For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 21, 2008
President Bush Visits Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library
Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library
Washington, D.C.
In Focus: African American History
9:42 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for having us. Listen, Laura and I are thrilled to be with you. Proud to be with the Mayor and Councilman Jack Evans. We appreciate very much the Serve D.C. that is working to inspire volunteerism, and I want to thank this beautiful library for hosting us.
I just got a couple of comments I want to say. First of all, Martin Luther King Day means two things to me. One is the opportunity to renew our deep desire for America to be a land of promise for everybody, a land of justice, and a land of opportunity. It's also an opportunity to serve our fellow citizens. They say Martin Luther King Day is not a day off, it should be a day on. And so today Laura and I witnessed acts of compassion as citizens were here in the library volunteering their time, and that's what's happening all across America today.
But a day on should be not just one day. It really ought to be every day. And our fellow citizens have got to understand that by loving a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself, by reaching out to someone who hurts, by just simply living a life of kindness and compassion, you can make America a better place and fulfill the dream of Martin Luther King.
Martin Luther King is a towering figure in the history of our country. And it is fitting that we honor his service and his courage and his vision. And today we're witnessing people doing just that by volunteering their time.
So we're honored to be with you. We're proud to be with you on this important national holiday. Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming. Jack, glad you're here. Appreciate you all taking time out of your day to visit with us.
Thank you.
END 9:44 A.M. EST
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Today is Martin Luther King day in the USA. The day has been commemorated by many people including US president George Bush. In a visit to the Martin Luther King Memorial Library, Mr Bush said that he believed "Martin Luther King is a towering figure in the history of the USA." Barack Obama also marked the event by delivering a speech from the church which is seen by many to be the place where King became a prominent figure in the politics of the US.

===New York===

An event in New York was organized that involved attempting to get thousand citizens to perform activities that were intended to help the community. Hanako Ikeno, who helped co-ordinate the event said that this event was organized because she believed "that the message of Dr. King was that everyone can be great because everyone can serve."

===George Bush===

George Bush at the Martin Luther King memorial library
President George W. Bush attended the Martin Luther King Memorial Library and gave a speech to mark the event. Bush said that "Martin Luther King Day means two things to me. One is the opportunity to renew our deep desire for America to be a land of promise for everybody, a land of justice, and a land of opportunity. It's also an opportunity to serve our fellow citizens."

Later in the speech Bush continued, "Martin Luther King is a towering figure in the history of our country. And it is fitting that we honor his service and his courage and his vision. And today we're witnessing people doing just that by volunteering their time."

===US Democratic party presidential candidates===
Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton and John Edwards took part in a rally to commemorate Martin Luther King day. 


In the event Hilary Clinton asked the crowd to "Let us just take a moment to marvel at the progress we have made together." After saying that she added "But the work is far from finished, the dream is not fulfilled." The use of the word dream was widely interpreted as reference to Martin Luther King.

Obama added to Clinton's speech by saying "It's not always easy to see past our differences, every day our politics fuels and explores these kinds of divisions."

John Edwards said that "All three of us Democratic presidential candidates are on the journey with you on the march to justice and equality."

===US Republican party presidential candidates===

Mike Huckabee made a speech from a church that was near the former home of Martin Luther King.

Mitt Romney also discussed Martin Luther King and civil rights. In his speech he stated that he believed "the great civil rights issue of our time, is making sure our inner-city schools are up to the task." He added that he believed inner-city schools fail in "too many ways."