[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 15 (Thursday, January 23, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3441-3442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1743]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 15 / Thursday, January 23, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 3441]]

                Proclamation 6967 of January 17, 1997

                
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                People throughout the world celebrate the birthday of 
                Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a tribute to his 
                shining example of love and justice.

                Dr. King was a man of clear and powerful vision who 
                offered an uncompromising message of brotherhood and 
                hope at a time when violence and racial intolerance 
                tore at the seams of our Nation. In addressing these 
                ills, he often referred to what he called the 
                ``magnificent words'' of the Declaration of 
                Independence, which proclaimed that ``all men are 
                created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator 
                with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are 
                Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'' He 
                declared these words to be ``a promissory note to which 
                every American was to fall heir,'' and upon which 
                payment could no longer be delayed. Dr. King's struggle 
                made it possible for all of us to move closer to the 
                ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and 
                in our Constitution.

                Although ours is the most successful multiracial, 
                multicultural society in human history, in the words of 
                Dr. King, ``our work is not yet done.'' We have not yet 
                fully realized Dr. King's dream of a Nation of full 
                opportunity, genuine equality, and consistent fair play 
                for all.

                Every citizen must rise to meet that challenge because 
                America's promise of freedom and opportunity cannot 
                truly be realized for any of us until it is realized 
                for every one of us. We all have an obligation to reach 
                out to one another--across the artificial barriers of 
                race, gender, religion, class, and age--so that each 
                member of our society shares fully in the promise of 
                the American Dream.

                In the spring of 1963, Dr. King was arrested in 
                Birmingham, Alabama, while protesting discrimination in 
                public accommodations and employment. From his jail 
                cell, he wrote of his faith that ultimately what was 
                good in America would prevail over fear and prejudice:

                We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all 
                over the nation, because the goal of America is 
                freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our 
                destiny is tied up with the destiny of America. . . . 
                We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of 
                our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in 
                our echoing demands.

                As I begin my second term as the last President of the 
                20th century, I ask each American to work with me to 
                usher in a new era of hope, reconciliation, and 
                fellowship among all our people--rich and poor, young 
                and old, and men and women of every race. I urge all 
                Americans to put intolerance behind us, seek common 
                ground, and strive for justice and community in our 
                Nation.

[[Page 3442]]

                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 20, 1997, as 
                the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I call 
                upon the people of the United States to observe this 
                occasion with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
                activities.

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-1743
Filed 1-22-97; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P