[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 630-644]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MRS. CORETTA SCOTT KING
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of
Tuesday, January 31, 2006, proceedings will now resume on the
resolution (H. Res. 655) honoring the life and accomplishments of Mrs.
Coretta Scott King and her contributions as a leader in the struggle
for civil rights, and expressing condolences to the King family on her
passing.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. When proceedings were postponed on that day,
3\1/2\ minutes of debate remained on the resolution. The gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) had 3\1/2\ minutes remaining, and the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) had no time remaining.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the time
for debate on the pending resolution be enlarged by 30 minutes, equally
divided between myself and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
[[Page 631]]
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Wisconsin will have 18\1/
2\ minutes, and the gentleman from Michigan will have 15 minutes.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time. I want to rise to say that I served with Coretta Scott King on
the Federal Holiday Commission. She was the chair and I was vice-chair
at her request. She did a wonderful job of carrying on the message of
Dr. King. She traveled widely and was highly respected in her efforts
to take the message across America and the world.
The fact that 50 States now acknowledge the Federal King holiday is
in part out of respect for her leadership on the Federal Holiday
Commission. The Commission was designed to achieve that. In addition,
many communities across the country have celebrations of the King
holiday and the life of Martin Luther King and bring to college
students, to high school, and grade school students the story of how he
impacted our Nation's future and our society. This happened because of
her leadership as chairman of the Federal Holiday Commission.
She truly was a remarkable woman. She deserves enormous credit for
carrying on the legacy of Dr. King and taking this message to America.
I just have to say that she did this with great humility, with great
understanding, and great ability to persuade those that she came in
contact with, with groups and leaders across the Nation, of the
importance of the King message.
Her life is something that we should all respect and cherish as part
of the American scene. I think she deserves enormous credit for what
she accomplished as chairman of the Holiday Commission. She made happen
what the intent of Congress was in passing the holiday language, that
the message be taken to the States and to the people of the Nation.
Many of these celebrations are as a result of her efforts. A truly
great woman. A great individual.
She has been recognized by many groups and well deserved all of the
accolades that she has received. Her death is a great loss to our
Nation; but her life was a great strength for our Nation, and we are
all indebted to her for the leadership she provided.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), a distinguished member of the
Judiciary Committee.
And I would like to thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee
(Mr. Sensenbrenner) for accommodating us with the extra time that we
have here this evening for the Coretta Scott King resolution.
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mrs.
Coretta Scott King, a civil rights icon. Raised on a small farm in
Alabama, Coretta Scott found her way to Boston where she met Martin
Luther King, Jr. The two married and moved to Montgomery, Alabama,
where Dr. King became the seminal figure of the civil rights movement.
Mrs. King joined her husband's pursuit of civil rights by serving as an
equal partner in Dr. King's tireless efforts to pursue justice,
equality, and peace.
Mrs. King recalled that after her husband's tragic assassination she
felt compelled to rededicate herself to the completion of his work.
Indeed, Coretta Scott King became an ardent activist in the struggle
against injustice, fighting to achieve Dr. King's unfulfilled dreams.
Two years ago, I joined a civil rights pilgrimage to Alabama, and it
was a remarkable experience. Led by Congressman John Lewis, a number of
our colleagues visited many of the sites of the civil rights struggles,
including the Kings' Dexter Avenue church. We relived the experiences
of those that led the movement, saw the incredible events of that time
through their eyes, and it was an unforgettable experience.
Those of us who were too young to remember well the civil rights
movement continue to ask ourselves what would we have done. Would we
have stood up? Would we have questioned those in power? Would we have
demanded equality and justice? Or would we, like so many Americans,
have remained indifferent?
The best answer we can find to that question of what we would have
done is answered by asking what are we doing now to advance the cause
of justice and equality. In 1960s Alabama, the Kings battled overt
bigotry. Today, we arm ourselves against silent intolerance.
While we look to our past and consider how far we have come, we must
keep an eye towards the future, knowing that the movement is not over
and that each one of us must continue to dedicate ourselves to pursuing
an America with equal opportunity for all.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), a dear friend of the honoree in
this resolution, who had worked with Mrs. King for many years.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank former chairman Conyers for yielding
me this time. It is really ironic that you would be on the Judiciary
Committee during all of the years that it took to get the King holiday
there; and also that, as a Member of Congress, you lived through the
civil rights movement with the people that we have honored in the past
and with Dr. Coretta King.
I think if we had to review where we are with Coretta King, it is
that she wasn't that woman behind a successful man. She was truly a
partner and a leader in her own right. Somehow she knew when to speak
out and when just to leave it to Martin Luther King.
What I have found over the years is that she has such a personality
and such a soothing voice; but, boy, I am telling you, if it dealt with
a challenge against what is right, against inequality and injustice,
this very soft spoken, beautiful woman knew how a civil rights leader
is supposed to take risk and go to the mat.
{time} 1730
When we lost Dr. King, how quickly she was able to pick up that torch
and to give to this Nation the leadership that really turned us around
from a Nation that was struggling with racism and even today continues
in that fight for equality for all Americans.
Those of us that were able to march with Dr. Martin Luther King
cannot think of a time when she was not there marching with him. Any
pictures from the past, Coretta Scott King was there.
How often we work with these people as though they are mere mortals,
only to find out when they are gone how deep that vacuum has been made
by their loss. For all of the groups that Coretta Scott King has
provided the leadership for, we hope since we cannot replace Coretta
King, that all of us have in us some type, some quality of the
conviction and the courage that Dr. King and his beautiful wife had.
And collectively, if all of us can say this is not a struggle for the
King family or a civil rights leader, but a struggle for this great
country, I think we can move forward.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Mrs.
Coretta Scott King and to add my support to H. Res. 655 honoring the
life of this extraordinary woman. As much as we loved and respected
Mrs. King, her family has suffered an even greater loss. To the King
children--Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice, know that you have
our deepest heartfelt sympathy.
Hailed as the `First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement', Coretta
Scott King had to endure injustices at an early age. Born in Heiberger,
Alabama and raised on the farm of her parents Bernice McMurry Scott,
and Obadiah Scott, she was exposed at an early age to the injustices of
life in a segregated society. She walked five miles a day to attend the
one-room Crossroad School in Marion, Alabama, while the White students
rode buses to an all-White school closer by. Yet through it all, young
Coretta excelled at her studies, particularly music, and was
valedictorian of her graduating class at Lincoln High School.
She graduated in 1945 and received a scholarship to Antioch College
in Yellow Springs, Ohio. As an undergraduate, she took an active
interest in the emerging civil rights movement; and joined the Antioch
chapter of the NAACP, as well as the college's Race Relations and Civil
Liberties Committees.
Her life would be forever changed when she met a young theology
student, Martin Luther King, Jr. They were married on June 18, 1953,
[[Page 632]]
in a ceremony conducted by King's father, the Rev. Martin Luther King,
Sr.
Coretta Scott King was very supportive to her husband during the most
turbulent days of the American civil rights movement. After his
assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, she kept his
dream alive while also raising their four children. In her own words,
she was ``more determined than ever that her husband's dream would
become a reality.''
For more than a decade, she worked tirelessly to have her husband's
birthday observed as a national holiday. Her determination would payoff
when it was first celebrated in 1986.
In 1969, she established the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for
Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, dedicated both to scholarship and
to activism.
With fierce determination and undying strength, Mrs. King worked to
keep Dr. King's ideology of equality for all people at the forefront of
people's minds. She picked up the baton when it was dropped by her
husband's assassination and continued to move forward in the civil
rights arena.
In her own words, ``We must make our hearts instruments of peace and
nonviolence, because when the heart is right, the mind and the body
will follow.''
She exemplified courage, strength, and a deep compassion for justice.
Coretta Scott King will be remembered as one of America's greatest
treasures and will be forever missed.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Lee), who has worked in the King venue even before she
became a Member of Congress when she was a staffer and when she was a
State senator in California.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding me
this time and for his leadership and say to him what an honor it is to
serve with him. Mr. Conyers is truly an icon and someone for us all to
follow.
It is with a deep sense of gratitude and yet a deep sense of sadness
that I rise tonight to pay tribute to the late Coretta Scott King and
offer my sincerest condolences and prayers to her family and friends.
Today we mourn the loss of an incredible woman, an American legacy.
She joined her husband, the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the
front lines of the civil rights movement and made it her life's work to
ensure that civil rights, a nonviolent struggle for justice, continued.
You see, Mrs. King's marathon for justice and yes, for peace,
transcended race, gender and national boundaries.
Mrs. King was really an example for us all of us. I remember her
leadership in fighting to end apartheid in South Africa and her
determination to connect all of the dots of how social injustices
affect us all.
As a congressional staffer to my predecessor Congressman Dellums, I
remember the 15-year legislative battle, led by the great Congressman
Mr. John Conyers to create a national holiday honoring Dr. King, but it
took a grassroots national movement and Mrs. King's tireless advocacy
to finally have this legislation enacted into law. That is when I first
met this brilliant, beautiful woman.
Mrs. King was a role model for many women, including myself. On
several occasions she reached out to me to offer her counsel, support
and love. I will always remember her words of support and her comfort
during some very challenging times for me. She hugged me, and would
always tell me to stay the course, and she would say that is what
Martin would want.
Several years ago I was invited to keynote the Martin Luther march
and rally in Atlanta on Dr. King's birthday. Again, she encouraged me
to remember Martin and his quest for peace through nonviolence as part
of my work as a Member of Congress. I will deeply miss this great
woman.
Mrs. King stood tall when many would have been overwhelmed. Imagine
how she coped when her husband was arrested, beaten and wiretapped. She
was an amazing woman, and we are going to miss her.
Mr. Speaker, my thoughts and prayers are with the King family this
evening as we honor and as we celebrate the life of this great woman.
Let us ensure that the flame of nonviolence and peace burns in her
memory.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Conyers for making sure that we have the
opportunity to reflect on this great woman tonight.
Mr. Speaker, it is with a deep sense of sadness yet gratitude that I
rise to pay tribute to the late Coretta Scott King, and offer my
sincerest condolences and prayers to her family and friends.
Today, we mourn the loss of an incredible woman--an American legacy.
She joined her husband, the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the
frontlines of the civil rights movement and made it her life's work to
ensure that the civil rights and non-violent struggle for justice and
peace continued.
You see Mrs. King's marathon for justice and peace transcended race,
gender and national boundaries. Mrs. King was an example to us all; I
remember her leadership in fighting to end apartheid in South Africa,
and her determination to connect the dots of how social injustice
affects us all.
As a congressional staffer to my predecessor Congressman Ronald V.
Dellums, I remember well the 15-year legislative battle led by
Congressman Conyers to create a national holiday honoring Dr. King. It
took a grassroots, national movement, and Mrs. King's tireless advocacy
to finally have this legislation signed into law. That is when I first
met this brilliant, beautiful woman.
Mrs. King was a role model for many women, including myself. On
several occasions, she reached out to me to offer her counsel, support
and love. I'll always remember her words support and comfort during
some challenging times for me. She hugged me, told me to stay the
course and that would be what Martin would want.
Several years ago, I was invited to keynote the MLK March and Rally
in Atlanta on Dr. King's birthday. Again, Mrs. King encouraged me to
remember Martin in his quest for peace through non-violence as part of
my work as a Member of Congress. I will deeply miss this great woman.
As the head of the first family of the civil rights movement, Mrs.
King always handled everything with a distinct style and grace. As a
single-parent to their four children--Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter and
Bernice, she raised and educated her children while keeping Dr. King's
dream alive. What a woman.
