[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 118, 108th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

Proclamation 7751 of January 15, 2004


 
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2004


By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, our Nation honors an
American who dedicated his life to the fundamental principles of
freedom, opportunity, and equal justice for all. Today, all Americans
benefit from Dr. King's work and his legacy of courage, dignity, and
moral clarity.
Forty years ago this past August, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,
Dr. King spoke passionately of his dream for America. He dreamed of an
America where all citizens would be judged by the content of their
character and not by the color of their skin. He dreamed of an America
where all would enjoy the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
He dreamed of an America where the doors of opportunity would be open to
all of God's children.
Dr. King's leadership moved Americans to examine our hearts--to reject
what he called the ``tranquilizing drug of gradualism''; on the path to
racial justice--and to live up to the ideals of our Constitution and
Declaration of Independence. America has come far in realizing Dr.
King's dream, but there is still work to be done. In remembering Dr.
King's vision and life of service, we renew our commitment to
guaranteeing the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness for all Americans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 19, 2004,
as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I encourage all
Americans to observe this day with appropriate activities and programs
that honor the memory and legacy of Dr. King.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of
January, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
eighth.
GEORGE W. BUSH
PROCLAMATION 7752--JAN. 15, 2004

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