Rodney Adams and David Pitts, Washington File, May 8, 2003

Washington -- Imagine what America would be like if Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had never had a dream of racial justice. This is the message from the leaders of the U.S. Congress who spoke May 7 urging support for the building of a memorial to the slain civil rights leader on the National Mall.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Republican-Tennessee) and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (Republican-Illinois) both spoke at a news conference at the formal launching of an advertising campaign urging Americans to offer financial support so that the memorial -- currently in the design stage -- can be built. The news conference was held in the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) room at the U.S. Capitol.

"It's significant that we celebrate in this particular room," said Frist, referring to the 36th president who championed civil rights and signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act into law. "What would the world be like without Dr. King? We would not be here today celebrating the freedoms we all enjoy," he said. "The time has come for Dr. King to take his rightful place on the National Mall."

"We are gathered here today to launch a public service campaign" for a memorial to a leader who made "the ultimate sacrifice," said Speaker Hastert. He quoted King's famous line from his "I Have A Dream" speech about being judged on the basis of content of character not color of skin. In urging support for the building of the memorial, Hastert also invoked the words of President Abraham Lincoln: "It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this."

Also speaking at the news conference were Senator Paul Sarbanes (Democrat-Maryland) and Senator John Warner (Republican-Virginia) both sponsors of legislation authorizing the memorial and early proponents of its being built. Sarbanes recalled that King achieved his goals through a philosophy of nonviolence. Warner said that King had transformed the nation and particularly southern states like Virginia.

The public service announcements (PSAs) are the first phase of the new "Build The Dream" campaign, according to spokespersons for the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. They are designed to raise awareness and garner financial support for the memorial. "The memorial will educate future generations about the movement Dr. King represented and serve as a beacon for the continued fight against sanctioned injustice and inequality wherever it occurs," said Harry Johnson, president of the foundation.

Peggy Conlon, speaking for the Ad Council, showed two of the PSAs at the news conference, one depicting movie star Halle Berry having to eat in a segregated section of a restaurant, as would have been required in the southern states before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the other showing NBC weather personality Al Roker enduring a similar indignity. The PSAs conclude with a request that viewers call 1-888-4-TheDream to offer their support. Conlon said the PSAs will begin airing on 28,000 media outlets in the United States this week.

The law authorizing the memorial to Dr. King was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1998. But funds to erect it must be raised privately. It will be built on the National Mall on a four-acre site in a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Upon completion, the memorial will evoke the memory of the civil rights leader through the symbolic use of water and other landscape elements. Electronic renditions of his speeches also will be available. More than 900 contributions from 52 countries were submitted for the memorial's design, according to the foundation.

Members of Dr. King's college fraternity -- Alpha Phi Alpha -- developed the idea for the memorial more than 20 years ago. Everyone present at the news conference said the time had now come to make this dream -- the building of the memorial -- a reality.

The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.