of its 
infancy, and the divine source of its rights. Religion is considered as 
the guardian of mores, and mores are regarded as the guarantee of the 
laws and pledge for the maintenance of freedom itself.''
  Religion is an essential underpinning to a well-ordered society and a 
functioning democratic republic. The Founders of our country understood 
that, and Dr. King did too.
  In his famous ``I have a dream'' speech, Dr. King invoked the words 
of the Declaration of Independence. On August 28, 1963, he told the 
throngs who had gathered on The Mall, ``I have a dream 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.'''
  King believed, as the Founders wrote in the Declaration, that we are 
created equal and endowed with the right to life and liberty by our 
Creator. King's speech could have very well been delivered to a 
congregation at a church instead of before thousands at the Lincoln 
Memorial.
  In his message at the King celebration in Phoenix, Dr. Black urged 
the congregation to remember some will seek to destroy the dream and 
dreamer, but God will frustrate their plans.
  These words echo what King said at the Lincoln Memorial almost 40 
years ago, ``With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray 
together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for 
freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.''
  Mr. President, it is imperative that we as Americans understand the 
bond between religion and freedom, and I was pleased to attend the King 
celebration services this past weekend that testified to this bond.

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