Mrs. King stood tall when many would have been overwhelmed. Imagine
how she coped with her husband being arrested, beaten and stabbed, her
home being bombed, her phone ringing with hate calls at all times of
the day and night. Imagine how she felt isolated and hunted by the very
ones who swore to protect her family.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to read an excerpt from Mrs. King's
autobiography, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., just to give you a
glimpse of how the King family persevered despite being under constant
attack--by segregationists, by pro-war radicals, and even by her own
government. She wrote:
``. . . By 1965 we were sure that the FBI was tapping lines and was
treating the Movement as if it were an alien enemy. We accepted that as
part of the evil and injustice that come with leadership which
challenges the status quo. We knew we did not deserve that treatment
from our government. . . . We believed in our vows; we never became
embittered or disillusioned; we held on to our faith. . . . We were not
intimidated; we just realized that it was too much to try to take on an
organization like that while maintaining our struggle for civil rights.
How much farther we still had to go!'' Mrs. King endured warrantless
domestic spying.
In Northern California, many continue to look to Coretta Scott King
as a beacon of dignity in the face of adversity. We are a cultural and
ethnic mosaic and continue to strive to realize the goals of the Kings'
dream--peace, equality, and freedom.
Today as we pay tribute to Mrs. King's legacy, we must never forget
her sacrifices and contributions to protect the liberties and rights
that so many of us take for granted. And we need to recommit ourselves
to the goals and ideals that she envisioned and embodied.
Wars and rumors of wars permeate our existence. Many of our young
people see violence as an option to solve their problems. Mrs. King's
life was about non-violence, and those who mourn her loss should
embrace her ideals of peace and non-violence. It is in times like these
that we must recall the legacy of Mrs. King embodied in places like
Oakland's Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Center which brings together
our community to develop peaceful, nonviolent solutions to the
challenges we all continue to face.
My thoughts and prayers are with the King family this evening as we
honor and celebrate the life of this great woman. Let us ensure that
the flame of nonviolence and peace burns in her memory.
[[Page 633]]
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
California (Mrs. Capps), who has worked tirelessly in the field of
health care since she came to Congress.
Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Michigan for his
leadership and for yielding me this time to speak.
The opportunity to speak in memory of Coretta Scott King and the
importance today to acknowledge not only what she did for racial
justice in this country and the rest of the world, but what she
contributed to women's rights, to children's rights, gay and lesbian
rights, religious freedom, the needs of the homeless and poor, full
employment, health care, educational opportunities, and the continued
unrelenting emphasis on nonviolence.
She was a mentor for me and so many of us. She did not take the easy
path, she took the right path. The recent confirmation of two new
Supreme Court justices reminds us of the importance of expanding our
civil rights, not limiting them. We can do this in memory and honor of
both Martin and Coretta, and it is their lives being dedicated to the
highest values of human dignity and pushing for social change that
stand as a pinnacle for what we want to continue to achieve.
I have fond memory of hearing with my husband when we were studying
at Yale University early in the 1960s, hearing this young promising
preacher from the South come and preach in Battelle Chapel. I was
touched that day, and have been ever since.
Here we have also had the mentorship of our dear colleague, Mr. John
Lewis, and in taking so many of us, me included, down to Birmingham,
Selma and Montgomery, I will always remember walking across the Edmund
Pettus Bridge, and of course 2 weeks later, Dr. Martin Luther King led
25,000 men, women and children on that unforgettable march from Selma
to Montgomery. Within 3 years he was assassinated, and how that must
have affected his young widow. She had the responsibility to raise
those young children and be concerned with his legacy, but she became a
champion in her own right.
I know that we now can fully appreciate what she has accomplished and
are dedicated to continuing. In her words, I want to close with these
three phrases that she said, ``Be a drum major for justice. Be a drum
major for love. Be a drum major for peace.'' Thank you, Coretta Scott
King, for your life.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott), who has shown his interest in the
ideals of Dr. King by joining the Committee on the Judiciary in
connection with the Voter Rights Act extension which is currently under
debate.
Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for allowing
me the opportunity not only to serve with him on the Voting Rights Act
reaffirmation, but also for being able to be part of this extraordinary
effort this evening on behalf of Mrs. King.
I am a proud Member of Atlanta, Georgia, a product of the civil
rights movement, a product of the political movement, which says it all
when you step up here and mention the name of Coretta Scott King.
I am very pleased to be able to stand here in the United States
Congress and say that I am here because Coretta Scott King touched my
life. In 1974, just out of college, the opportunity came for me to step
into the political arena in a bid for the State House of
Representatives, and at the time to be one of the youngest, but not the
youngest, to be elected to that body. It was Coretta Scott King that
invited me into Ebenezer to be her Youth Day speaker. Can you imagine
what it meant to me to stand in that pulpit where Dr. King was? She
gave me advice that sticks with me today. She gave me advice from a
scripture that was so meaningful to me, that gave me the courage to
step out and run for office, and that scripture was in the Book of
Ephesians and Paul's letter where he said put on the whole arm of God
so you will be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to
stand.
That is what Coretta Scott King did for me, to give me the
encouragement.
She was more than just Dr. Martin Luther King's wife, she was a
leader in her own right. And in many measures perhaps when her legacy
is truly written and truly examined, you will clearly see that God
called her as he has called so many in our history of America and the
world to come at the right time and the right place, as she established
his foundation over the last quarter of a century and the national
holiday. That was her legacy that gives us every year a chance to
reflect on Dr. King and the establishment of the King Center.
God bless Coretta Scott King, and God, we thank You for sending
Coretta Scott King our way.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), who has worked with us on civil
rights issues both in this country and in other places in the world.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I want to extend my appreciation and
commendation to the distinguish gentleman who is the chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, Mr. Sensenbrenner, and my friend, Mr. Conyers, the
ranking member, for bringing this important resolution to our
colleagues for our consideration.
I have mentioned you cannot mention the name Martin Luther King, Jr.,
without echoing the name of this great American woman, Coretta Scott
King. In all of the years I have had the privilege of getting to
understand and appreciate the tremendous contributions that our African
American community has made to the greatness of our Nation, I think we
cannot deny the fact that Martin Luther King, Jr., and all of the
accomplishments and all of the things that he has done, and in my
humble opinion when times are really bad and depressing and all the
things the great leader has done, I can actually say that Coretta Scott
King was the healer, the soother, the one that gave Martin Luther King,
Jr., all the moral support that he needed in the afflictions he had to
face in bringing down so many evils and the problems affecting the
civil rights of our fellow Americans who just happened to be of African
descent.
I once read somewhere that it was Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi who
advocated the principle of nonviolence, and it was from those writings
that Martin Luther King, Jr., took the matter in the same way that
Mahatma Gandhi did in India. How important it is that we conquer
obstacles by usage of nonviolence and use pure love. I really, really
appreciate the fact that we have this resolution to honor Mrs. King,
and I urge my colleagues to pass this resolution. I also would like to
express my severe sympathies and condolences to the members of the King
family.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Davis), a dear friend who was in the civil rights
movement.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman
from Michigan for yielding. I could not let the moment go by without at
least a comment.
During the mid-1960s, the King family moved into the neighborhood
where I lived and worked. That is in the North Lawndale community on
the west side of the City of Chicago in the 1500 block of South Hamlin.
They brought with them an aura of excitement.
I was a young schoolteacher who taught not very far from the
location, and my friend and I would leave school in the afternoon and
come by the King house. It was really an apartment. Sometimes Dr. King
would come out and just kind of talk with us for a moment or two. They
often ate at a restaurant, Edna's Restaurant, and Mr. Conyers may know
it. They would bring to the restaurant a whole horde of people.
Everybody would come and watch.
{time} 1745
And so on behalf of all of the people who lived in that community, I
simply express condolences to the King family, but also express the
great feeling of joy and inspiration that they brought to
[[Page 634]]
our community when they lived on the west side of Chicago during the
mid-1960s as they came north with the northern crusade.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield) to close our discussion this evening.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boustany). The gentleman has 1 minute
remaining.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from North
Carolina an additional minute.
Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding the additional
minute. I am not sure I am going to be using all of that time, but
thank you so much for your kindness.
To the ranking member of the committee, my friend from Michigan,
Congressman John Conyers, thank you so very much for your leadership as
well.
Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor this evening to recognize the life
and work of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. The greatest contribution of this
great American was her willingness to cheerfully share her husband with
the world. On the day of her husband's assassination, April 4, 1968 Dr.
King was due in my home community to lead a voter registration drive.
But 2 days before the drive was scheduled to commence, he was diverted
to Memphis, Tennessee; and that is where his life was ended. I went to
his funeral in Atlanta, Georgia. In fact, the ranking member and I
stayed in the same hotel there in Atlanta in 1968, and we have many
memories of that week.
But I want to thank Dr. King and Mrs. King for the contributions that
they have made to America. Dr. King would have been very proud of my
home community. My congressional district in eastern North Carolina now
has 302 African American elected officials, and the voter registration
drive that Dr. King was scheduled to lead was designed to improve and
increase the number of black elected officials. And so, on behalf of
the First Congressional District of North Carolina, on behalf of the
660,000 people that I have the honor to represent, I extend my
condolences to the King family. May God bless the memory of Coretta
Scott King.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Illinois (Mr. Rush).
Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman of the committee
for yielding his time to me, and I certainly want to thank the ranking
member of this committee for all of his efforts on behalf of human
rights and justice throughout not only this Nation but throughout the
world. He has been an inspiration to us all.
Mr. Speaker, we lost an inspiration. We lost an icon. Mrs. Coretta
Scott King was more than just the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King. She
was, indeed, an incredible force in the movement for equality, for
justice in her own right. And she was the strong spirit and character
that certainly laid the foundation for many of us who are present in
this body tonight who serve in this Congress and in other elected
offices throughout our Nation.
Mrs. King, as was indicated earlier, was born Coretta Scott on a farm
in Heiberger, Perry County, Alabama to Obadiah and Bernice McNurry
Scott. She graduated from the Lincoln Normal School in Marion, Alabama,
at the top of her class before going to Antioch College in Yellow
Springs, Ohio. After graduating from college, she moved to Boston,
Massachusetts, where she was classically trained as a promising opera
singer.
The story is well known about her meeting Dr. Martin Luther King,
another student in Boston, and their unity that was ordained before the
Lord. Mrs. King was a steadfast partner of Dr. King, and she shared in
his sacrifice and also his hardships. It was not an easy life that they
led. It was a very difficult life that they led. They raised four
children. Mrs. King raised four children. It was very difficult for her
to keep her family safe and united in the face of what would ordinarily
be overwhelming anger, extreme violence, and deep-seated resentment.
But for Mrs. King, her majestic poise and grace made her efforts seem
to the rest of us almost seamless. And after the death of her husband,
she continued on with his legacy of seeking justice, equality, and
liberty for all citizens.
Leading marches, participating in protests and organizing civil
rights groups, Mrs. King continued to struggle against racial
injustice, economic inequality, military adventurism, hate crimes, and
violence.
Mr. Speaker, this Nation owes Coretta Scott King an incredible debt.
We owe the King family an incredible debt for the sacrifices that they
made.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Al Green).
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman; and thank you, Mr.
Ranking Member, for this opportunity.
Mr. Speaker, I consider it a singular privilege and a superlative
pleasure to speak today in honor of Mrs. King.
Mr. Speaker, Dr. King expressed some of the great ideals of our time,
ideals like injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. But
it was Mrs. King who went to South Africa and, in a sense, made real
that ideal by reminding the South Africans that apartheid was
unacceptable, and causing many of us to understand that injustice in
South Africa was a threat to justice in America.
Dr. King expressed the ideal that we should transform neighborhoods
into brotherhoods; but it was Mrs. King who met with gang members and
caused them to understand that it was their neighborhood and their
brotherhood that was needed to cause these to be good neighborhoods.
