Congressional Report, Feb. 26: Support for King Memorial is Growing

OVER 80 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS BACK MEMORIAL ON THE MALL FOR DR. KING

The offices of Rep. Connie Morella (Republican-Maryland) and Senator Paul Sarbanes (Democrat-Maryland) announced February 26 that more than 80 Members of Congress have shown support for the "soon-to-be-built" National Memorial on the Mall in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Members of the Honorary Congressional Committee, a bi-partisan group created to support the on-going mission to honor Dr. King's legacy with a memorial, will gather in the Gold Room of the House Rayburn Office Building late February 27 at a reception hosted by the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. The event is described as "a launch reception in conjunction with Black History Month" which is running throughout the month of February.

The event will be co-hosted by sponsors of the authorizing legislation for the memorial:

Held in conjunction with Black History Month, the evening's activities will include remarks from Senator Sarbanes, Representative Constance Morella, and Harry Johnson, President of the Washington DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation and General President of the Alpha Phi Alpha National Fraternity, Inc.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial will be the first on the National Mall to commemorate an individual who did not serve as President of the United States. It is also the first memorial in the monumental core of the nation's capital to honor an African American.

The site has been approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, and will be located along the Tidal Basin, near monuments to Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson. The design was selected through a competition that elicited more than 900 designs from 52 countries. Mrs. Coretta Scott King and the Honorable Andrew Young serve as Honorary Co-Chairs for the memorial. The Foundation has until November 2003 to raise the necessary funds that will enable the building of this national memorial.

More information about the project is available online at www.mlkmemorial.org. Donations are being accepted at The Washington DC Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc., Department 211, Washington, D.C. 20055 or by calling 1-800-471-9773.

Interviews are available with Harry Johnson, President of the Washington D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. To arrange an interview or for more information on the memorial, contact Jennifer Devlin at 202-414-0786/ [email protected] or Kimberly Brock at 202-414-0773/ [email protected]

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)