Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

COMMEMORATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. -- (House of Representatives - April 01, 2008)

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Mr. COHEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This Friday, our Nation will recognize the 40th anniversary of a most infamous day in our country's history, the assassination of the great Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's impossible to speak about Dr. King without remembering his eloquence and powerful oratory. Dr. King brought his brilliant mind and God-given speech to bear against mighty forces, forces which were entrenched and interwoven so powerfully in the very fabric of our country that the task to overcome seemed nearly impossible. But he was not deterred. And even from the distance of 40 years, what Martin Luther King, Jr., accomplished in his short number of years on this earth is awe-inspiring. He started a march to justice that he still inspires and which moves toward fulfillment.

An assassin's shot rang out in Memphis, silencing a most beautiful and eloquent man, but it didn't silence his dream. He was a man who worked with Bayard Rustin to take Gandhi's principles of nonviolence and change a country through different forms of civil disobedience that had not been seen in this country successfully.

He brought a march to Washington that's still the greatest march known to this day, a collection of individuals demanding a change of course for this country. And he changed this country and changed, his force made this Congress and the President of the United States, at that time, Lyndon Johnson, change its course and bring about great civil rights legislation.

A man whose life and death continues to define our country and our world, his dream survives his death, and will continue to survive as long as we know what is good and just about our Nation.

The man could be killed, but not the dream. The dream lives in each of us. Though the fires of progress sometimes seem to dwindle to embers, each time we declare that all people are equal, each time we fight against discrimination and intolerance, and each time we speak truth to power, each time we do those things we fan the flame of Martin Luther King's dream and his purpose and his passion lives on in us.

Martin Luther King spoke truth to power, and that is a great thing.

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