[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 46 (Monday, November 20, 2006)]
[Pages 2046-2048]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Martin Luther King, Jr., 
National Memorial

November 13, 2006

    Thank you all very much. I'm honored to join you today in today's 
ceremony. I'm proud to dedicate this piece of our Nation's Capital to 
the lasting memory of a great man.
    We have gathered in tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, to the ideals 
he held, and to the life he lived. Dr. King showed us that a life of 
conscience and purpose can lift up many souls. And on this ground, a 
monument will rise that preserves his legacy for the ages. Honoring Dr. 
King's legacy requires more than building a monument; it required the 
ongoing commitment of every American. So we will continue to work for 
the day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected and 
the American promise is denied to no one.
    This project has been over a decade in the making, and I thank those 
who have worked to bring about this day. I particularly want to thank my 
predecessor, the man who signed the legislation to create this memorial, 
President Bill Clinton. It sounds like to me they haven't forgotten you 
yet. [Laughter] He's become, as you know, my fourth brother. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Harry Johnson. I appreciate the members of my 
Cabinet who are here. I welcome the Members of Congress. I thank my 
mayor, Tony Williams, who is here. I'm proud to be with the members of 
the King family. I thank the representatives of the community and civil 
rights groups who have joined us. I thank the Martin Luther King, Jr., 
National Memorial Project Foundation board members and executive 
cabinet. Most of all, thank you all for coming.
    Our Declaration of Independence makes it clear that the human right 
to dignity and equality is not a grant of government. It is the gift 
from the Author of Life. And Martin Luther King considered the 
Declaration one of America's great, as he called it, ``charters of 
freedom.'' He called our Founders' words, ``a promise that all men--yes, 
black men, as well as white men--would be guaranteed the unalienable 
right of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness.''
    Throughout Dr. King's life, he continued to trust in the power of 
those words, even when the practice of America did not live up to their 
promise. When Martin Luther King came to Washington, DC, in the summer 
of 1963, he came to hold this Nation to its own standards and to call 
its citizens to live up to the principles of our founding. He stood not 
far from here, on the steps of

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the Lincoln Memorial. With thousands gathered around him, Dr. King 
looked out over the American Capital and declared his famous words, ``I 
have a dream.''
    His dream spread a message of hope that echoed from his hometown of 
Sweet Auburn, Georgia, to the pulpit of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church to 
the Edmund Pettus Bridge. An assassin's bullet could not shatter the 
dream. Dr. King's message of justice and brotherhood took hold in the 
hearts of men and women across the great land of ours. It continues to 
inspire millions across the world.
    As we break ground, we give Martin Luther King his rightful place 
among the great Americans honored on our National Mall. The King 
Memorial will span a piece of ground between the Jefferson and Lincoln 
Memorials. And by its presence in this place, it will unite the men who 
declared the promise of America and defended the promise of America with 
the man who redeemed the promise of America.
    The memorial will reflect the arc of Dr. King's life, his search for 
justice, and the enduring beauty of his words. The memorial will include 
a wall where visitors can read passages from Dr. King's sermons and 
speeches through a stream of water. And on the banks of the Potomac, 
visitors will walk from the Mountain of Despair to the Stone of Hope, 
where Dr. King's image is rendered.
    Today we see only these open acres, yet we know that when the work 
is done, the King Memorial will be a fitting tribute, powerful and 
hopeful and poetic, like the man it honors. As we break ground, we 
remember the great obstacles that Dr. King overcame and the courage that 
transformed American history. The years of Martin Luther King's life 
were tumultuous, difficult, and an heroic time in the life of our 
country. Across our Nation, African Americans faced daily cruelties and 
pervasive wrongs. In 1955, a woman, Rosa Parks, challenged these wrongs 
on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, when she refused a driver's order to 
give her seat to a white man. Her act of defiance inspired a young 
Baptist minister and changed our Nation forever.
    Within days of Rosa Parks's lonely protest, Dr. King helped organize 
a boycott that captured the attention of our country. When Dr. King's 
leadership--with Dr. King's leadership, the boycott forced America to 
confront the glaring contradiction between the sign on the bus and the 
words of our Declaration of Independence. And on this date, exactly 50 
years ago, the Supreme Court ruled the segregation of public buses 
unconstitutional. And so today we celebrate the courage that won 
victories and helped spark one of the greatest movements for equality 
and freedom in American history.
    Eventually, the civil rights movement would succeed in persuading 
Congress to pass sweeping legislation that represented a new founding 
for our Nation. On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil 
Rights Act at the White House. As of that date, no longer could weary 
travelers be denied a room in a hotel or a table at a restaurant on 
account of their race. And no longer could any American be forced to 
drink from a separate water fountain or sit at the back of the bus just 
because of their race.
    Dr. King liked to say that our Civil Rights Act was written in the 
streets by citizens who marched for the idea that all men are created 
equal. He was right; yet there is no doubting that the law came as it 
did when it did because of the courage and leadership of Martin Luther 
King.
    As we break ground, we recognize our duty to continue the unfinished 
work of American freedom. America has come a long way since Dr. King's 
day, yet our journey to justice is not complete. There are still people 
in our society who hurt; neighborhoods are too poor. There are still 
children who do not get the education they need to fulfill their God-
given potential. There's still prejudice that holds citizens back. And 
there's still a need for all Americans to hear the words of Dr. King so 
we can hasten the day when his message of hope takes hold in every 
community across our country.
    We go forward with the knowledge that the Creator who wrote the 
desire for liberty in our hearts also gives us the strength and wisdom 
to fulfill it. We go forward with trust that God, who has brought us 
thus far on the way, will give us the strength to finish

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the journey. And we go forward with the confidence that no matter how 
difficult the challenge, if we remain true to our founding principles, 
America will overcome.
    Dr. King was on this Earth just 39 years, but the ideas that guided 
his work and his life are eternal. Here in this place, we will raise a 
lasting memorial to those eternal truths. So in the presence of his 
family, his coworkers in freedom's cause, and those who carry on his 
legacy today, I'm proud to dedicate this ground on behalf of the 
American people as the site of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:07 a.m. on the National Mall. In his 
remarks, he referred to Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president and chief 
executive officer, Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National 
Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.; and Mayor Anthony A. Williams of 
Washington, DC.