[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 1994)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 2723-2724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-1326]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 18, 1994]


_______________________________________________________________________

Part X





The President





_______________________________________________________________________



Proclamation 6645--
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 1994


                        Presidential Documents 


Federal Register
Vol. 59, No. 11
Tuesday, January 18, 1994

____________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President
                Proclamation 6645 of January 14, 1994

 
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 1994

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr., was born, 
                destined to make our world a greater and more noble 
                one. Growing up in a landscape disfigured with 
                ``Colored Only'' and ``White Only'' signs and a society 
                rife with other demeaning racial barriers and 
                distinctions, Martin Luther King, Jr., sadly learned 
                that the Constitution's guarantee of equality was 
                denied to most black Americans. He dedicated his life 
                to ending the injustice of racism, gracing the world 
                with his vision of a land guided by love instead of 
                hatred and by acceptance instead of intolerance.

                Three decades ago, Dr. King described his goals most 
                eloquently in his famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech at 
                the historic Civil Rights March on Washington. The 
                impassioned plea that rose from the steps of the 
                Lincoln Memorial that summer day stirred the entire 
                Nation, awakening people everywhere to turn from the 
                scourge of racism to embrace the promise of opportunity 
                and democracy for all. He prophetically described a 
                future in which our children are judged ``not by the 
                color of their skin, but by the content of their 
                character.'' His unparalleled commitment to justice and 
                nonviolence challenged us to look deeply within 
                ourselves to find the roots of racism.

                Throughout his all too brief life, Martin Luther King, 
                Jr., often confronted powerful and even violent 
                opposition, sacrificing his liberty, his personal 
                safety, and, ultimately, his life for the cause of 
                freedom. Though an assassin's bullet silenced him 
                forever at the young age of 39, Dr. King's words and 
                deeds continue to live on within each of us. We, the 
                inheritors of the fundamental rights he helped to 
                secure, are forever grateful for his legacy.

                Today, we live in a nation that is stronger because of 
                Dr. King's work. Unfortunately, there is still much 
                division in this great land. Even though the signs that 
                once segregated our communities have been removed, we 
                are still far from achieving the world for which Dr. 
                King struggled, toiled, and bled. He did not live and 
                die to create a world in which people kill each other 
                with reckless abandon. He did not live and die to see 
                families destroyed, to see communities abandoned, and 
                to see hope disappear. If we are to be faithful to Dr. 
                King's vision, we must each seize responsibility for 
                realizing the goals he worked so tirelessly to fulfill. 
                Dr. King's valiant struggle for true equality will be 
                won, not by the fleeting passion of eloquent words, but 
                by the quiet persistence of individual acts of decency, 
                justice, and human kindness. We must carry the power of 
                his wisdom with us, not only by celebrating his 
                birthday, but also by inscribing its meaning upon our 
                hearts, teaching our children the value and 
                significance of every human being.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim Monday, January 17, 1994, as 
                the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I call 
                upon the people of the United States to observe the 
                occasion with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
                activities.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and eighteenth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)>

[FR Doc. 94-1326
Filed 1-14-94; 11:26 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P