Awarding the congressional gold medal to dr. Martin luther king, jr. And his wife core letta scott king. This is a little less than an hour. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our honored guest, members of the United States house of representatives, members of the United States senate and the speaker of the United States house of representatives. Ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the United States house of representatives the honorable john boehner. Good afternoon and welcome to the United States capitol. [ applause ] as you can see the dome is under construction. Getting some repairs and theres a technical term for that canopy but the architect said we could refor it refer to it as the doughnut. On july 2nd, 1964 congress completed the most fundamental and consequential ladies and gentlemen legislation of our long history. The Civil Rights Act recognizes every citizen has the right to pursue happiness without discrimination on grounds of race, color, or national origin. This was
Of our republican forbids it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids it. The law i will sign tonight forbids it. That law is the product of months of the most careful debate and discussion. It was proposed more than one year ago by our late and beloved president , john f. Kennedy. It received the bipartisan support of more than 2 3 of the members and the house and senate. An overwhelming majority of republicans as well as democrats voted for it. It has received the thoughtful support of 10s of thousands of civic and religious leaders in all parts of this nation and it is supported by the great majority of the american people. The purpose of this law is simple. It does not restrict the freedom of any american so long as he restricts the rights of others. It does not give special treatment to any citizen. It does say the only limit to a mans hope for happiness and for the future of his children shall be his own ability. It does say that there are those who are equal be
So, it is fitting and appropriate on the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we honor this unbelievable couple, dr. Martin luther king, jr. And his beloved wife mrs. Coretta scott king. They were my friend. My brother. And my sister. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, the United States senator from michigan, the honorable carl levin. [ applause ] thank you and good afternoon, everybody. The congressional gold medal resolution that we are implementing today commemorates the ability of an inspired couple, armed only with the righteousness of their cause to help liberate millions from oppressive racism. We also commemorate today the ability of elected officials. Led by president johnson. Armed only with the desire for justice to overcome the divisions of party in order to help overcome the divisions of race. In october 1960, Martin Luther king, jr. Wrote to his beloved coretta from a georgia prison 230 miles from atlanta, a prison to which he had been hauled i
Lewis discuss the life and legacy of wallace. They look at whether political concerns or racism motivated wallace to oppose integration. This event took place at the Birmingham Public Library in birmingham, alabama. Its about 90 minutes. In birmingham, they love the governor. This line from Lynyrd Skynyrds 1974 song sweet home alabama may be one of the most debated lines from one of the most debated songs in american music. George wallace was so taken with the song when he first heard it that he planned to issue a special gubernatorial citation to lynyrd skynyrd. But then one of the governors aides suggest he listen more closely to the line that follows in birmingham they love the governor. The next line anybody remember . Boo, boo, boo. Sung by a group of female africanamerican backup singers. Including, by the way, the great mary clayton who originated the role of the acid queen in the wh whos tommy. That has nothing to do with what were talking about tonight. I just think thats a co
Overseas, many of them stand ready and willing for their next mission. As many of my colleagues have pointed out today, the National Guard can play a pivotal role in securing americas borders. Weve seen successful guard missions in the past with operations jump start, phoenix, and nimbus. Last year i called on the department to use the National Guard to help secure the border. In may 2013, i offered an amendment in this committee to the Border Security results act, which would ensure that dhs considers Lessons Learned from past National Guard missions on the border. Both the current and previous administrations have used the National Guard on more of a shortterm ad hoc basis rather than on any longterm, strategic plan. Secretary johnson, wouldnt it be beneficial for the department to partner with the National Guard and develop a longterm strategy for the guard to assist along the borders . And wouldnt it be the borders would be more secure if we had a wellplanned, budgeted strategy tha