[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 20, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 2991-2992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-1374]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 20, 1999 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 2991]]
Proclamation 7163 of January 15, 1999
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 1999
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
January 15 would have marked the 70th birthday of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., a man of great vision and
moral purpose whose dream for our Nation set into
motion such powerful, sweeping changes that their
impact is still being felt today. While he was taken
from us too soon, we still have with us the gifts of
his vision, convictions, eloquence, and example. We
still hear the echo of his voice telling us that
``Life's most persistent and urgent question is, `What
are you doing for others?'''
We know what Dr. King did for others. He energized and
mobilized a generation of Americans, black and white,
to join in the struggle for civil rights, to respond to
violence, hatred, and unjust incarceration with the
spirit of peace, love, and righteousness. He taught us
that we could not claim America as the land of justice,
freedom, and equality as long as millions of our
citizens continually and systematically faced
discriminatory and oppressive treatment. He challenged
us to recognize that the fundamental rights of all
Americans are forever interconnected, for ``we are
caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in
a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one
directly, affects all indirectly.''
Martin Luther King, Jr., awakened America's conscience
to the immorality of racism. He was the driving force
behind the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of
1968. For African Americans, this landmark legislation
meant that the opportunity for a quality education
would no longer be impossible, the levers of the voting
booth would no longer be out of reach, and the purchase
of a dream home would no longer be unattainable.
Millions of Americans--of every race and background and
culture--live brighter lives today because of Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King's dream of unity for America did not die with
him. Today, as our Nation becomes increasingly
multiracial and multiethnic, his compelling vision is
more important than ever, and the means for realizing
it are now within our reach. This past year, as part of
my Initiative on Race, Americans across the country
participated in thousands of honest and open
conversations about race in a sincere effort to heal
our divisions and move toward genuine reconciliation.
We learned much about the roots of prejudice; but more
important, we learned much about how to overcome it. In
community after community, in every field of endeavor
from sports and education to business and religion, we
discovered organizations and programs that have
succeeded in bridging gaps between people of different
races and cultures. These promising practices offer us
both realistic guidelines for everyday action and
genuine hope that we can respect one another's
differences and embrace the values that unite us.
Now it is our turn to answer the question, ``What are
you doing for others?'' As part of our response, each
year since 1994 we have made the Martin Luther King,
Jr., Federal Holiday a national day of service, a day
on which to honor Dr. King's legacy through service
projects across our country. Instead of taking a day
off, millions of our fellow Americans respond to the
needs of their communities, through activities like
tutoring children,
[[Page 2992]]
sheltering the homeless, making schoolyards safer, or
making public parks more inviting.
Let us make this year's observance the beginning of a
broader effort to improve our communities and the lives
of our fellow Americans, to make the personal choices
and take the personal actions that will bridge the
gaps--racial and otherwise--that keep us from becoming
the people we were meant to be. Working together,
joining our hearts and our hands, we will succeed in
building One America for the 21st century and in
fulfilling the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim Monday, January 18, 1999, as
the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I call
upon all Americans to observe this occasion and to
honor Dr. King's legacy with appropriate programs,
ceremonies, and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-third.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 99-1374
Filed 1-19-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P