On the recordJanuary 25, 2011
on Monday, January 17, our Nation once again celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a national holiday. Signed into law in 1983, the bill to make Dr. King's birthday a legal public holiday was the result of a 15-year legislative effort. Although I was not a Member of the Congress at the time, I remember well the national debate and eventually the overwhelming support this legislation engendered. For the Senate pages on the floor today, for their entire lifetimes, Dr. King's birthday has been a Federal holiday. But they and all young Americans should know the passage of that law was not certain and not without controversy at the time. I was the speaker of the Maryland house of delegates in the 1980s when the State of Maryland took up legislation to make Dr. King's birthday a State holiday, and we were one of several States that passed State laws to make Dr. King's birthday a holiday. As the federalism system works, as more States got engaged in this issue, the momentum at the national level became very apparent. And for the importance of this day and its message to Americans, the Congress finally enacted legislation in 1983. This holiday, which has appropriately come to be known as a day of service, would not have happened without the leadership of former Senator Charles Mathias of Maryland.
