Honoring Martin Luther King Jr

Heinrich: "Dr. King Believed in the Power of Non-Violence to Reinforce the Dignity of One Another and to Strengthen our Nation's Democracy"

U.S. Representative Martin Heinrich (NM-1) will deliver remarks at a ceremony to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Albuquerque on Saturday, January 15, 2011. Below are Rep. Heinrich's remarks as prepared for delivery:

In 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about the power of non-violence in standing up to the rage and intolerance that prevailed during that challenging time in our nation's history.

Non-violence, in his words, was not a method of cowardice, passiveness or complacency, but rather a type of spiritual strength against hate.

This afternoon, as we honor Dr. King and his teachings about non-violence, we stop to reflect on the loss that violence inflicted on our friends and neighbors in Arizona. Especially upon the friends and families of Federal Judge John M. Roll, Congressional Staffer Gabe Zimmerman, 9-year old Christina Taylor Green, wife of 55 years Dorothy Morris, Grandmother Phyllis Schneck, and avid church-volunteer Dorwan Stoddard.

As the parents of two young boys, and as friends of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, this senseless violence hit close to home for my wife Julie and me. My hope is that we can collectively transcend this moment with a more peaceful and respectful way forward.

Saturday's massacre devastated many innocent lives and it was an attack on our nation's Democratic process. That people across America would have to worry about violence as part of engaging in our sacred Democratic process is unthinkable.

We must honor the legacy of Saturday's victims by engaging in vigorous debate without compromising civility and respect for one another's dignity. Differences will never be abolished; they're part of what makes our American Democracy great.

But the novel idea of habitual non-violence that Dr. King spoke of, seeks to overcome the cycle of violence that controls, that intimidates, that deprives others of their rights, and that disheartens the courageous from participating in their Democracy.

Instead, like Dr. King, we continue to believe in something more powerful in the heart of each American -- a core respect for one another's human dignity.

More powerful than the shock and heartbreak of these events is our response and our collective compassion for the victims.

It's visible in our response to this tragedy and I would venture to say that in times like this, Americans' hearts are not hardened but rather awakened and moved by the suffering that was caused by the violence in Tucson.

We saw it in 1990 in our nation's response to the heroic young people of Tiananmen Square in China.

We saw it in our nation's response to Oklahoma City in 1995.

We saw it our nation's response on 9/11.

We saw it in how our own City united around those impacted by the tragic shooting at Emcore last July.

And we see it now in how our nation unites for the people of Tucson.

These senseless tragedies are devastating and painful but they also reveal something more powerful in each of us that unites the people of our nation.

Dr. King believed in that power of non-violence and called on us to strive to defend the frailty of human lives.

He believed in the power of non-violence to reinforce the dignity of one another and to strengthen our nation's Democracy.

He believed that through the practice of nonviolence in our words, in our actions and in our hearts, that we could move our nation "from the bleak and desolate midnight of man's inhumanity to man, to the bright and glittering daybreak of freedom and justice."

Today, let us honor Dr. King's Dream, let us honor the victims and heroes of Tucson, and let us strive to rekindle that which unites us as a nation.

Thank you.

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