[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 1994)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 2723-2724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-1326]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: January 18, 1994]
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Part X
The President
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Proclamation 6645--
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 1994
Presidential Documents
Federal Register
Vol. 59, No. 11
Tuesday, January 18, 1994
____________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
Proclamation 6645 of January 14, 1994
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 1994
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr., was born,
destined to make our world a greater and more noble
one. Growing up in a landscape disfigured with
``Colored Only'' and ``White Only'' signs and a society
rife with other demeaning racial barriers and
distinctions, Martin Luther King, Jr., sadly learned
that the Constitution's guarantee of equality was
denied to most black Americans. He dedicated his life
to ending the injustice of racism, gracing the world
with his vision of a land guided by love instead of
hatred and by acceptance instead of intolerance.
Three decades ago, Dr. King described his goals most
eloquently in his famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech at
the historic Civil Rights March on Washington. The
impassioned plea that rose from the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial that summer day stirred the entire
Nation, awakening people everywhere to turn from the
scourge of racism to embrace the promise of opportunity
and democracy for all. He prophetically described a
future in which our children are judged ``not by the
color of their skin, but by the content of their
character.'' His unparalleled commitment to justice and
nonviolence challenged us to look deeply within
ourselves to find the roots of racism.
Throughout his all too brief life, Martin Luther King,
Jr., often confronted powerful and even violent
opposition, sacrificing his liberty, his personal
safety, and, ultimately, his life for the cause of
freedom. Though an assassin's bullet silenced him
forever at the young age of 39, Dr. King's words and
deeds continue to live on within each of us. We, the
inheritors of the fundamental rights he helped to
secure, are forever grateful for his legacy.
Today, we live in a nation that is stronger because of
Dr. King's work. Unfortunately, there is still much
division in this great land. Even though the signs that
once segregated our communities have been removed, we
are still far from achieving the world for which Dr.
King struggled, toiled, and bled. He did not live and
die to create a world in which people kill each other
with reckless abandon. He did not live and die to see
families destroyed, to see communities abandoned, and
to see hope disappear. If we are to be faithful to Dr.
King's vision, we must each seize responsibility for
realizing the goals he worked so tirelessly to fulfill.
Dr. King's valiant struggle for true equality will be
won, not by the fleeting passion of eloquent words, but
by the quiet persistence of individual acts of decency,
justice, and human kindness. We must carry the power of
his wisdom with us, not only by celebrating his
birthday, but also by inscribing its meaning upon our
hearts, teaching our children the value and
significance of every human being.
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 17, 1994, as
the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I call
upon the people of the United States to observe the
occasion with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and
activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and eighteenth.
(Presidential Sig.)>
[FR Doc. 94-1326
Filed 1-14-94; 11:26 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