Dr. King reminded us that life is an inescapable network of mutuality
tied to a single garment of destiny, that whatever impacts one directly
impacts all indirectly. But it was Mrs. King who went to Mrs. Mandela
and who visited with her as her husband was on the eve of leaving
prison because she understood that Nelson Mandela's suffering was
indirectly impacting the suffering of all people in the world.
So I am honored today to honor the first lady of the civil rights
movement, who has been said to have been a person with a gentle spirit,
but with a will, a will of steel. And while she was the first lady, I
think many of us will always see her as our queen. Thank you, Queen
Mother King.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the
time.
Mr. Speaker, during the last 2 days, the eulogies that have been
given on behalf of Mrs. King hit the nail on the head. This was a woman
who became a widow when her husband was tragically assassinated and had
very young children, and she could have withdrawn from society and
spent all of her time and all of her efforts raising those kids to
become grown men and grown women.
She did more than that. She knew that it was her destiny to carry on
her assassinated husband's legacy, and that is why we have heard such
eloquent speeches on both sides of the aisle on behalf of this
resolution which I was honored to introduce.
May God have mercy on the soul of Coretta Scott King, and may she
join the angels and saints in paradise.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this resolution.
Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, on January 31, 2006, a woman of grace and
dignity passed from this life to the next. Today, with the passage of
House Resolution 655, we honor the life and legacy of Mrs. Coretta
Scott King and her contributions as a leader in the Civil Rights
struggle.
There are few whose life and example transform a nation. Dr. Martin
Luther King was one of those few whose exemplary life gave the promise
of hope and equality to every race and color of people. But the
struggles he endured as a national leader were not suffered alone. By
his side stood a woman of gentleness and grace who joined triumphantly
in his victories and suffered greatly in his pain.
Mrs. King embraced the principles and themes of nonviolence that her
husband fought to bring to the forefront of the American psyche. After
Dr. King's death in 1968, it was Mrs. King who kept his work and legacy
alive. Through her, Americans were challenged to remember the
sacrifices that her husband made for nonviolence, peace and equality.
As a nation, we must embrace the challenges that Dr. King and Mrs.
King laid before
[[Page 635]]
us. At the advent of African American history month, we must remember
the struggles for freedom that slaves and abolitionists jointly fought
for to achieve emancipation and we must remember the struggles for
equality that the many African Americans and civil rights leaders
sought to escape during the Jim Crow era.
Even as we work to advance freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people
and the many oppressed men and women in the Middle East and throughout
the world, we must not forget our own dark history of oppression and
how it has shaped our united push for freedom. The realities of our
past are a scar to our Nation, but a reminder of what we can overcome
as a Nation united in a common cause. We must continue to work for
freedom and opportunity for every American of every race, color, gender
and ethnicity. We must do so for the posterity of our Nation and for
the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you and my colleagues for passing this
resolution in honoring the life and legacy of a virtuous woman whose
pearls of wisdom and dedication to truth, equality, and nonviolence are
an example for us now and for generations to come.
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the great Coretta Scott
King, perhaps best known as being the wife of the Reverend Martin
Luther King, was, like her husband, a pioneer in the civil rights field
in her own right.
Rising from the dust of rural poverty of a small town in Alabama, she
will be remembered as being an outstanding advocate of racial peace and
nonviolent social change. Ms. King was a strong woman, one of the few
women leaders in a civil rights movement which, at the time, consisted
almost exclusively of men. Mrs. King was one of the first who broke the
mold. A mother of four, which in and of itself is more than a full
day's work, she also was a woman who took on a high profile position in
the civil rights movement in a most difficult time of conflict in our
country.
Soon after the death of the late Martin Luther King, she quickly
developed her own voice and even her own causes. Although there was
some overlap with her husband's battles, she broadened the civil rights
agenda quite a bit, focusing on the inclusion of women in our society
here at home, speaking out against the war in Vietnam, and promoting
peace internationally.
She quickly moved on to stand in for her late husband at the Poor
People's Campaign at the Lincoln Memorial on June 19, 1968, just two
months after his assassination. At the Memorial, she spoke not just
about the Reverend's vision, but also about her own, a vision about
gender as well as race, wherein she called upon American women to
``unite and form a solid block of women power to fight the three great
evils of racism, poverty, and war.'' She then joined the board of
directors of the National Organization for Women, as well as the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference and became widely identified
with a broad array of international human rights issues, rather than
being focused primarily on race here in the United States. This
broadened view, she went on to say, was her way of carrying on the
legacy of her husband, the great Reverend Martin Luther King.
In doing so, she led the effort to memorialize Dr. King, and was the
greatest advocate for a national holiday in his honor, which came to
fruition on January 20th in 1986, and has been celebrated on the third
Monday in January every year since then.
She later founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent
Social Change in Atlanta, an institution dedicated to scholarships and
activism, with the purpose of continuing on his work and providing a
research center for scholars studying the civil rights era.
To the end, Mrs. King remained to be a most loved woman by all. Often
compared to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as a woman who overcame tragedy,
held her family together and then became an inspirational presence
around the world. Her admirers always said that Mrs. King took on a
particularly difficult task, that of carrying on her husband's work and
teachings--with a sense of spirit and purpose that made her more than
just a symbolic figure, but a true leader.
Indeed, her death is a heartfelt loss, not only for African
Americans, but for our Nation. I wholeheartedly believe that the people
of our Nation need to work to uphold the legacy of these two brave
women and the civil rights movement, which, although it has come a long
way, has taken recent strides in the wrong direction under a more than
callous Republican leadership. Mrs. King was a most inspirational
woman, whose unwavering spirit stepped in to continue the struggle for
the ideals of the great Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.
All of my heart and prayers go out to the King family.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mrs.
Coretta Scott King, a true sheroe, who departed this earth on January
30, 2006, due to stroke complications. Although usually referred to as
the widower of the incomparable Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the
work she did after his death secured her place as one of the greatest
leaders, voices, and phenomenal women in American history.
Mr. Speaker, Mrs. King was born on April 27, 1927 in Marion, Alabama
to Obadiah and Bernice Scott. Her parents farmed on land they had owned
since the Civil War. At an early age, she witnessed the racial
inequities that occurred in the Deep South; however, she recalled, ``my
mother always told me that I was going to go to college, even if she
didn't have but one dress to put on''.
Through her mother's teachings coupled with her deeply spiritual
roots in the Christian Baptist faith, Coretta persevered and graduated
as the valedictorian of Lincoln High School in 1945. Blessed with both
vocal and musical instrument gifts, she pursued and received her B.A.
on a scholarship in music and education from Antioch College in 1951.
In 1953, she furthered her education and earned a graduate degree in
voice and music education from the New England Conservatory of Music in
Boston.
While attending school, she met a young Martin Luther King, Jr., who
was pursuing his doctorate in theology at Boston University. Although
hesitant about the courtship in the beginning, through prayer and
confirmation from God, Mrs. King married Dr. King on June 18, 1953.
The couple relocated to Montgomery, Alabama and Dr. King began work
in the ministry and the Civil Rights Movement. After this relocation,
there lives became almost immediately tumultuous. In fact, the first
boycott occurred 2 weeks after their first child was born in 1955, and
in 1956 their house was bombed. But this was no ordinary couple--the
Kings went on to build a family of four children--all while helping to
build the civil rights platform for a nation.
People talk about Dr. King's dream, but he wasn't the only one who
had the dream. She bought into his dream, and he bought into hers, too.
Mrs. King admits ``when I say I was married to the cause, I was married
to my husband whom I loved, I learned to love, it wasn't love at first
sight--but I also became married to the cause. It was my cause, and
that's the way I felt about it. So when my husband was no longer there.
. . ., I prayed that God would give me the direction for my life. . .
.'' Mr. Speaker, it is clear that God answered her prayers.
They were partners in the freedom movement and it is my belief that
they shared the same spirit. She ran the race with him, holding the
baton with him, and when he had to let go, she kept running and was
able to cultivate the dream they shared.
This notion was evident in the way she transformed her grief into an
aspiration to eradicate social injustice and achieve equality for all.
When Dr. King was assassinated prior to a planned march, four days
after his death, she traveled to Memphis and led a march of 50,000
people.
She worked diligently and tirelessly--traveling worldwide, giving
speeches, organizing marches and sit-ins, receiving awards on her late
husband's behalf, leading peace delegations, and developing and
performing in Freedom Concerts, where she incorporated her artistic
gifts in song and poetry to narrate stories of the Civil Rights
Movement.
In 1969, she founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-
Violent Social Change in Atlanta as a memoriam to her husband. She
served as the founder, president, and CEO for 27 years. The
organization provides an extraordinary history of the Civil Rights
movement while offering interpretations of Dr. King's philosophies to
over 1 million visitors each year.
In 1986, through her endless efforts, the Federal Government
established a national holiday on her husband's birthday to commemorate
his achievements. Mrs. King also authored 3 books, earned 60 honorary
degrees, and also served in dozens of organizations. She was an
untiring nonviolent warrior whose work created a lasting effect--of
raising the level of civil rights consciousness and civility around the
globe.
I remember asking her after a lecture she delivered in Baltimore what
one lesson would she like for us to extrapolate from her life.
She replied ``the thing to always remember is that the baton is
handed from one generation to another. You've just got to make sure,
first of all, to grab it and then don't drop it.'' What we must do now
is make sure her efforts, spirit and commitment live on in us.
Mrs. King was an icon and a paragon of excellence. It was no
coincidence that she died
[[Page 636]]
in her sleep--for she exited this world in the way that she physically
dreamed it--with everlasting peace and love for all of humanity.
God Bless Coretta Scott King. My deepest condolences to her family.
Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, Coretta Scott King dedicated her life to
racial and economic justice as a leader in the civil rights movement
working in partnership with her late husband, the great civil rights
leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And after his assassination, she
continued her tireless efforts fighting for equal justice for children,
the poor and the forgotten among us.
She was a passionate advocate for equality here in the United States
and around the world. Her efforts ensured a fledgling civil rights
organization--the Southern Christian Leadership Conference--had the
funds to continue its critical work and her actions made certain
apartheid did not fade from the world's conscience.
Mrs. King once eloquently said, ``Women, if the soul of the nation is
to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.'' And her
accomplishments--the civil rights legacy she created in her own right--
demonstrate how she became our nation's soul.
As a nation we mourn the loss of one of our civil rights pioneers,
Coretta Scott King. Together we must continue her life's work of
equality and justice. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and
friends at this time of loss.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this
resolution honoring the memory of Coretta Scott King who passed away
yesterday morning. In a lifetime of effort and tireless struggle, Mrs.
King championed the principles of peace, integrity, and human dignity.
Alongside her husband, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Mrs. King
strove for civil rights, endured bombings on her home, and dreamed of a
better life for her children. Because of her and so many others, my
children and grandchildren are growing up in a world of greater
opportunity.
After her husband was taken away tragically, Mrs. King, still
shouldering the immense emotional burden of her loss, did not choose to
withdraw from the world. She chose instead to continue forward with the
work they had started and the legacy they had built. Only 4 days after
the death of King, Mrs. King led a march of 50,000 people through the
streets of Memphis. For her determination and courage, we are forever
grateful.
Coretta Scott was born in Heiberger, near Marion, Alabama, on April
27, 1927. Growing up on her parents' farm, Coretta walked 5 miles every
day to her one-room school in order to receive an education. As a young
woman, she learned the lessons of struggle and perseverance from her
determined mother. These lessons helped her excel and graduate as the
valedictorian from Lincoln High School. Mrs. King then went on to
enroll at Antioch College where her sister Edythe had been the first
full-time black student to live on campus.
Mrs. King majored in education and music, pursuing the love she had
inherited from her mother. By her graduation in 1951, Mrs. King decided
to become a professional singer and accepted a scholarship to the New
England Conservatory of Music in Boston. It was in Boston that she met
Martin Luther King, Jr., a fellow student. They were married 2 years
later. Their first child, Yolanda, was born in 1955, only 2 weeks
before the Montgomery bus boycott. Three more children soon followed:
Martin Luther III, Dexter, and Bernice.
During the campaign for civil rights, Coretta Scott King did more
than support her husband, she worked as his peer; giving speeches in
her husband's stead and traveling to Geneva on behalf of Women's Strike
for Peace as a delegate at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva in
1962. Mrs. King maintained her passion for music throughout this
turbulent period, often giving concerts on behalf of civil rights. In
May 1968, only months after her husband's assassination, Coretta Scott
King took up his place in the Poor People's March to Washington. That
year, Mrs. King founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for
Nonviolent Social Change, the first institution built in memory of an
African American leader.
Mrs. King was also instrumental in the establishment of the Martin
Luther King, Jr. National Holiday. After personally leading an enormous
education campaign and seeking an Act of Congress, Mrs. King oversaw
the first national observance of the holiday to honor her husband in
1986. In 1974, she formed the Full Employment Action Council, a
coalition of over 100 organizations dedicated to full employment and
equal economic opportunity. In 1983 Mrs. King gathered over 800 human
rights organizations on the 20th Anniversary of the historic March on
Washington in the Coalition of Conscience. While protesting apartheid
in 1985, Mrs. King and three of her children were arrested outside the
South African embassy in Washington, DC. Nearly a decade later, she
stood in Johannesburg as Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the new
President of South Africa.
Throughout her life, Coretta Scott King remained a devoted promoter
of positive social change. Despite grief and constant sacrifice, she
continued to lend her voice to issues of social justice, human
equality, and democratic progress. Mrs. King advocated for a more open-
minded global community.
The world is better because of Coretta Scott King. She affected
countless lives and her voice will be deeply missed, especially by
those who carry on her incredible undertaking.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to
remember the life and accomplishments an extraordinary woman--my
friend--Mrs. Coretta Scott King.
I was surprised and deeply saddened to learn of Mrs. King's passing
yesterday morning. Mrs. King and I were friends and confidants for many
years. She was an incredible woman--graceful and dignified--who showed
strength in the face of indignation and tragedy.
Coretta Scott King was a committed activist in the civil rights
movement even before she met Dr. King. After they married, she was with
him every step of the way--supporting him and promoting the philosophy
of nonviolence. Following Dr. King's assassination, she continued his
legacy promoting social and economic justice for all. Mrs. King was
determined to make his dream a reality. She did all this while
remaining committed to her family and raising her children.
Mrs. King made it her mission to spread the message of peace. She was
not just an American, but a citizen of the world. As human beings, we
are blessed to have known her compassion and dedication.
It has been said that the ultimate measure of a person's life is the
extent to which they made the world a better place. Coretta Scott
King's work has forever shaped the way we treat each other as human
beings. Her passing marks the end of an era. It is up to all of us to
honor her dedication and continue the struggle for equality.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate Black History month, it
saddens me that our nation has lost one our foremost civil rights
activists--Coretta Scott King.
Though best known as the wife of the great Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Coretta had a distinguished career herself. She was an activist not
only for racial equality but for economic justice, women's and
children's rights, gay and lesbian dignity, religious freedom, the
needs of the poor and homeless, health care, educational opportunities,
nuclear disarmament and ecological sanity. She was also a powerful
voice in bringing an end to the scourge of apartheid in South Africa.
During the civil rights movement, she was at the forefront of the
movement alongside her husband. Coretta was a music student and she
brought her talent to the civil rights movement by performing in
``Freedom Concerts,'' singing and reading poetry to raise money for the
cause. Planning marches and sit-ins, she never relented even after her
family members were targets of beatings and stabbings. She never
relented, even after the jailing of her husband. She never relented,
even after their family home was bombed.
Long after Martin's assassination, Coretta continued her work and
concentrated her energies on fulfilling her husband's work by building
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change as a
living memorial to her husband's life and dream.
I had the pleasure of meeting her. For me, meeting her was meeting an
icon. The civil rights movement began when I was about 8 or 9. Years
later, to meet her in person was awe inspiring. It was, frankly,
astonishing. Coretta Scott King was not a witness to history, she was
an active participant and a leader in making history. Speaking to her
one on one was a humbling experience and one that I will never forget.
Coretta Scott King will be sorely missed by people not only in the
United States but those throughout the world who looked to her as a
strong woman and a leader in the non-violent resistance movement.
Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of the
courageous Coretta Scott King.
Mrs. King first came to the public eye as the wife of the great civil
rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Aside from being Mr. King's wife,
Coretta Scott King became an international symbol for the civil rights
movement and a prominent advocate of the women's rights movement. As a
civil rights leader, Mrs. King's vision of racial peace and nonviolent
social change was a fortifying staple in advancing the civil rights
movement.
Following her husband's untimely death, Mrs. King fought strongly to
continue battling
[[Page 637]]
the struggle against social injustice. Mrs. King went on to found the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change in
Atlanta, GA, and led a valiant effort for a national holiday in honor
of her late husband. Both actions are a strong indicator of Mrs. King's
dedication to scholarship and activism.
Through her continued efforts, Mrs. King came to be seen as an
inspirational figure. Her enormous spirit and strong moral values came
to personify not only the ideals Dr. King fought for, but also
personified a movement that transformed our Nation.
I would like to extend my thanks to Mrs. King for all the wonderful
contributions she made throughout her life. I also would like to extend
my prayers and condolences to her family, who will undoubtedly continue
to fight for what Mrs. King stood for.
It is an honor to stand and praise all the hard work this beloved
figure has done to better our Nation.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the passing Monday night of
Coretta Scott King, filled me with sadness, an emptiness, and a
determination to see her work through to the end. She was a courageous,
heroic, and beautiful individual who sacrificed her life so Americans
might relish in the gift of equal justice. Coretta Scott King and her
late husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were Americans of monumental
strength and stature through their lives. In times of struggle,
frustration, injustice, and violence, they spoke of composure, grace,
love, and equality.
They will be remembered for their tireless and ceaseless efforts to
advance race relations, civil rights, social justice and human rights.
I would like to share a few quotes with you. These are moments in
which the voice, character, and spiritual tenacity of Mrs. King was
captured. When a heroine passes away, we look to her words, and our
memories, to convey the spirit and tenacity she carried with her,
brought into every room, and left imprinted on our souls.
Corretta Scott King once said, ``Hate is too great a burden to bear.
It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.'' Whether
segregation, sexual orientation, the rights of the poor or the rights
of women, Mrs. King spoke with a voice that resonates beyond the limits
of radiowaves and printed pages and out to who are desperately in need
of help.
I have known Coretta Scott King over the last several years, and she
had a rare gift to motivate others to carry on the legacy of equality,
the idea of freedom, and social justice which was first accomplished by
her husband and partner, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is our duty in
her honor to never waver in the face of injustice and degradation.
``Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won;
you earn it and win it in every generation.'' These words of Coretta
Scott King are increasingly relevant.
As a member of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees,
my thoughts can't help but turn to yesterday's confirmation of Justice
Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. I have had concerns about Justice
Alito's past judicial record. I am still apprehensive, and I would like
to take this opportunity to point out what I believe is a test of civil
liberties presented today.
The tragic passing of Coretta Scott King, a formidable human rights
and civil liberties activist, and the concurrent confirmation of
Justice Alito, may foreshadow difficult times ahead for American
freedoms. Much of what Coretta Scott King fought for is now threatened
by Justice Alito's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. His dubious
record on voter's rights, discrimination issues, civil rights, civil
liberties, reproductive freedom, the right to privacy and environmental
protections, among others, fly in the face of the life and work of
Coretta Scott King. The passing of Coretta Scott King and the
confirmation of Justice Alito should be a wake-up call to America.
Dr. and Mrs. King will forever hold an esteemed place in my heart and
the hearts of all Americans. As an African-American woman, and a Member
of Congress, I shall endeavor in my own way to continue their fight for
equality and justice every day.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life
and legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. She was the widow of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and an important figure in the civil rights movement
in her own right. She passed away Monday night in California.
Coretta Scott King was born in Marion, AL, on April 27, 1927. She
attended Antioch College in Ohio and earned a B.A. in music and
education. During her postgraduate studies at the New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston she met her future husband, Martin
Luther King, Jr., who was studying systematic theology at the nearby
Boston University. They were married on June 18, 1953 in her hometown
of Marion.
While she devoted most of her time to raising their 4 children, her
husband's prominent involvement in the civil rights movement meant that
she, too, was deeply involved. She took part in sit-ins at segregated
restaurants, organized marches, and performed in many ``freedom
concerts.'' She even marched with Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma,
AL, to Montgomery in 1965. Just days after her husband was slain she
and three of her children traveled to Memphis to lead a march honoring
his life.
She not only honored his life but also ensured that his legacy would
live on. In 1969 she founded the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for
Non-Violent Social Change in Atlanta, GA, as well as the Coalitions of
Conscience to advocate for human rights issues.
King has carried the message of nonviolence and her husband's dream
to nearly every corner of the globe. In 1962 she served as a delegate
to the 17-nation disarmament conference in Geneva, Switzerland. She was
the first woman to deliver the class address to Harvard University
students and the first woman to preach at a service in St. Paul's
Cathedral in London. She stood beside Nelson Mandela when he became the
first democratically elected president of South Africa and she was an
eye-witness to the signing of the Middle East peace accords.
Coretta Scott King was a woman of great influence, wisdom,
compassion, and determination. She was a woman who devoted her life to
making our world a better place. I leave you with a quote from Coretta
Scott King, ``Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never
really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.''
Ms. CARSON. Mr. Speaker, as I rise today to speak on the life of
Coretta Scott King I can't help but be reminded of the Gospel according
to St. Matthew, ``And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and
they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was
shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying Lord, Lord open to
us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.''
The life of Coretta Scott King was one that was spent prepared to serve
her Lord and fellow man and she has now joined her bridegroom.
The words and deeds of Coretta Scott King have made an indelible
imprint not only on the lives of Americans but of all people across the
world. From her work with Nelson Mandela and in the struggle for civil
rights to her work on behalf of the gay and lesbian community she was
always willing to stand with those who were defending their right to
live a life of freedom. She served as a true moral compass for all
people. We need more people to live like Kings.
She was a phenomenal person who was kind to all she met and worked
tirelessly on behalf of those she had not. I want to express my deepest
condolences to the King family on behalf of the people of the 7th
Congressional District. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution.
Today we mourn the loss Mrs. Coretta Scott King. We honor her personal
strength, her determination as a civil rights leader and her vision of
a nation where freedom is denied to no man and to no woman.
Together Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked to
create an America where all people are equal. Together they marched
through the streets for civil rights, and together they spoke before
church, civic, college, fraternal and peace groups to encourage peace.
After her husband's tragic assassination in 1968, Mrs. King devoted
her energy to carrying on Dr. King's legacy of nonviolence and civil
rights. She built the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent
Social Change as an enduring memorial to her husband's dream of full
civil rights for all Americans. Throughout her life, Mrs. King worked
to advance the cause of justice and human rights throughout the world
and spoke out on behalf of many important issues, including racial and
economic justice, women's and children's rights, and religious freedom.
For her continued service to our country Mrs. King received over 60
honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities and inspired
Congress to create a Federal holiday on her husband's birthday. Mrs.
King was truly an American hero.
Today our thoughts and prayers are with the four King children:
Yolanda Denise, Martin Luther III, Dexter Scott, and Bernice Albertine,
all of her family and friends, and with all of those who continue to
feel the wrath of social and economic injustice.
Just as Coretta Scott King honored the memory of her husband through
her work, let us honor her by continuing to fight for peace, justice
and equality for all Americans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield back
the balance of my time.
[[Page 638]]
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, it was with great sadness that I
learned of the passing of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. I rise today along
with my colleagues to celebrate and remember the life of a remarkable
woman and support H. Res. 655. I know that I speak for my colleagues
here today when I say that America has lost one of its great citizens.
Mrs. King's greatness lay in the special talents she had and her
ability to use them in the numerous roles she played in her life. She
started her adult life as an accomplished musician, receiving music
degrees from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, and the New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. It was in Massachusetts that she
met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They were married on June 18, 1953. In
1954, with her husband's installation at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
in Montgomery, AL, Mrs. King accepted the roles and responsibilities of
a pastor's wife.
Mrs. King's singular talents may have been known just to members of
the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church if it had not been for the winds of
change swirling around Montgomery in 1955. With the arrest of Rosa
Parks for her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery public bus,
the struggle for civil rights for Blacks in America formally began. Dr.
King was at the epicenter of the civil rights movement, and Mrs. King
was there by his side.
It is amazing that Coretta Scott King could play such a vital role in
the civil rights movement while simultaneously raising a family. She
was the mother of four at a time when a woman was expected to be a
homemaker and not much else. Not content to stand on the sidelines of
history, Mrs. King spoke on the cause of equality to church, civic,
college, fraternal and peace groups. She also produced and performed in
a series of freedom concerts as fundraisers for the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, the direct action organization of which Dr. King
served as first president.
It is easy to forget the duress under which Mrs. King lived such an
exemplary life. The threat of violent death was always present. The
King family home was bombed in 1956. Death threats against her family
arrived by phone and mail constantly, and Martin was stabbed and nearly
killed in a New York department store in 1958. The threat became
reality with Dr. King's assassination on April 4, 1968. No one would
accuse Mrs. King of cowardice if she had retired from public life after
Dr. King's death. But Dr. King's dream of an undivided America became
her dream, and Mrs. King continued to work as an advocate for equality
through nonviolent resistance.
Mrs. King devoted much of her energy to developing the Martin Luther
King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta as a living
memorial to her husband's life and dream. She led goodwill missions
around the world speaking at massive peace and justice rallies. She was
the first woman to deliver the class day address at Harvard University
and the first woman to preach at a statutory service at St. Paul's
Cathedral in London.
Mrs. King led the campaign to establish Dr. King's birthday as a
national holiday. In 1983, the 98th Congress passed H.R. 5890
instituting the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission,
which Mrs. King chaired for its duration. And in January 1986, Mrs.
King oversaw the first legal holiday in honor of her husband--a holiday
which has come to be celebrated by millions of people.
My thoughts and prayers are with the King family. I hope that this
resolution honoring Mrs. King will be a comfort to them at this
difficult time.
Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise to salute Mrs.
Coretta Scott King, the widow of civil rights pioneer and icon Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. I join millions in this country and around the
world who mourn her passing and celebrate her life. I extend my
condolences and prayers to her children and family.
Coretta Scott King was born in Marion, AL, on April 27, 1927. She
grew up in segregated Alabama. Mrs. King went on to study music at
Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, and later studied at the New
England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. It was in Boston, where
she met Dr. King, who at the time was working on his doctorate in
theology at Boston University. They married in 1953 and had four
children, Yolanda Denise, Martin Luther III, Dexter Scott, and Bernice
Albertine.
Coretta Scott King marched beside her husband in towns across the
then segregated south. Mrs. King did not quietly slip out of public
life. With dignity and courage, she chose to continue to work for
justice, access, and equality. She advanced the message of social
justice, peace, and mutual respect.
Mrs. King started the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non Violence
and Social Change out of the family home in Atlanta. The Center now
houses the tomb of Dr. King and thousands of documents related to his
work. Thousands of people each year visit the center, which sits in
Atlanta's Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
Coretta Scott King was active in the fight against apartheid in South
Africa and an advocate for human rights. Mrs. King received honorary
doctorates from more than 60 colleges and universities and authored
three books.
As we enter Black History Month and then Women's History Month in
March, I urge Congress and the American people to reflect on the legacy
of Mrs. King. She was tireless in her effort to make America a better
place for every American. Coretta Scott King will always be remembered
for promoting racial and economic equality for all Americans.
Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, when I first heard the news this morning I
was at once both shocked and saddened. Although Mrs. King belonged to
her children and cousins and nieces and nephews, she also belonged to
us--the American people and the family of black people all over the
world.
When she was alive, there was a sense of comfort. Mother King guarded
us, protected us; she helped set this country free when she picked up
Martin's cross.
I was given the privilege of speaking at this year's Martin Luther
King ceremony at Ebenezer Church. Due to illness, she watched the
proceedings on the television, not able to be there with us. Our love
went out to her then and it does so now. I love the King Family as do
we all. Her vision and Martin's vision moved our country forward.
In 1963 Dr. King spoke of Stone Mountain, Georgia. I now represent
Stone Mountain, Georgia. Change is possible in our country. It is
possible for people of conscience to come together and move this
country forward.
What Mrs. King embodies will not be extinguished. She is our Queen
Mother. And we should spend this day reflecting on her life, her
legacy, her spirit, and what we will do in our lives to further Martin
and Coretta's vision for our beloved community.
My condolences to all the members of the King family; and to Martin
III, Yolanda, Dexter, and Bernice.
In every sense of the word, they were our first family and now we
look to the children to wear the family's mantle.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of
resolution (H. Res. 655) honoring the life and accomplishments of Mrs.
Coretta Scott King and her contributions as a leader in the struggle
for civil rights, and I also express my heart felt condolences to the
King family on her passing.
As the wife of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Mrs. King was
recognized by many as the ``first lady'' of the Civil Rights movement.
Born and raised in Marion, Alabama, Coretta Scott graduated
valedictorian from Lincoln High School. She received a B.A. in music
and education from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and then
went on to study concert singing at Boston's New England Conservatory
of Music, where she earned a degree in voice and violin. While in
Boston she met Martin Luther King, Jr. who was then studying for his
doctorate in systematic theology at Boston University. They were
married on June 18, 1953, and in September 1954 took up residence in
Montgomery, Alabama, with Coretta Scott King assuming the many
functions of pastor's wife at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
During Dr. King's career, Mrs. King devoted most of her time to
raising their four children: Yolanda Denise (1955), Martin Luther, III
(1957), Dexter Scott (1961), and Bernice Albertine (1963). She
performed a series of Freedom Concerts which combined prose and poetry
narration with musical selections and functioned as fundraisers for the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the direct action
organization of which Dr. King served as first president.
In 1957, she and Dr. King journeyed to Ghana to mark that country's
independence. In 1958, they spent a belated honeymoon in Mexico, where
they observed first-hand the immense gulf between extreme wealth and
extreme poverty. In 1959, Dr. and Mrs. King spent nearly a month in
India on a pilgrimage to disciples and sites associated with Mahatma
Gandhi. In 1964, she accompanied him to Oslo, Norway, where he received
the Nobel Peace Prize. Even prior to her husband's public stand against
the Vietnam War in 1967, Mrs. King functioned as liaison to peace and
justice organizations, and as mediator to public officials on behalf of
the unheard.
In 1969, Coretta Scott King published the first volume of her
autobiography, My Life with Martin Luther King Jr. In the 1970s, Mrs.
King maintained her husband's commitment to the cause of economic
justice. In 1974 she formed the Full Employment Action Council, a broad
coalition of over 100 religious, labor, business, civil and women's
rights organizations dedicated to a national policy of full employment
[[Page 639]]
and equal economic opportunity; Mrs. King served as Co-Chair of the
Council.
In 1983, she marked the 20th Anniversary of the historic March on
Washington, by leading a gathering of more than 800 human rights
organizations, the Coalition of Conscience, in the largest
demonstration the capital city had seen up to that time.
Mrs. King and three of her children were arrested in 1985 at the
South African embassy in Washington, DC, for protesting against
apartheid. Mrs. King led the successful campaign to establish Dr.
King's birthday, January 15, as a national holiday in the United
States. By an Act of Congress, the first national observance of the
holiday took place in 1986. Dr. King's birthday is now marked by annual
celebrations in over 100 countries. Mrs. King was invited by President
Clinton to witness the historic handshake between Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman Yassir Arafat at the signing of the Middle
East Peace Accords.
Mrs. King devoted much of her energy and attention to developing
programs and building the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King, Jr. Center
for Nonviolent Social Change as a living memorial to her husband's life
and dream. Situated in the Freedom Hall complex encircling Dr. King's
tomb, The King Center is part of a 23-acre national historic park which
includes his birth home, and which hosts over one million visitors a
year.
In 1995 she turned over leadership of the King Center to her son,
Dexter Scott King, who served as Chairman, President & CEO until
January 2004. On that date, Mrs. King was named interim Chair and her
eldest son Martin Luther King, III assumed the leadership position of
President & CEO.
She remained active in the causes of racial and economic justice, and
most recently devoted much of her energy to AIDS education and curbing
gun violence.
A woman of wisdom, compassion and vision, Coretta Scott King has
tried to make ours a better world and, in the process, has made
history. I am saddened by the loss of our ``First Lady''. She met the
challenge of preserving the memory of her husband head on. Her tireless
work in keeping the dream alive has been invaluable not only to civil
rights, but to human rights. Mrs. Coretta Scott King kept the torch
burning and as opposed to passing the torch, she lit torches along the
way. She is a true inspiration to us all.
Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. I rise today in honor of the late Coretta
Scott King, an extraordinary civil rights leader, who passed away on
January 30th. Throughout her life, Mrs. King worked tirelessly for the
struggle of non-violent activism, social justice and peace.
Coretta Scott King was born and raised in Marion, Alabama, where she
graduated as valedictorian from Lincoln High School. She received a
B.A. in Music and Education from Anitoch College in Yellow Springs,
Ohio, before going on to study at Boston's New England Conservatory of
Music. While there, she met a theology student from Atlanta, Martin
Luther King, Jr., who was then studying for his doctorate at Boston
University.
Before her marriage to Dr. King, Mrs. King was active in the civil
rights and non-violent social change movement. As an equal partner to
the young Dr. King during the turbulent times their family and the
civil rights movement faced, Mrs. King organized sit-ins and protest
marches; spoke at church, civic, and peace group gatherings; and
performed at more than 30 successful ``Freedom Concerts'' to raise
awareness of civil rights and garner support for the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference. While serving on the front lines of the fight
for equal rights, Mrs. King also raised their four children: Yolanda
Denise, Martin Luther III, Dexter Scott and Bernice Albertine.
During Dr. King's life and after his death, Mrs. King was integral to
the struggle for equality and justice. Just four days after her
husband's assassination in 1968, in an unmistakable display of
determination and perseverance, Mrs. King took his place and led a
march of 50,000 people through the streets of Memphis, Tennessee. A
woman of wisdom, compassion and vision, she helped to preserve her
husband's legacy and played a key role in making Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day a national holiday. She also worked hard to establish and
make The King Center a reality. As the work of The King Center
continues, local, national and international programs have trained tens
of thousands of people in Dr. King's philosophy of non-violent social
change.
It is with great sadness that I send my deepest condolences to the
King family. Mrs. King's lasting contributions to freedom and equality
will always be remembered. Let us honor Mrs. King's memory by
committing ourselves to promoting civil rights and peace.
Mr. Speaker, please join me in paying tribute to the life of Mrs.
Coretta Scott King.
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay my respects
to an American treasure: Mrs. Coretta Scott King. An admirable advocate
of social justice and peace, Mrs. Scott King will be greatly missed by
those who care about equal opportunity for all. Alongside her husband,
the late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., she was a successful leader
and advocate for racial peace and fought for social change.
Following the death of her husband, she maintained his commitment to
racial and economic justice. Her devotion to civil and human rights has
no borders as she is recognized at home and abroad for remaining a
catalyst for change.
Just as Cesar Chavez is remembered for his role in the struggle for
human rights and dignity of migrant farm workers, Mrs. Scott King will
be remembered for her accomplishments in the struggle for peace and
justice, and for her steadfast belief that care and respect should be
shown to others not because of the color of one's skin, but because of
``the content of their character.''
Mr. Speaker, as a nation and with the world, we mourn the loss of
Coretta Scott King, a civil rights icon in her own right whose
accomplished life is laudable, whose care for the human condition is
remarkable, and whose loss will be felt by countless millions all
across this great country that she helped unite.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join in expressing my
sorrow at the news of the death of Coretta Scott King and my support
for the resolution (H. Res. 655) now before us.
By passing that resolution, the House of Representatives honors her
life and accomplishments and her contributions as a leader in the
struggle for civil rights, and expresses condolences to the King family
on her passing.
I wholeheartedly join in that expression of views shared not only by
the House but by millions of Americans in Colorado and across the
nation.
Mrs. King was no stranger to our state. As noted in today's Denver
Post, she paid her first visit to Denver in 1958 and returned to
Colorado many times thereafter to further the cause of equality for
which her husband and she labored for so long.
Now, in the words of the Rocky Mountain News, our nation mourns her
as a champion of freedom, and Coloradans join in that mourning.
For the information of our colleagues, I attach an editorial and a
news story from today's Denver daily newspapers.
[From the Rocky Mountain News, Feb. 1, 2006]
Nation Mourns Champion of Freedom
Coretta Scott King, 78, died peacefully at a medical clinic
in Mexico early Tuesday. While she may always be remembered
as ``the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,'' Mrs. King
created an inspiring legacy of her own.
Her tireless efforts convinced lawmakers to recognize her
late husband's place in history with the national holiday
that celebrates his birth. She stood with and spoke for the
downtrodden, in America and around the world.
Mrs. King surely would have lauded the news that the
Smithsonian Institution on Monday approved a site on the
National Mall near the Washington Monument for the National
Museum of African American History and Culture.
We've long supported a moratorium on further construction
on the Mall, which has grown cluttered with newly built
memorials and security barriers over the past three decades.
And so we would prefer that the museum occupy land near but
not on the Mall. But leading museum proponents considered
such an alternative a slap in the face, and the Smithsonian
board foreclosed that option.
So be it. Whatever the museum's location, the construction
of such a memorial is long overdue. The task is to ensure
that it becomes a national treasure, a source of inspiration
for Americans of every heritage.
____
[From the Denver Post, Feb. 1, 2006.]
Nonviolence Espoused in Many Denver Visits
(By Claire Martin)
Despite the death threats and bombings, the assassination
of her iconic husband and hostility that persisted for
decades, Coretta Scott King remained such a passionate
advocate of nonviolence that she insisted on her bodyguards
being unarmed during her public appearances.
``In all her visits to Denver, we provided Mrs. King with
security, but always that was one of her prerequisites--no
weapons, no guns,'' said Vern Howard, longtime civil rights
advocate and marshal of Denver's annual Martin Luther King
Jr. Day parade. ``It was hard for us organizers. We didn't
want anything to happen to her on our watch.''
Coretta Scott King first visited Denver in 1958 to speak at
a New Hope Baptist Church event arranged by Helen Gamble,
grandmother of former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb.
[[Page 640]]
King later confided to Webb that the speech intimidated
her, despite her formal training as a vocalist at the New
England Conservatory of Music. ``As a soloist, it's easier
for me to sing than to give a keynote speech,'' Webb recalled
King saying.
Her theme in that debut--civil rights and nonviolence--set
the tone for countless future speeches, first by her
husband's side and then in his stead.
``She never wavered in her commitment to civil rights,''
said Wilma Webb, a former state legislator and the wife of
Wellington Webb, who authored the state's King holiday bill.
``She carried the banner. She gave us direction. She had the
stature of a first lady.''
King returned regularly to Colorado after her husband's
death. She stumped for Wellington Webb in his first mayoral
campaign in 1983 and urged him to run for the U.S. Senate in
2002.
During the mid-1980s, her visits focused on the
controversial effort to create a national holiday honoring
her husband.
During a visit to the Colorado legislature in 1985, a year
after the assembly voted for the holiday marking her
husband's birthday, House Speaker Bev Bledsoe snubbed King.
Although Senate Speaker Ted Strickland allowed King to
address his assembly, Bledsoe, a Hugo Republican who opposed
the King holiday, refused to grant her the same privilege,
provoking criticism from Democrats.
She continued to visit Colorado, sometimes to watch her
playwright daughter, Yolanda Denise King, perform in one of
her plays. Her final appearance in the state in January 2005
invoked a version of her 1958 message.
``We can solve conflicts without terrorism and war,'' she
said. ``This is the only way to lasting peace and security.''
Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mourn the loss of Mrs.
Coretta Scott King. Her death is a great loss for America and for peace
and justice the world over.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. King on two occasions; once in my
congressional office and again at a ceremony marking the 25th
Anniversary of the March on Washington. I was always impressed by her
inner strength and graciousness. In troubled and violent times, she
raised a family and was a genuine partner with her husband Martin
Luther King, Jr. in the fight for civil rights and equality. She
ensured that his dream did not die by leading the fifteen year fight to
make her husband's birthday a national holiday and by establishing the
Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta.
Her personal activism included traveling the world advocating for
women, promoting world peace and protesting apartheid. I know that I am
a better person because of her and indeed our country is a better place
because of her legacy.
In closing I would like to express my condolences to the King family.
May the God of all comfort be there for them through all the days
ahead.
Mr. JEFFERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the passing of
one of the strongest and most inspirational African-American women in
our country's history: Mrs. Coretta Scott King.
Mrs. King was not the person referred to in the cliche . . . she was
not the, ``good woman behind a great man.'' She was the determined,
intelligent woman who stood right alongside him. When Coretta Scott
married Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior, she had already led an
impressive life of her own. She had already established herself as a
role model. Coretta Scott graduated at the top of her high school class
in Alabama, and was accepted at Antioch College in Ohio, and later at
the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. She had a scholarship
to the music school that covered her tuition, but she was not too proud
to take a job cleaning stairwells to pay for her room and meals. It was
in Boston when Coretta Scott met her future husband--Martin Luther
King, Junior, and her journey as not only the wife--but the partner of
a man who would change the way Americans lived, had just begun.
From the Montgomery bus boycott, to outbreaks of racial violence in
the streets, to a bombing at the Kings' residence in 1956, Mrs. King
stood by her and her husband's dreams of racial equality. And with the
bad, came the good--Mrs. King was there for her Doctor King's uplifting
sermons, his many trips abroad and his--``I Have a Dream'' speech on
the National Mall.
After experiencing such a tumultuous, unpredictable life as the wife
of a great civil rights leader, some thought Mrs. King would choose to
lead a quiet life--leaving the spotlight after her husband's untimely
death. Instead, Coretta Scott King chose to carry on her the fight.
Until her health started to fail her last year, she continued to speak
out against injustice, and promote fairness and equality among all men.
To quote the late Mrs. King, ``Hate is too great a burden to bear. It
injures the hater more than it injures the hated.'' This is a fitting
epithet for the great American, the First Lady of the Civil Rights
Movement, Mrs. Coretta Scott King.
Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Coretta
Scott King, and I offer my condolences to her family after she passed
away in her sleep early this morning. She was a remarkable human rights
advocate who was a living symbol of the struggles and successes of the
civil rights movement.
Mrs. King was best known as the loving wife and widow of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. She provided invaluable support to the man who became
the Nation's leading civil rights advocate and an international icon.
She stood by him as he was harrassed, intimidated and eventually
assassinated for fighting for equality.
Her grace and dignity after her husband's death showed the country
that she was more than just a strong wife. Alone with four children,
she did not retreat but instead insisted on continuing the mission that
her late husband had started. She continued the march in Memphis before
his funeral. As time progressed, she spearheaded the effort to create a
federal holiday to honor her husband. Her strong insistence on
furthering Dr. King's ideals led to the creation of the holiday in
1983.
Mrs. King quickly became an internationally known figure who embodied
the spirit of non-violent resistance and human rights advocacy. Her
work was not limited solely to civil rights; She worked tirelessly for
other noble causes, becoming a leader in the women's liberation
movement and vocally opposing apartheid in South Africa.
Mrs. King's life is an inspiration to millions of people worldwide
who struggle to overcome human rights issues. She overcame her own
personal tragedy to keep her family together and further the causes of
the civil rights movement.
Mr. Speaker, Coretta Scott King has been a role model for those
seeking to overcome tragedy and discrimination with grace and
determination. I rise today to honor her life and her legacy.
Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, today our nation has lost a great champion
of civil and human rights. Coretta Scott King's courage and commitment
should be an example to all of us.
After the assassination of her husband, the late Martin Luther King,
Jr., Mrs. King devoted herself to carrying on his legacy. Only four
days after his death, she took her husband's place at the head a march
in support of sanitation workers in Memphis. She went on to found and
lead, for over two decades, the King Center. The Center stands as a
memorial to her husband, but also is an active force in the struggle to
achieve equality between all people, confronting issues of hunger,
unemployment, voting rights and racism. King remained active throughout
her whole life, participating in protests against apartheid in South
Africa in the 1980's and speaking out against the war in Iraq in early
2003.
It is the responsibility of each of us, who sit in this House and
pledge to uphold the Constitution, to continue to fight for Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s dream of equality, which Coretta worked so
unselfishly to sustain.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, it is a great irony that the day of
Coretta Scott King's passage is the same day 141 years ago that the
House of Representatives passed the 13th amendment to the Constitution
abolishing slavery. That the Constitutional amendment passed by but two
votes during the time of our Civil War reminds us that the issue of
fighting for equality and against racial discrimination has been a
pitched battle throughout our history.
The widow of Dr. Martin Luther King was in the forefront of the
revolution of progress and heartbreak. She will be remembered as woman
of great courage and dignity whose role in this great civil rights
movement is only now being fully appreciated. I join with the Nation in
extending condolences to the King family and in honoring the life of
Coretta Scott King.
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in memory of an
extraordinary woman and in recognition of a life that meant so much to
so many.
I was honored to know Coretta Scott King. She was a woman of great
eloquence and dignity, but also of great faith. She endured hatred,
violence and ultimately the loss of her husband, but she never lost her
vision for mankind or her determination to stand up for what is right
and what is just.
Coretta Scott King was one of the greatest activists in our Nation's
history and it is right that we honor her here today. She carried on
the legacy of her husband, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, but she had
her own legacy--a legacy of putting herself on the line to make the
world a better place for all of God's children. And many of us continue
to reap the rewards of her work today.
[[Page 641]]
Mrs. King called ``Hate . . . too great a burden to bear.'' Saying,
``It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.'' These are
words that not only inspired millions, but that must continue to
inspire us today.
As we meet in these hallowed halls, we must remember the legacy of
Dr. and Mrs. King and the dream that defined their lives. We mourn her
passing, but the best way to celebrate her life and legacy is to
recommit ourselves to the ideals of equality and justice for all.
I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the children and
family of Coretta Scott King. Today, we have truly lost an American
treasure.
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 655
which honors the life and accomplishments of Mrs. Coretta Scott King.
We can all learn from the life of this brave civil rights leader. Her
example to us is one of perseverance and inspiration. My prayers and
condolences are with the King family at this difficult time.
Throughout her life, Coretta Scott King exemplified the values of
human dignity and equality, social justice, and service to others. As
the mother of four children and widow of the most influential civil
rights leader in our nation's history, Mrs. King spent her life
advocating racial and religious tolerance, promoting democracy, and
speaking out against violence.
It was her tireless effort that led to the establishment of the
Martin Luther King Federal Holiday in 1983. This is a day in which
Americans are called to remember the struggle of the Civil Rights
Movement and to engage in community service to help others. Every
generation of Americans should understand the importance of his
struggle and the tremendous odds that Dr. King and others overcame to
help form a more perfect union. But the work of Dr. and Mrs. King is
far from finished.
There are still too many communities in America that remain divided
by race. There are too many places where the color of one's skin, not
the content of one's character matters. The King family has over the
years accomplished great things, but work remains. As a Nation we need
to examine ourselves about race. We need to understand that to this day
although a people are endowed by their creator with the same rights and
privileges as others in their community not all feel they can exercise
those rights. Until we eliminate racism from the earth, the important
work of Dr. King and Mrs. King must continue. I look forward to new
generations of leaders continuing the cause and enduring in the
struggle to form a more perfect union. This will truly honor Mrs.
King's legacy.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of
Mrs. Coretta Scott King and to add my support to H. Res. 655 honoring
the life of this extraordinary woman. As much as we loved and respected
Mrs. King, her family has suffered an even greater loss. To the King
children--Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice, know that you have
our deepest heartfelt sympathy.
Hailed as the `First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement', Coretta
Scott King had to endure injustices at an early age. Born in Heiberger,
Alabama and raised on the farm of her parents Bernice McMurry Scott,
and Obadiah Scott, she was exposed at an early age to the injustices of
life in a segregated society. She walked five miles a day to attend the
one-room Crossroad School in Marion, Alabama, while the white students
rode buses to an all-white school closer by. Yet through it all, young
Coretta excelled at her studies, particularly music, and was
valedictorian of her graduating class at Lincoln High School.
She graduated in 1945 and received a scholarship to Antioch College
in Yellow Springs, Ohio. As an undergraduate, she took an active
interest in the emerging civil rights movement; and joined the Antioch
chapter of the NAACP, as well as the college's Race Relations and Civil
Liberties Committees.
Her life would be forever changed when she met a young theology
student, Martin Luther King, Jr. They were married on June 18, 1953, in
a ceremony conducted by King's father, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr.
Coretta Scott King was very supportive to her husband during the most
turbulent days of the American civil rights movement. After his
assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, she kept his
dream alive while also raising their four children. In her own words,
she was ``more determined than ever that her husband's dream would
become a reality.''
For more than a decade, she worked tirelessly to have her husband's
birthday observed as a national holiday. Her determination would payoff
when it was first celebrated in 1986.
In 1969, she established the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for
Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, dedicated both to scholarship and
to activism.
With fierce determination and undying strength, Mrs. King worked to
keep Dr. King's ideology of equality for all people at the forefront of
people's minds. She picked up the baton when it was dropped by her
husband's assassination and continued to move forward in the civil
rights arena.
In her own words, ``We must make our hearts instruments of peace and
nonviolence, because when the heart is right, the mind and the body
will follow.''
She exemplified courage, strength, and a deep compassion for justice.
Coretta Scott King will be remembered as one of America's greatest
treasures and will be forever missed.
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to honor and
commemorate Coretta Scott King, a tireless advocate for civil rights
and the widow of the great civil rights leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Today, we continue to mourn the loss of a great woman and a pioneer
of civil rights. While Dr. King was the visionary behind the civil
rights movement, Mrs. King was the architect. She made real the ideals
expressed by Dr. King. A driving force, she valiantly worked to found
the King Center to both preserve the history of the civil rights
movement and to train the many men and women in the philosophy of non-
violent resistance.
Mrs. King was first and foremost a woman of strong character. She was
a leader in her steadfast presence, her determination, and her courage.
As one of the first people to speak out against apartheid, she embodied
her husband's words ``injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.''
Her passion for equality and justice led her on numerous peace
delegations around the world. Her actions and work with gang members
demonstrated the value and the necessity of transforming neighborhoods
into brotherhoods. Mrs. King spoke out against attacks on affirmative
action and against racial profiling. As a result of her unrelenting
campaign efforts, a bill was signed in support of the Martin Luther
King, Jr. National Holiday.
Devoting relentless energy to her noble work, Mrs. Coretta Scott King
has made a tremendous impact on American history. She will be missed by
all those who knew her and remembered by all those who have benefited
from her enormous contributions.
Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of Coretta Scott King, wife
of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a guiding force of the
modern civil rights movement in her own right.
Just seventeen days ago we honored the birthday of her husband and
celebrated January 16th as a national holiday in his honor. It would be
too easy to remember Mrs. King simply as the wife of Dr. King, one of
this country's great 20th century leaders. To do this would be a
disservice to the memory of a champion of civil and equal rights in her
own right.
Coretta Scott King began her long career of civic engagement as an
undergraduate at Antioch College where she joined the local chapter of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
After graduating from Antioch with a B.A. in music and education,
Coretta Scott received a scholarship to study concert singing at the
New England Conservatory of Music in my home state of Massachusetts.
While there she met her future husband, Martin Luther King Jr.
After receiving her degree from the Conservatory, she and Dr. King
moved to Montgomery, Alabama. It was here that she and her husband
became central figures in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and ultimately,
the civil rights movement.
Following the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. and Mrs.
King traveled tirelessly to ensure that the civil rights movement
continued to grow. Mrs. King's talent and education in the arts led her
to conceive of and perform a series of Freedom Concerts which
incorporated poetry, narration, and music to tell the story of the
larger movement for equal rights. These concerts were vital in the
fundraising efforts for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
the organization her husband headed.
Mrs. King was not deterred by her husband's assassination, and if
anything this tragic event strengthened her resolve in their shared
struggle. In 1974, she established the Full Employment Action Council,
a diverse coalition of more than 100 religious, labor, civil, and
women's rights groups dedicated to economic justice through equal
opportunity.
In 1983, Coretta Scott King marked the 20th anniversary of the 1963
March on Washington with another march on the Capitol featuring
hundreds of organizations called the ``Coalition of Conscience.'' At
the time it was the largest demonstration in Washington's history.
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Mrs. King led the movement to have her husband's birthday, January
15th, established as a federal holiday and I am happy to say that
Congress and the President acted on the merit of Coretta Scott King's
wish and established Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday
in 1986.
While we are truly saddened at her passing, we are given pause to
contemplate the impact she made during her lifetime on our lives and
those of future generations. The freedoms all Americans enjoy today are
due in no small part to her participation in the struggle for civil
rights and equality.
Mr. Speaker, let us celebrate the achievements of this remarkable
woman's lifetime and work to ensure that her legacy endures long after
her passing.
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Ms.
Coretta Scott King, a civil rights icon and the widow of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., who died January 30, 2006, at the age of 78. Coretta
Scott was born and raised on a farm near Marion, Alabama, where she
knew little racial prejudice. However, living in town to attend high
school, young Coretta learned firsthand of the harassment and violence
directed at African-Americans. In 1942, at the age of 15, she was
personally exposed to this hatred when the Scott home was set on fire
on Thanksgiving night.
Church and music became Coretta Scott's salvation, and in 1945, she
left for Antioch College in Ohio where as one of three African-American
students in her class, she began to study music and education. After
graduation, Coretta ventured off to the New England Conservatory of
Music in Boston to study concert singing. It was in Boston where
Coretta met Martin Luther King Jr., who was then studying for his
doctorate in theology. She later said, ``Even at the time we were
courting, Martin was deeply concerned--and indignant--with the plight
of the Negro in the United States.''
The two married in 1953 and within the following decade became the
parents to two sons and two daughters. In her new life as a married
woman, Mrs. King gave up music to take on the role of a pastor's wife
at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where Dr. King
became the seminal figure in the civil rights movement. Mrs. King
joined her husband's pursuit of civil rights, and occasionally
substituted for him as a speaker. They traveled the world, observing
severe poverty and all its consequences, and together they learned the
art of nonviolent protest from the disciples of Mahatma Gandhi.
Throughout their married life, Mrs. King was an equal partner in Dr.
King's tireless efforts to pursue justice, equality and peace, and was
by his side in Oslo in 1964 when he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
On April 4, 1968, Mrs. King learned of her husband's assassination
through a telephone call from Reverend Jesse Jackson. While supporting
a sanitation workers' strike, Dr. King was shot on a Memphis motel
balcony. In her autobiography, My Life with Martin Luther King Jr.,
Mrs. King recalled, ``Because his task was not finished, I felt that I
must rededicate myself to the completion of his work.'' Indeed, she was
compelled to fully immerse herself in the nonviolent civil rights
movement that her husband led. Many wives become spokespersons for
their husband's causes, yet Coretta Scott King was unique; an ardent
activist in the fight against injustice, Mrs. King brought a new energy
to the civil rights movement. Giving hundreds of speeches and leading
countless marches, Mrs. King overcame the challenges of widowhood and
witnessed the successes of the civil rights movement and her husband's
unfulfilled dreams.
Neverending in her commitment to justice, Mrs. King was appointed by
President Carter to the United Nations General Assembly, where she
devoted herself to the development of Third World nations. She joined
the fight to end apartheid and lobbied the U.S. Congress for sanctions
against South Africa. Mrs. King also coordinated a 15-year campaign to
keep her husband's memory alive, culminating in 1983 with the passage
of legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers and Congresswoman
Shirley Chisholm to commemorate her husband's work with a federal
holiday. Dr. and Mrs. King have been succeeded by their four children
who have each followed in their parents' footsteps, carrying with them
strong hearts, minds and voices in pursuit of justice and peace.
Two years ago, I was invited to join a civil rights pilgrimage to
Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma, Alabama. The journey was a remarkable
experience. Led by Congressman John Lewis, a number of my colleagues in
the House and the Senate and I visited the sites of many of the civil
rights struggles, including the Kings' own Dexter Avenue Baptist
Church. We experienced these places with some of the activists that led
the movement and relived the moments through their eyes. To hear them
share their account of the very church we were sitting in being
attacked by a mob of segregationists was extraordinary.
Those of us who were too young to remember well the civil rights
movement continue to ask ourselves what would we have done? Would we
have stood up, would we have questioned those in power, would we have
demanded equality and justice? Or would we, like so many Americans,
have remained indifferent? The best answer we can find to that question
of what we would have done is answered by what are we doing now to
advance the cause of justice and equality. In 1960s Alabama, Coretta
Scott King and Martin Luther King, Jr., battled overt bigotry. Today,
we arm ourselves against silent intolerance. While we must look to our
past and consider how far we have come, we must keep an eye toward the
future knowing that the movement is not over and that each one of us
must continue to dedicate ourselves to pursuing an America with equal
opportunity for all.
Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, Coretta Scott King was a major reason that
our Nation advanced from the backward ways of segregation. Her passing
is a tremendous loss for all of America.
Mrs. King was a civil rights hero--she was active in the cause before
she married the great Dr. Martin Luther King, and she helped shape the
movement as his wife, and later, his widow.
As my friend and colleague, the great champion of civil rights John
Lewis, said yesterday, ``She was more than the devoted wife of a great
minister . . . she was a leader in her own right.''
With dignity and with strength, Mrs. King helped lead the civil
rights movement for decades. For many, she was the face of the
movement.
We are saddened by the loss of a great American and we are so
thankful for her life. As Black History Month begins today, I hope we
will all use this month and beyond to honor Mrs. King, her husband and
all of our civil rights heroes, and to live their message of peace and
equality, everyday of our lives.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, Coretta Scott King was a radiant
symbol of the best that the American South and this nation have to
offer. She was beautiful, charming, graceful and dignified. She was a
shining light who had the ability to brighten the dark places, to bring
hope where there was hopelessness.
