[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 803-804]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               THE LEGACY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, what an interesting coincidence. We are 
here today to hear from the President of the United States, President

[[Page 804]]

Barack Obama, on his State of the Union.
  Just yesterday, millions of Americans honored together the legacy and 
the message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I rise today to emphasize 
that Dr. King's message was not a message for one particular ethnic or 
racial or religious group, but as I have reflected over the years, he 
equals the original values of this Nation.
  The Constitution begins by saying we have come to order a more 
perfect Union. It is a small document. The Bill of Rights gives flesh 
to the bones of the Constitution because it gives us the freedom of 
religion and speech and access and the ability to move around, and the 
right to a jury trial and the right to due process and the right to 
dignity, and it freed the slaves.
  But it also is a document that can free us from the biases that 
sometimes come because of isolation, and that was Dr. King. He sought 
for America her higher angels. He wanted her to be able to be true to 
her values. For those who fled persecution in faraway places, he wanted 
America to be that place that did not see color, religion, ethnicity, 
did not see differences because one was disabled or gay or straight, 
but really saw us in an equal manner.
  He marched for all people, and I would hope that as we begin this 
session of Congress, as we listen to the President of the United 
States, who literally stands on the shoulders of Dr. Martin Luther 
King--for it was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 where many lost their 
lives and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 where a young woman by the name 
of Viola Liuzzo died right after the Selma march. As she was bringing 
back those protestors and marchers, she was shot dead. She was a white 
woman from Michigan. And so I pay tribute to Dr. King today, and I look 
forward to listening to the President's message that will hopefully be 
a message of hope and the opportunities for America to work together.
  At the same time, I remember my own community. I pay tribute to a 
place called Freedmen's Town, founded by former slaves, and Camp Logan, 
a place where Black soldiers were isolated in World War I, but they had 
on the uniform of this country.
  I pay tribute to Christie Adair, Zollie Scales, C. Anderson Davis, 
Reverend F.N. Williams, and, as well, S.J. Gilbert, Reverend J.J. 
Roberson, and many others who have walked the pathway, the leaders of 
the NAACP, the leaders of the Urban League, and many of our seniors who 
came to us to give us knowledge through their sacrifices of World War 
II, to the Buffalo Soldiers that we see in our community all the time, 
and to those who have put on the uniform through the ages. All of those 
persons combined make up the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, who 
leaves us with the most important statement: ``injustice anywhere is a 
threat to justice everywhere.''
  As we now go on our new journey, let us look to respect our law 
enforcement but also look, as we stand alongside of the men and women 
in blue, that we also find a way to be able to bring justice and 
opportunity and, as well, fairness to the criminal justice system.
  It takes all of us to be able to get that system right side up: our 
law enforcement officers and their training, and then, of course, the 
judicial system.
  Let us look forward in Dr. King's spirit of coming together, no 
matter what our race, color, or creed, whatever our body says to do, to 
be able to do what is right.
  I said to young people when I was speaking about Dr. King this 
weekend, I used one simple theme: he had a humble courage, a quiet 
courage. He had to make decisions in the quietness of his own presence 
and his own space to say, ``I am willing to do what is right even 
though there may be danger.''
  He never announced and never spoke about words that dealt with his 
own personal courage. He did say that he had a peace that would allow 
him to see the promised land and to acknowledge to us that he might not 
get there with us, but he knew that we as a people--and I take that 
``we'' as the American people--will get there some day.
  Let us together fix Ferguson and the many Fergusons around the 
Nation. Let us bring comfort to parents all around this Nation. Let us 
be reminded of Dr. King's spirit, not just in this weekend of 
activities and respect and honor, but let us do it always.
  I close by simply saying, thank you at home to Mr. Ovide Duncantell. 
Mr. Duncantell has been the visionary for our efforts in Houston on 
honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. He first met with Daddy King and named 
the street, and then we were able successfully, with Federal funds and 
working with Mr. Duncantell, to place a Martin Luther King memorial, 
the first built outside of Washington, D.C., in the last 10 years. We 
are excited about it. We know that his spirit is not in bricks and 
mortar; it is living within us.

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