IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 71 

Observing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2019 

Mr. LEWIS (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. ALLRED, Mrs. AXNE, Mrs. BEATTY, 

Mr. BEYER, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, 

Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, 

Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. 

HASTINGS, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. JOHNSON

of Georgia, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. 

LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mrs. MURPHY, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. PRESSLEY, 

Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SUOZZI, 

Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Observing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. 

Whereas Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., was born 

January 15, 1929; 

Whereas Dr. King attended segregated public schools in 

Georgia, and began attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 15; 


khammond on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS
2 

•HRES 71 IH 

Whereas, in February 1948, Dr. King was ordained in the 

Christian ministry at the age of 19 at Ebenezer Baptist 

Church, in Atlanta, Georgia, and became assistant pastor 

of Ebenezer Baptist Church; 

Whereas Dr. King earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1948 

from Morehouse College, a bachelor of divinity degree in 

1951 from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, 

and a doctor of philosophy degree in theology in 1955 

from Boston University; 

Whereas, in Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. King met Coretta 

Scott, his life partner and fellow civil rights activist; 

Whereas, on June 18, 1953, Dr. King and Coretta Scott were 

married and later had two sons and two daughters; 

Whereas, in 1954, Dr. King accepted the call of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and was 

pastor from September 1954 to November 1959, when he 

resigned to move back to Atlanta to lead the Southern 

Christian Leadership Conference; 

Whereas Dr. King led the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott 

for 381 days to protest the arrest of Rosa Parks and the 

segregation of the bus system of Montgomery, during 

which time Dr. King was arrested and the home of Dr. 

King was bombed; 

Whereas Dr. King responded to arrests and violence with 

nonviolence and courage in the face of hatred; 

Whereas the Montgomery bus boycott was the first great 

nonviolent civil rights demonstration of contemporary 

times in the United States; 

Whereas, on December 13, 1956, the Supreme Court declared laws requiring segregation on buses unconstitutional; 


khammond on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS
3 

•HRES 71 IH 

Whereas, between 1957 and 1968, Dr. King traveled more 

than 6,000,000 miles, spoke more than 2,500 times, and 

wrote 5 books and numerous articles supporting efforts 

around the country to end injustice and bring about social change and desegregation; 

Whereas from 1960 until his death in 1968, Dr. King was 

co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church; 

Whereas, on August 28, 1963, Dr. King led the March on 

Washington, DC, the largest rally of the civil rights 

movement, during which, from the steps of the Lincoln 

Memorial and before a crowd of more than 200,000 people, Dr. King delivered his famous ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ 

speech, one of the classic orations in American history; 

Whereas Dr. King was a champion of nonviolence, fervently 

advocated nonviolent resistance as the strategy to end 

segregation and racial discrimination in America, and in 

1964, at age 35, became the youngest man to be awarded 

the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for his efforts; 

Whereas through his work and reliance on nonviolent protest, 

Dr. King was instrumental in the passage of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; 

Whereas the work of Dr. King created a basis of understanding and respect and helped communities, and the 

United States as a whole, to act cooperatively and courageously to restore tolerance, justice, and equality between 

people; 

Whereas, on the evening of April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel 

room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead sanitation workers in protest against low wages and intolerable working conditions; 


khammond on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS
4 

•HRES 71 IH 

Whereas Dr. King dedicated his life to securing the fundamental principles of the United States of liberty and justice for all United States citizens; 

Whereas Dr. King was the leading civil rights advocate of his 

time, spearheading the civil rights movement in the 

United States during the 1950s and 1960s and earning 

worldwide recognition as an eloquent and articulate 

spokesperson for equality; 

Whereas in the face of hatred and violence, Dr. King 

preached a doctrine of nonviolence and civil disobedience 

to combat segregation, discrimination, and racial injustice, and believed that people have the moral capacity to 

care for other people; 

Whereas Dr. King awakened the conscience and consciousness of the United States and used his message of hope 

to bring people together to build the ‘‘Beloved Community’’, a community of justice, at peace with itself; 

Whereas, in 1968, former Representative John Conyers introduced legislation to establish the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., as a Federal holiday; 

Whereas Coretta Scott King led the massive campaign to establish Dr. King’s birthday as a Federal holiday; 

Whereas, in 1983, Congress passed and President Ronald 

Reagan signed legislation creating the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, which is now observed in 

more than 100 countries; 

Whereas Dr. King’s wife and indispensable partner, Coretta 

Scott King, was a woman of quiet courage and great dignity who marched alongside her husband and became an 

international advocate for peace and human rights; 


khammond on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS
5 

•HRES 71 IH 

Whereas Coretta Scott King, who had been actively engaged 

in the civil rights movement as a politically and socially 

conscious young woman, continued after her husband’s 

death to lead the United States toward greater justice 

and equality, traveling the world on behalf of racial and 

economic justice, peace and nonviolence, women’s and 

children’s rights, gay rights, religious freedom, full employment, health care, and education until her death on 

January 30, 2006; 

Whereas the values of faith, compassion, courage, truth, justice, and nonviolence that guided Dr. and Mrs. King’s 

dream for America will be celebrated and preserved by 

the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial on the 

National Mall and in the Smithsonian National Museum 

of African American History and Culture; 

Whereas Dr. King’s actions and leadership made the United 

States a better place and the American people a better 

people; 

Whereas 45 years after Dr. King delivered his historic ‘‘I 

Have a Dream’’ speech, millions of United States citizens 

gathered on the National Mall on January 20, 2009, to 

witness the historic inauguration of the 44th President of 

the United States, Barack Obama, the first AfricanAmerican President of the United States; 

Whereas the historic inauguration of President Barack 

Obama dramatized the change that Dr. King helped to 

usher in for the creation of a more perfect Union; 

Whereas, in 2018, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National 

Historic Park became the first national historic park in 

the State of Georgia; and 


khammond on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS
6 

•HRES 71 IH 

Whereas the work to realize Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 

vision of the Beloved Community continues to this day: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) observes the 90th birthday of Martin Lu3 ther King, Jr.; 

4 (2) pledges to advance the legacy of Dr. Martin 

5 Luther King, Jr.; and 

6 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

7 to— 

8 (A) observe the 90th birthday of Martin 

9 Luther King, Jr., and the life of Dr. King; 

10 (B) commemorate the legacy of Dr. King, 

11 so that, as Dr. King hoped, ‘‘one day this Na12 tion will rise up and live out the true meaning 

13 of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evi14 dent; that all men are created equal’ ’’; and 

15 (C) remember the message of Dr. King 

16 and rededicate themselves to Dr. King’s goal of 

17 a free and just United States. 

Æ 


khammond on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS