Elijah Lewis: “I want to thank my friend, my colleague, the chairman, for yielding. Madam Speaker, it is only fitting and appropriate…”

“I want to thank my friend, my colleague, the chairman, for yielding. Madam Speaker, it is only fitting and appropriate that we salute and commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as we celebrate his 78th birthday. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a man of peace, a man of love, a man of nonviolence. He must be considered one of the founding fathers of the new America. Because of his dedication to the cause of injustice and his fight for human dignity, he wrestled with the very soul of this Nation and pushed it to reach for its greater destiny. Dr. King had the ability to produce light in dark places; the ability to bring the dirt and the filth out from under the American rug, out of the cracks and the corner into the open light in order for us to deal with it. He injected a new meaning into the very veins of our society and gave his life to make our democracy real. What he did and what he said and what he sacrificed inspired an entire generation and his power still rings today throughout the Nation and around the world. We are a different country. We are a better people today. Martin Luther King, Jr., believed in the power of love over hate, the power of nonviolence over violence, the power of peace over war. He liberated all of us, black and white, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American. If Dr. King could speak to us today, right now, he would say we must stop the madness of the war and bring our young people home.”