Eni Faleomavaega: “H.R. 2879 as passed by the House directs the Secretary of the Interior to insert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial a…”

“H.R. 2879 as passed by the House directs the Secretary of the Interior to insert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial a plaque commemorating the speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., known as the ``I Have a Dream'' speech. The Senate amendment makes a number of clarifying and technical changes to the bill. We support these changes. In fact, we believe these changes strengthen the bill by providing greater flexibility on the placement of a plaque and by making sure that this action is carried out in conformance with the Commemorative Works Act. Mr. Speaker, I want to note that our colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) was present and was one of the speakers that day in the summer of 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and was with Dr. King when rendering the ``I Have a Dream'' speech that occurred at the Lincoln Memorial, which certainly had a profound impact not only on the civil rights movement but I would say that this Member particularly was very touched by the speech that Dr. King gave on that day. I ask my colleagues to support this measure.”