Eni Faleomavaega: “I am honored to be here this morning and certainly want to thank my good friends, the gentleman from Michigan and the…”

“I am honored to be here this morning and certainly want to thank my good friends, the gentleman from Michigan and the gentleman from Georgia, for allowing me to participate in this proposed legislation to honor the memory and legacy of one of the great spiritual giants, not only as a native son of our Nation, but certainly of the world, that of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was not a political leader, nor was he a military leader, nor was he a noted writer or author. Nor was he a philosopher. He was a Christian minister who understood thoroughly the real spiritual and the moral force of the principles taught by the Savior some 20 centuries ago, that of loving our neighbors as ourselves, showing tolerance and respect for our fellow human beings. Dr. King was well aware of the social, economic and political inequalities that existed in our Nation, that his own people, the African Americans for some 200 years, have been treated as second-class citizens despite the hundreds of thousands of their sons and daughters who fought and bled and died defending our Nation against its enemies.”