WHEREAS,  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister and activist who was the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1968; and

WHEREAS,  Dr. King advocated the furtherance of civil and human rights for Americans through nonviolent acts of civil disobedience, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, and the Selma to Montgomery marches; and

WHEREAS,  for his tireless work to ensure equality and justice, Dr. King in October 1964 received the Nobel Peace Prize, a high and honorable distinction; and

WHEREAS,  his eloquence, his perseverance and his faith moved the Nation and brought about sweeping changes by appealing to the better instincts and consciences of his fellow human beings; and

WHEREAS,  in 1968, Dr. King was planning a national effort, called the Poor People's Campaign, to gain economic justice for impoverished people in the United States; and

WHEREAS,  Dr. King was in Memphis, Tennessee in April 1968 to support sanitary public works employees who had been on strike for higher wages and better treatment, and on April 3, 1968 delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address, calling for unity, economic actions, boycotts and nonviolent protest while challenging the United States to live up to its ideals; and

WHEREAS,  Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968, an event in which the Nation lost its greatest peacemaker; now, therefore, be it