    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 3 (Monday, January 21, 2002)]
    [Pages 86-87]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 7518--Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2002

     January 17, 2002

     By the President of the United States

     of America

     A Proclamation

        For too brief a time, our Nation was blessed by the life of Dr.
    Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a modern American hero whose
    leadership rallied people of all races to rise up against injustice. His
    commitment to stand peacefully for the conviction that all men are
    created equal brought about changes in the laws of our Nation, and he
    paid the ultimate price for the courage he demonstrated in attempting to
    ensure that all men and women were treated equally in the eyes of the
    law and by their fellow citizens. It is with a great sense of pride and
    gratitude that we celebrate this 17th national holiday in honor of Dr.
    King's life and work. Let us take this opportunity to recall his vision
    and renew his call for equal justice for all.
        We enter this new year and this annual celebration with a revived
    national spirit. The events of September 11, 2001, have drawn us closer
    as a Nation and increased our resolve to protect the life and liberty we
    cherish. And while our patriotism and neighborly affections run high,
    these circumstances have given us renewed purpose in rededicating
    ourselves to Dr. King's ``dream.'' As he said on the steps of the
    Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963: ``I have a dream my four little
    children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by
    the color of their skin but by content of their character.'' Dr. King's
    words were not just a call to change our laws, but they also served as a
    challenge to all Americans to change their hearts by refusing to judge
    people by their skin color or their national origin, by their race or
    their religion. For while we have made progress, there is much work to
    be done, both at home and abroad.

    [[Page 87]]

        In the face of massive injustice, Dr. King's unwavering commitment
    to nonviolent means of bringing the people of our Nation together
    provided a foundation for healing and trust. That trust brought us
    through our recent tragedy as we reached out to each other without
    regard to race or religion. Dr. King spent his life working for those
    who held the uncelebrated jobs in our communities--people who simply
    performed their work with dignity and pride. The words from his Nobel
    Peace Prize acceptance speech of 1964, spoken about the workers in the
    freedom movement, still ring true for those men and women who
    unselfishly attempted to rescue innocent persons in the World Trade
    Center buildings and at the Pentagon:
         Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names
          will not appear in Who's Who. Yet when years have rolled past and
          when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age
          in which we live--men and women will know and children will be
          taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble
          civilization--because these humble children of God were willing to
          suffer for righteousness' sake.
        We are so thankful for those ``humble children of God,'' and we are
    thankful for the life and times of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His
    abiding faith in America has helped us become a fairer and more
    colorblind society.
         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 21,
    2002, as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I encourage
    Americans to observe this day with appropriate community programs,
    gatherings, and civic activities that honor the memory and the legacy of
    Dr. King.
         In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth
    day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
    sixth.
                                                    George W. Bush

     [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., January 23,
    2002]

    Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press
    Secretary on January 18, and it will be published in the Federal
    Register on January 24.