 Please be seated. This is King, members of the King family, distinguished members of the Congress, ladies and gentlemen, honored guests. I'm very pleased to welcome you to the White House, the home that belongs to all of us, the American people. When I was thinking of the contributions to our country, the man that we're honoring today, a passage attributed to the American poet John Greenleaf Whittier comes to mind. Each crisis brings its word and deed. In America, in the 50s and 60s, one of the important crises we faced was racial discrimination. The man whose words and deeds in that crisis stirred our nation to the very depths of its soul was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King was born in 1929 in an America where, because of the color of their skin, nearly one in ten lived lives that were separate and unequal. Most black Americans were taught in segregated schools. Across the country, too many could find only poor jobs, toiling for low wages. They were refused entry into hotels and restaurants, made to use separate facilities. In a nation that proclaimed liberty and justice for all, too many black Americans were living with neither. In one city, a rule required all blacks to sit in the rear of public buses. But in 1955, when a brave woman named Rosa Parks was told to move to the back of the bus, she said no. A young minister in a local Baptist church, Martin Luther King, then organized a boycott of the bus company, a boycott that stunned the country. Within six months, the courts had ruled the segregation of public transportation unconstitutional. Dr. King had awakened something strong and true, a sense that true justice must be color blind and that among white and black Americans, as he put it, their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. In the years after the bus boycott, Dr. King made equality of rights his life's work. Across the country, he organized boycotts, rallies, and marches. Often he was beaten, imprisoned, but he never stopped teaching nonviolence. Work with the faith, he told his followers, that unearned suffering is redemptive. In 1964, Dr. King became the youngest man in history to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. King's work brought him to this city often. And in one sweltering August day in 1963, he addressed a quarter of a million people at the Lincoln Memorial. If American history grows from two centuries to 20, his words that day will never be forgotten. I have a dream that one day on the Red Hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. In 1968, Martin Luther King was gunned down by a brutal assassin. His life cut short at the age of 39, but those 39 short years had changed America forever. Civil Rights Act of 1964 had guaranteed all Americans equal use of public accommodations, equal access to programs financed by federal funds, and the right to compete for employment on the sole basis of individual merit. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 had made certain that from then on, black Americans would get to vote. But most important, there was not just a change of law. There was a change of heart. The conscience of America had been touched. Across the land, people had begun to treat each other not as blacks and whites, but as fellow Americans. And since Dr. King's death, his father, the Reverend Martin Luther King senior, and his wife, Coretta King, have eloquently and forcefully carried on his work, also his family have joined in that cause. Now, our nation has decided to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by setting aside a day each year to remember him and the just cause he stood for. We've made historic strides since Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus. As a Democratic people, we can take pride in the knowledge that we Americans recognized a grave injustice and took action to correct it. And we should remember that in too far too many countries, people like Dr. King never have the opportunity to speak out at all. But traces of bigotry still mark America. So each year on Martin Luther King Day, let us not only recall Dr. King, but rededicate ourselves to the commandments he believed in and sought to live every day. Now, I should love thy God with all my heart, and I shall love thy neighbor as thyself. And I just have to believe that all of us, if all of us young and old Republicans and Democrats do all we can to live up to those commandments, then we will see the day when Dr. King's dream comes true. And in his words, all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning. Land where my father's died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring. Thank you. God bless you and I will sign it. Thank you, Mr. President, Vice President Bush, Majority Leader Baker and the distinguished congressional and senatorial delegations and other representatives who gathered here and friends, all right thinking people, all right thinking Americans are joined in spirit with us this day as the highest recognition which this nation gives is bestowed upon Martin Luther King, Jr. One who also was the recipient of the highest recognition which the world bestows, the Nobel Peace Prize. In his own life example, he symbolized what was right about America, what was noblest and best, what human beings have pursued since the beginning of history. He loved unconditionally. He was in constant pursuit of truth. And when he discovered it, he embraced it. His nonviolent campaigns brought about redemption, reconciliation, and justice. He taught us that only peaceful means can bring about peaceful ends. That our goal was to create the beloved community. America is a more democratic nation, a more just nation, a more peaceful nation because Martin Luther King, Jr. became her preeminent nonviolent commander. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his spirit live within all of us. Thank God for the blessing of his life and his leadership and his commitment. What manner a man was this? May we make ourselves worthy to carry on his dream and create the beloved community. Thank you.