IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 246 
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘‘Be-
yond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence’’ sermon condemning the Viet-
nam War and calling for a true revolution of values in the United 
States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 4, 2017 
Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Ms. EDDIE 
BERNICE
JOHNSON
of Texas, Mr. EVANS, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. 
PLASKETT, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Ms. LEE, Mr. RUSH, Ms. BASS, Ms. MOORE, Ms. SEWELL 
of Alabama, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. COHEN, 
Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, Mr. CLAY, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Geor-
gia, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. 
CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 
WILSON of Florida, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mrs. DINGELL, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. 
CLEAVER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. ELLI-
SON, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. LAWSON 
of Florida, and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr.’s ‘‘Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence’’ 
sermon condemning the Vietnam War and calling for 
a true revolution of values in the United States. 
Whereas, on April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil 
rights icon and one of the greatest leaders in our Na-
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•HRES 246 IH 
tion’s history, issued his ‘‘Beyond Vietnam: A Time To 
Break Silence’’ sermon to an overflow crowd at the Riv-
erside Church in New York City regarding the participa-
tion of the United States in the War in Vietnam and the 
consequences of the war on the movement for civil rights 
and for our Nation as a whole; 
Whereas in the sermon, Dr. King presented a powerful case 
for an end to the war in Vietnam, stating ‘‘We must stop 
now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suf-
fering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is 
being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose 
culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor in Amer-
ica who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at 
home, and dealt death and corruption in Vietnam. I 
speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands 
aghast at the path we have taken.’’; 
Whereas Dr. King recognized the challenges inherent in 
speaking out against our own Nation’s foreign policy, 
stating that ‘‘Even when pressed by the demands of inner 
truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing 
their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor 
does the human spirit move without great difficulty 
against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s 
own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, 
when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often 
do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on 
the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But we 
must move on. Some of us who have already begun to 
break the silence of the night have found that the calling 
to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must 
speak.’’; 
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