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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release April 4, 1998
                  TEXT OF A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
                TO THE PILGRIMAGE TO MEMPHIS CELEBRATING
                 THE LIFE OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

                              April 4, 1998

Warm greetings to everyone participating in the Pilgrimage to Memphis. As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I join you in celebrating his life and legacy.

Dr. King awakened the conscience of our nation and summoned us to join a pilgrimage from which we have never turned back. With clear vision and an eloquent voice, he called on all Americans simply to be true to our promises. He called on us to confront injustice and to overcome it. He called on us to free all our people from the indignity of discrimination and the pain of poverty. He called on us to engrave on our hearts the words that our founders inscribed on paper: that all of us are created equal.

Thirty years ago, Dr. King reassured us, in his final prophetic speech at Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, that he had seen the promised land and that "we, as a people, will get to the promised land." But he was wrong when he said, "I may not get there with you," for he is with us still. He is with us as we strive to build communities of hope and opportunity for all; he is with us when we give all our children the care and support and education they need to reach their God-given potential. And he will be with us when we enter the next millennium as One America -- a better, stronger, and more united nation because of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, courage and sacrifice.

Hillary joins me in extending best wishes for a memorable observance.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

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