IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 798 

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin 

Luther King, Jr., through the teaching of nonviolence. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2018 

Mr. CAPUANO submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination 

of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., through the teaching 

of nonviolence. 

Whereas, on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was 

assassinated in his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee; 

Whereas Dr. King helped our Nation understand what it 

means to love our neighbor, no matter the color of his 

or her skin; 

Whereas Dr. King taught our Nation to recognize the evils 

of racism that persisted in our laws and practices more 

than one hundred years after the abolition of slavery; 


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•HRES 798 IH 

Whereas Dr. King sought to achieve justice and reconciliation 

through peaceful means and inspired millions of others to 

do so also, earning him the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize; 

Whereas in his book, ‘‘Stride Toward Freedom’’, Dr. King espoused six principles of nonviolence— 

(1) nonviolence ‘‘is not a method for cowards; it does 

resist’’; 

(2) nonviolence ‘‘does not seek to defeat or humiliate 

the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding’’; 

(3) nonviolence ‘‘is directed against the forces of evil 

rather than against persons who happen to be doing the 

evil’’; 

(4) nonviolence ‘‘is a willingness to accept suffering 

without retaliation’’; 

(5) nonviolence ‘‘avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of the spirit’’; and 

(6) nonviolence ‘‘is based on the conviction that the 

universe is on the side of justice’’; 

Whereas Dr. King’s efforts and leadership helped bring about 

the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 

1965, and just days after his death, the Civil Rights Act 

of 1968, some of the most significant legislation ever 

passed by Congress; 

Whereas, in 1986, a Federal holiday was established in Dr. 

King’s honor, and is now celebrated in many cities across 

the United States as a day for volunteer service; 

Whereas Dr. King’s memory is cherished along with other 

great preachers of nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi and 

Nelson Mandela, and a statue in his honor was placed 

among the Christian Martyrs of the Twentieth Century 

in Westminster Abbey; 


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•HRES 798 IH 

Whereas half a century after his death, the United States has 

made progress on the racial issues Dr. King dedicated his 

life to, but much more work must be done; and 

Whereas no assassin could silence him, because his words and 

his example will live as long as free men and women remember him: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the lessons Dr. Martin Luther 

3 King, Jr., sought to leave with us, both in his life 

4 and his death, that nonviolent action can be an im5 portant force for social and political change; 

6 (2) recognizes the importance of teaching the 

7 next generation the importance of exercising their 

8 constitutional rights to free speech, assembly, and 

9 association; and 

10 (3) encourages all States and local school dis11 tricts to incorporate into their educational cur12 riculum the study of nonviolence into the teaching of 

13 history and civics, in the context of both United 

14 States and global history. 

Æ 


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