[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.