I first met her in 1957 when I was a 17-year-old student in
Nashville. She was traveling around America, especially in the South,
telling the story of the Civil Rights Movement through song. I will
never forget it. She looked like an opera star standing on stage. She
wore a lovely pearl-white dress with layers of cascading ruffles
falling gently around her. She would sing a little and then talk a
little, and through her singing and talks she inspired an entire
generation.
She was more than the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. She was a
leader in her own right. She was the glue that held the Civil Rights
Movement together and the strength that sustained one of the most
charismatic leaders of our time. Long before she married Dr. King, she
was an activist for non-violence, traveling to a conference in Europe
with Women Strike for Peace to discuss the dangers of atmospheric
nuclear testing.
Though she tasted the bitter fruits of segregation and racial
discrimination, Coretta Scott King was prepared for a privileged life.
She was well-educated and married a gifted minister from a prominent
family. Just like any other mother she wanted to raise her four
children in peace. But when an opportunity came for her to actualize
the philosophy of non-violent change, she did not ignore her
convictions.
Along with her husband and the more than 50 thousand black people of
Montgomery, she responded to the courage of Rosa Parks, who on December
1, 1955, refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Alabama. That
simple act launched the modern-day Civil Rights Movement and changed
Coretta King's life forever.
Her commitment to non-violence led her to trade her privilege to live
under the constant threat of brutality. Her home was bombed, her
husband was repeatedly jailed, people she knew were killed, her
husband's life was always in jeopardy. And finally one day he was
assassinated by a gunman's bullet.
She did not become bitter or hostile. She did not hide in some dark
corner, but she drew on her faith in the transformative power of peace.
And a few days after the assassination, she led striking workers
through the streets of Memphis. All the days of her life, she would
travel throughout the South, America, and the world urging respect for
the dignity of humanity.
She went all out to create a living memorial to her husband called
the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change, one
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of the most visited landmarks in Atlanta. She met with President
Reagan, who was not inclined to sign the legislation, but in the end he
could not deny her. She used her prominence to mobilize the American
people and built a bi-partisan coalition in Congress to make her
husband's birthday a national holiday. Because of her efforts,
generations yet unborn will learn his message of peace, and they will
hear about his struggle for equal justice in America.
I loved Coretta Scott King. She was so warm, so genuine, so caring.
For 20 years, she always sent me a card or a book on my birthday. I
will cherish those mementos always.
I will remember Coretta Scott King as a dear friend. But the
historians will remember her as one of the founding mothers of the new
America, for through her noble acts, she helped liberate us all. This
nation is a better nation, and we are a better people because she
passed this way. However, she was not only a citizen of America, she
was a citizen of the world, a world still yearning to build the Beloved
Community, a world still yearning to make peace with itself. Above all,
Coretta Scott King personified the beautiful, peaceful soul of a non-
violent movement that still has the power to transform America, that
still has the power to change the world.
Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, on January 31, just one day before the start
of Black History Month, we lost one of our Nation's most important
civil rights pioneers--Coretta Scott King. Black History Month is an
appropriate opportunity to mourn her death, celebrate her extraordinary
life, and reflect on the extraordinary partnership of Mrs. King and her
husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Although Dr. King was the heart and face of the civil rights
movement, Mrs. King was its backbone. She marched alongside her husband
in Selma to demand voting rights for African Americans. She marched
with him again in Washington to demand a Federal law protecting the
civil rights of all Americans. And she marched with her husband in
Memphis one day before he was killed, to provide relief for the
sanitation workers facing entrenched discrimination.
After Dr. King's murder in 1968, Coretta Scott King fought with
enormous grace and determination to keep her husband's legacy alive.
She founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social
Change to further his dream of racial equality, and fought tirelessly
to establish a national holiday to honor her late husband. Although it
took her 15 years to accomplish this goal, Congress finally enacted a
law in 1983 designating the third Monday of January as Dr. Martin
Luther King Day.
Since her husband's death 38 years ago, Mrs. King continued her work
as a civil rights activist, an advocate for women's rights, and a
leader in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. She fought
for the ideals that made this country great, and became the epitome of
American strength and perseverance during a difficult struggle for
civil rights.
In the spirit of Coretta Scott King, let us rededicate ourselves to
give all Americans the opportunity and justice they need to meet the
challenges of today. Through perseverance and a deep belief in God and
humanity, we can go a long way to achieving a more perfect America.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I attended the
heartfelt memorial service of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Mrs. King was a
model citizen and will truly be missed by the Nation. Last week the
House debated H. Res. 655, which honored the life and accomplishments
of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. This resolution recognized her
contributions as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and expresses
condolences to the King family on her passing.
Coretta Scott King was born on April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Alabama.
Mrs. King graduated from Antioch College with a degree in music and
education and was granted a scholarship to study concert singing at the
New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It was in
Boston where she met a young theology student, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
who was attending Boston University, and her life was forever changed.
They were soon caught up in a dramatic series of events that sparked
the modern Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King was recognized as the face
of the movement, called upon to lead various marches from city to city,
with Mrs. King right by his side, encouraging citizens, regardless of
race, to defy the laws of segregation.
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in
Memphis, Tennessee. Channeling her grief, Mrs. King concentrated her
energies on fulfilling her husband's work by building The King Center
in Atlanta, Georgia, as a living memorial to her husband's life and
dream. However, Mrs. King's greatest accomplishment was yet to come.
She set out to establish her late husband's birthday as a national
holiday, and that dream came to fruition when Congress declared the
first observance of this national holiday in 1986. Today, the holiday
is marked by annual celebrations in over 100 countries.
Mrs. King was an influential public figure and is referred to as the
``First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement.'' She was a world-renowned
speaker who gave hundreds of speeches both abroad and at home, and was
active in organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women and
the Women's Strike for Peace. Mrs. King was also known for her writing,
most notably for her autobiography, My Life With Martin Luther King.
Jr.
Mrs. Coretta Scott King had a vision and she had the wherewithal to
keep that vision alive. The journey towards equality for all has been
greatly advanced by her work and accomplishments. Mrs. Coretta Scott
King is a true American hero and will dearly be missed by her family,
the Nation, and the world.
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor and remembrance of
Coretta Scott King, devoted wife, mother, grandmother and civil rights
leader, whose courageous mission has left an indelible light of peace
and justice visible across our country and around the world. Mrs. King
gracefully raised aloft the dreams and legacy of the most prominent
visionary for social change in our nation's history, her husband, Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Their unified mission of peacefully dismantling
the racist foundation of America would change the course of our Nation
forever.
Mrs. King's entire life was framed by dignity, courage and an
unwavering commitment to social justice and humanitarian causes. She
grew up working in the cotton fields of Alabama, where she experienced
the harsh reality of racism. Taught by her parents that only a solid
education could open the door to freedom and opportunity, Mrs. King
focused on her studies and graduated with honors from Antioch College
in southern Ohio, one of the first integrated colleges in the country.
While a student, she joined the NAACP and became deeply involved in the
civil rights movement, foregoing a career in music to carry out the
work of peace and justice.
The assassination of Dr. King did not diminish her resolve. She
courageously forged ahead on the road to justice, despite the danger
inherent in her noble cause. As a young widow with four young children
to raise, Mrs. King remained steadfast in her commitment to her
children and also unwavering in her determination to continue on the
path set by Dr. King. She took up the torch of her late husband,
holding it high and dignified, exposing a broken society degraded by
racism and injustice and illuminating the reality of peaceful change.
Refined, articulate and reflecting a quiet grace, Mrs. King did not
retreat from the movement sparked by Dr. King. She deliberately stepped
out into the sharp glare of the public and bravely marched on, leading
civil protests where her husband had marched before. She led an
unrelenting effort to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an endeavor
that took her fifteen years and over six million petitions. Determined
to keep Dr. King's legacy alive, Mrs. King founded the King Center in
1968, serving as its president for 26 years.
Armed with a sharp mind, a warm smile and a passion for social
change, Mrs. King journeyed around the world, speaking to college and
church audiences and meeting with world leaders. Mrs. King championed
the rights of the poor and advocated for social and economic justice
for women and for the protection and rights of gay men and lesbian
women. She marched in protest against racial discrimination across the
South and was arrested for protesting apartheid in South Africa.
Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, please join me in honor, recognition and
memory of Coretta Scott King, whose life mission on behalf of human
rights has served to raise the collective conscience of the entire
world into the promise of universal freedom from oppression. Mrs.
King's brilliant legacy, framed in peace, determination and dignity,
will forever resound with the voice of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.--along our urban streets, across the South and around the
world--echoing the ongoing struggle for freedom in a chorus of hope
that will someday rise with their words on the dawning of a new day of
peace and justice for all.
Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate the start of Black
History Month with recognizing the many, many great deeds of African
Americans, we also mourn the loss of an icon for people of all races--
Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Mrs. King was one of our most influential
black woman leaders in the world today.
The ``first lady'' of the civil rights movement was born Coretta
Scott in Heiberger, Alabama.
[[Page 644]]
She was raised on the family farm of her parents where she was exposed
to the injustices of a segregated society.
Mrs. King excelled at her studies, particularly music, and was
valedictorian of her graduating class at Lincoln High School. She
graduated in 1945 and received a scholarship to Antioch College in
Yellow Springs, Ohio.
As an undergraduate, she took an active interest in the civil rights
movement; she joined the Antioch chapter of the NAACP, and the
college's Race Relations and Civil Liberties Committees. She graduated
from Antioch with a B.A. in music and education and won a scholarship
to study concert singing at New England Conservatory of Music in
Boston, Massachusetts.
In Boston she met a young theology student, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
and her life was changed forever.
Mr. Speaker, Mrs. King has been described as quiet, steady, and
courageous and while all of that may be true let it be noted to add
steadfast and certainly noble.
Mrs. King was a serious thinker, a committed activist, a talented
musician and an outspoken woman whose influence and activism extended
well beyond the career of her famous husband.
Mrs. King undoubtedly became a symbol of racial equality for all
Americans. For a woman of her stature, rearing four little children
when there was civil unrest, and to have suffered the loss of her
husband sent a clear message to this Nation that the movement was too
powerful to stop and must go on.
Just like the late Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy, Mrs. Coretta Scott King
showed us how to meet personal crisis with courage, and then how to
transcend crisis with victory.
Although, I had never had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. King, I too
share her husband's vision of peace and brotherhood as a steady theme
that should be heard all across this Nation.
Mr. Speaker, history has a way of placing women like Coretta Scott
King in the shadows of their powerful husbands but it is time we
remember them as more than civil-rights-movement wives and widows.
I once heard someone say that behind every good man stands a good
woman, but I say to you and to this Nation that beside every great man
stands an even greater woman.
Mr. Speaker, her's was a remarkable life, and along the way she
helped improve the lives of millions. While we mourn her lose, we must
celebrate her legacy--now recognized with that of her husband.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of the time.
The SPEAKER. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to the order of the House of Tuesday, January 31, 2006, the
resolution is considered read, and the previous question is ordered on
the resolution and the preamble.
The question is on the resolution.
The resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________
Which of the following best reflects the loss of faith by younger African Americans in the non violent civil rights movement after the march to Montgomery?
Which of the following best reflects the loss of faith by younger African Americans in the nonviolent civil rights movement after the March to Montgomery? The shift in tactics of SNCC and Stokely Carmichael.
Which of the following best describes the initial reaction to the Brown decision?
Which of the following best describes the initial reaction to the Brown decision? Southern leaders supported the decision, but the voters did not.