[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 12 (Thursday, January 18, 2001)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 5417-5418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1735]



[[Page 5415]]

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Part XVI





The President





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Proclamation 7390--Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2001



Executive Order 13188--Amendment to Executive Order 13111, Extension of 
the Advisory Committee on Expanding Training Opportunities
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 5417]]

                Proclamation 7390 of January 12, 2001

                
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2001

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Seventy-two years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr., was 
                born into a sharply divided Nation, a place where the 
                color of a child's skin too often determined that 
                child's destiny. America was a place where segregation 
                and discrimination put limits on a black child's 
                dreams, opportunities, and future.

                Dr. King led America to a better place. With eloquence, 
                he articulated the struggles and hopes of generations 
                of African Americans. With the power of his leadership, 
                he rallied Americans of every race and creed to join 
                together in the march for justice. With courage, 
                conviction, and faith in God, he sought to make real in 
                everyday practice--in schools, in the workplace, in 
                public accommodations, and in the hearts and minds of 
                his fellow citizens--the civil rights victories that 
                had been won in the courts.

                Although his life was cruelly cut short before his 
                mission was complete, he helped put our Nation firmly 
                on the right path, where the ideals of liberty, 
                equality, brotherhood, and justice are not merely words 
                on a page, but values honored by all. ``Our freedom was 
                not won a century ago,'' he said in 1968, ``it is not 
                won today; but some small part of it is in our hands, 
                and we are marching no longer by ones and twos but in 
                legions of thousands, convinced now it cannot be denied 
                by any human force.''

                It is up to each of us to continue that march. The 
                gallant freedom riders and freedom fighters of the 
                civil rights era are growing older, and many, like 
                Martin Luther King, Jr., are no longer among us. But 
                their work must go on. There are still too many in our 
                Nation who do not share equally in America's 
                prosperity; minority unemployment and poverty rates, 
                while decreasing, are still far above the national 
                average; and the technical skills and resources needed 
                for success in the global economy are still out of 
                reach for hundreds of thousands of young Americans 
                growing up in disadvantaged communities.

                I encourage my fellow Americans to use this holiday, 
                dedicated to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 
                and to his spirit of service, not as a day off, but 
                rather as a day to make a difference in the lives of 
                others--an opportunity to recognize where we have 
                fallen short, to reach out to those who have been left 
                behind, and to remove the barriers that keep us from 
                becoming the promised land that Dr. King envisioned.

                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 15, 2001, as 
                the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I call 
                upon all Americans to observe this occasion with 
                appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities in 
                honor of Dr. King's life and achievements and in 
                response to his call to service.

[[Page 5418]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand one, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 01-1735
Filed 1-17-01; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P