Remembering Coretta Scott King

REMEMBERING CORETTA SCOTT KING

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Mr. LEVIN. We first came to know Coretta Scott King as Dr. Martin Luther King's wife, but we came to treasure her for the more than 50 years of courageous and inspiring leadership she gave to our Nation. During Dr. King's tragically brief yet profoundly important time as America's most prominent civil rights leader, Mrs. King played an indispensable role, speaking before church and community groups, serving as a pastor's wife, and raising four children. She was Dr. King's rock during one of the most turbulent times in our history.

Mrs. King's heroism and unyielding determination to continue the struggle for justice and equality for all could not be more evident than in how she responded to a despicable incident in 1956. Mrs. King was in her home with her infant daughter, Yolanda, while Dr. King was away on one of his many missions for the civil rights movement, speaking at the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL. Someone threw a bomb into the Kings' home, and the bomb exploded. Even though Mrs. King and little Yolanda narrowly escaped physical harm that day, the bombing failed to deter her. Instead, Mrs. King's involvement in the civil rights movement intensified.

Following her husband's assassination, Coretta Scott King picked up his mantle and made clear that his dream, of a just America, was her dream too. Over the nearly 40 years that followed, her fight for that dream took her to every corner of the world and into every heart that loved justice. She established the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She worked to advance the cause of justice and human rights around the world, speaking out for racial and economic justice, women's and children's rights, religious freedom, full employment, health care, and education. She championed the national holiday in honor of Dr. King's legacy. And, as she carried on Dr. King's message, she became an icon of the civil rights movement in her own right.

In September 2004, the Senate passed legislation to honor Mrs. King and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., posthumously, with Congress's highest honor--the Congressional Gold Medal--for their contributions to the Nation. It was my great honor to deliver this news to Mrs. King the next day at an awards ceremony sponsored by the Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus, where Mrs. King was honored with their Leadership and Achievement Award. Over the next few months, my staff worked with Mrs. King, along with the U.S. Mint and Congressman JOHN LEWIS's staff, in designing the gold medal. In March 2005, Mrs. King contributed these words, from some of her favorite lines from Dr. King's speeches, to appear on one side of the medal: ``I suggest that the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence become immediately a subject for study for serious experimentation in every field of human conflict, by no means excluding the relations between nations. This may well be mankind's last chance to choose between chaos and community.'' Mrs. King offered these lines less than a year ago, reflecting her steadfast commitment to nonviolence throughout her entire life.

Coretta Scott King moved our Nation forward, and we owe her a debt that we cannot repay. As we mourn Mrs. King's passing today, let us celebrate her exceptional life, and let us honor her by recommitting ourselves to the dream the Kings shared of freedom, justice, and equality for all people.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice King and all of the King family.

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