[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 2 (Monday, January 18, 1993)]
[Pages 33-34]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6524--Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 1993

 January 11, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    By setting aside a day in honor of the late Reverend Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., our Nation reaffirms its commitment to the noble goals 
for which he labored and eventually gave his life: equal opportunity and 
justice for all.
    Throughout his quest to end racial segregation in the United States 
and to promote understanding and respect among all people, Martin Luther 
King urged America to fulfill its promise--and its potential--as a 
Nation dedicated to the belief ``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.''
    Always mindful of those words from our Declaration of Independence, 
Dr. King

[[Page 34]]

viewed his work as a must-win struggle for the soul and future of the 
Nation. He knew that efforts to promote far-reaching social change, in a 
peaceful, nonviolent manner, would require patience, determination, and 
sacrifice. Yet, despite experiencing stubborn opposition, imprisonment, 
and even threats to his life, he also believed that the civil rights 
movement would prevail. ``We will reach the goal of freedom in 
Birmingham and all over the Nation,'' he wrote to his followers from 
jail, ``because the goal of America is freedom. . . . our destiny is 
tied up with America's destiny.''
    With his inspired leadership and eloquent appeals to all who would 
listen, Martin Luther King set in motion a ground swell of change in the 
United States. The Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 
1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were critical milestones in the 
fight for equality under the law. Although Dr. King's assassination in 
1968 at the age of 39 prevented his living to see the fulfillment of his 
dreams for America, his legacy has continued to challenge and inspire 
us. Over the years the United States has continued to eliminate legal 
and attitudinal barriers that have, in the past, limited opportunities 
on the basis of race. We must go on striving to realize Dr. King's 
vision of an America where individuals are ``not judged by the color of 
their skin but by the content of their character.''
    While government plays a critical role in the fight against 
discrimination through the enforcement of civil rights laws and its own 
hiring practices, our efforts to promote racial harmony and justice in 
the United States must begin at home. Martin Luther King described the 
family as the ``main educational agency of mankind,'' and it is within 
the family that we must first teach lessons about love and fairness, 
decency and kindness, and the difference between right and wrong. We 
honor the legacy of Martin Luther King when we show our children, by 
word and example, what it means to lead ``a committed life''--a life 
dedicated to excellence and to the service of one's fellowman. We equip 
our children for such a life when we encourage them to recognize their 
own self-worth, as well as the inherent rights and worth of others. 
``Every man is somebody,'' declared Dr. King, ``because he is a child of 
God.''
    A minister by vocation, Martin Luther King sought righteous hearts 
as well as just laws. He warned that humankind suffered from ``a poverty 
of the spirit which stands in stark contrast to our scientific and 
technological abundance.'' In this last decade of the 20th century, as 
we marvel at the historic achievements of the past 100 years and 
anticipate the many to come, let us enrich our children with a wealth of 
encouragement, hope, and moral guidance--and with living examples of 
racial comity and friendship.
    By Public Law 98-144, the third Monday in January of each year has 
been designated as a legal public holiday.
    Now, Therefore, I, George 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 18, 1993, 
as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of 
January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-three, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
seventeenth.
                                                   George Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:27 a.m., January 12, 
1993]


Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on January 
13.