[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4904]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      REMEMBERING THE ASSASSINATION OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I joined a bipartisan group of Members of the 
House and Senate just a few short hours ago here in the Capitol where 
we were accompanied by Martin Luther King III, and we gathered to 
remember a day that tens of millions of Americans will pause to 
remember tomorrow. That was the day that saw the assassination of the 
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 40 years ago.
  I rise today as someone who, as a 9-year-old boy, was deeply inspired 
by the example of Dr. King and as a 9-year-old boy who was shaped by 
those tragic events.
  But I also rise today as a Hoosier and as a congressman representing 
Muncie, Indiana, because it may not be known to many, Mr. Speaker, but 
both Indiana, and Muncie, Indiana, in particular, played a small role 
in the unfolding drama of that day, April 4, 1968. And I will borrow 
generously from an article written by Nick Werner recently in the 
Muncie Star Press as I reflect on that connection.
  Muncie helped shape history after the King assassination because it 
was in Muncie and at Ball State University where Senator Robert Kennedy 
was speaking. He was speaking at the men's gym, which is now Irving 
gym. He was running for President of the United States. And it was 
there after his speech, as he was moving through the crowd, that 
historians recall and record that he had first learned of the 
assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. And as he went to the Muncie 
Airport and traveled from the Muncie Airport to Indianapolis, Robert 
Kennedy would prepare what for all the world appeared to be an 
impromptu speech but one that perhaps he had been writing all of his 
life. A speech that he would deliver to a stunned crowd in Indianapolis 
that night, and it was a speech that I rise today to remember.
  It was humbling to me, despite our differences on philosophy and 
politics, to sit today on the same row with Senator Ted Kennedy as we 
remembered the tragic events of that day.
  Robert Kennedy stood before a largely black audience in an outside 
park in Indianapolis, and he spoke these words:
  ``I have some very sad news for all of you and I think sad news for 
all our fellow citizens and people who love peace all over the world, 
and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in 
Memphis, Tennessee.''
  As Nick Werner wrote: ``The crowd gasped and screamed, but they 
remained fixed on Kennedy as he continued speaking, words that 
condemned violence and lawlessness.
  He said, and I add, ``For those of you who are black, considering the 
evidence evidently that there were white people who were responsible, 
you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for 
revenge. But,'' he added, ``what we need in the United States is not 
division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need 
is not violence and lawlessness, but love and wisdom, compassion toward 
one another. He asked those gathered to ``return home tonight to say a 
prayer for the family of Martin Luther King. Yeah, that's true, but 
more importantly, say a prayer for our country, which all of us love; a 
prayer for understanding and the compassion of which I spoke.''

                              {time}  1400

  After he spoke those words, rioting would break out in more than 100 
cities across the United States. But Indianapolis was peaceful. Robert 
Kennedy would go on to a tragic end of his own.
  But I rise today as an American shaped by the courage in the life of 
the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and I will remember tomorrow 
with gratitude his example. I will also say very humbly that the words 
of Robert Kennedy are as true today as ever, and that Muncie, Indiana, 
and the State of Indiana, will always be proud of the small role we 
played as a backdrop to those historic and tragic events.
  May the words of Robert Kennedy, may the example of the Reverend Dr. 
Martin Luther King, Jr., continue to inspire our Nation to aspire to a 
more perfect union.

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