conyers.ou could neither speak at your place or use the podium, as you like. after each of our presenters gives their take on martin luther king and the holiday, we will mix it up a little bit. we will then open of up to you in the audience and you can ask questions or make comments, as well. i would like to present tojophn conyers. [applause] >> good afternoon, dear friends. two arab leader of this activity this afternoon, mr. wo lfensberger, i am delighted to be here to join you in another discussion of what martin luther king means to you, the country, and to the world. ., to make. it is my great privilege to have started out in law school when the king movement started developing. i was reading the details, especially in my senior year at wayne state university law school. i got the impression that something very big was happening. and so, there was little doubt in my mind that as soon as i could, i was going to get down there and find out about it. dr. king and sclc would send people up t

conyers. our panelists can speak of their places are used the podium as they would like, and after each presenter gives their take on martin blaser king of, we will mix it up among of panelists, and we will open it up to you in the audience a you can ask questions or make comments as well, so i am pleased to present john conyers. [applause] >> good afternoon, dear friends. to the leader of this activity this afternoon and to my good friends on the panel, i am delighted to be here to join you and another discussion of what martin luther king means to year, the country and to the world, and to me. it is my great privilege to have started out in law school when the king movement started developing. i was reading the details, especially in my senior year at law school, and i got the impression something very big was happening, so there was little doubt in my mind as soon as i could i was going to get down there and find out about it, because dr. king would send people love to collect funds in prim

conyers office lotus have -- let us have. you can go on line after this program and explore some of the things we have on line that -- online. we want a living memorial to dr. king and the congressional black caucus. after this session, i think we will have a display. i look forward to having a dialogue during the question and answers section. >> i had used a lot of the documents on your site. it gives a little more detail on the legislative history of the bill. i am grateful to you for that. i will turn the program over to denise barnes. >> good afternoon. and thank you. it is a pleasure to be here this afternoon. i am more excited that you are here to hear about the making of a holiday. one of the things that i feel fortunate enough to say is that to a certain extent, i was there. while i was not on the hill, working next to congressman conyers and the other members of the congressional black caucus, just like you, i was a young person in washington d.c. that happened to be the daughter of a newspaper publisher and a stepda

conyers: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. conyers: and i yield myself as much time as i may consume. madam speaker, and members, i've been doing this for quite a number of years now and i ask my chief of staff how many years specifically it's been, but we're here again with the ranking member, lamar smith, with john lou -- lewis, the last remaining king disciple that worked with dr. king longer than any of us, and today we rise to salute not only dr. martin luther king jr. but also recalling those days when we were marching for a king holiday , stevie wonder, we salute king and stevie wonder for the wonderful inspiration he gave us all with his musical tribute to dr. king, "happy birthday." on monday we observed for the 25th year the federal martin luther king jr. holiday bill that started off three days after his assassination when

it was jointly introduced by judiciary committee chairman john conyers of the great state of michigan and ranking member lamar smith of the great state of texas for many of these space programs are located. it was prepared by the office of law revision counsel as part of its functions under 2 u.s.c. 285-b-this bill is not intended to make any substantive changes in the law. as is typical with the codification process, a number of nonsubstantive revisions were made, including the reorganization of section noose a more coherent overall structure. but these changes are not intended to have any substantive effect. the bill has been subject to extensive public review in the previous two congresses, including our relevant congressional committee's agencies, practitioners, academic experts, and whoever else is left. the current bill is substantially identical to the bill chairman conyers and ranking member submit introduced two years ago with a few additional technical clarifications. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore:

jamal had an immense argument, kind of nasty, actually, with congressman -- who was it -- conyers. it was interesting. the argument stemmed because i started talking about how do you mobilize young people. his automatic assumption was that i had this respect for elders -- had disrespect for elders. it was important that i informed him that i had a pretty clear understanding of the african- american diaspora, probably more than he. i did not say that. [laughter] but there is an inherent problem oftentimes with older generations that they believe that their grasp of their own history means that they have a grasp of it broader reality, which is often not the case. and the fact that it was arguably the most effective social political movement in the modern world -- he had to also admit that he did not run a campaign in 2000 for the same way he ran it in 1965, when he became a congressman. it was problematic to me as well. but that is not what we're talking about. [laughter] excuse me for taking the liberty. but it speaks to is the fact that we are continuing to use antiquated methodolo

chairman conyers has indicated. it was not easy for dr. king and it was not easy for all people involved. so when we talk about a celebration, it is important to keep all that serious this in perspective. . it was bad moral vision about human nature and the kind of society that we should have in this nation that had led him toward the civil rights movement and to be an advocate. the movement itself came about because there was the need to address the problem of racism and discrimination as it concerned average americans and others, and he played an important role in that. dr. greene has many of their faces. there was the civil rights dr. king, but there was the anti-war dr. king. there was the poor people's march dr. king. those were somewhat different generations of what he did, but this singular guiding vision was his moral review of the world and the fact that we should always continue working on making this a more perfect union. another emperor natcher. is that he was an intellectual. he was a philosopher. he was a well-studied person.

host: bob from conyers, georgia with his concern about retired, disabled veterans. great falls, va., you are on caller: hi. considering the speech it was good. he knows what he is talking about. but i am suggesting a new picture, talking about rules and benefits. [unintelligible] we need to talk about the whole world. if the whole world is not good, the u.s. will not be good. host: brett who wants a greater focus on the world at large. we will go back to calls we get another clip ready for you. this one is from pennsylvania on the independent line. caller: good morning? yes, about the economy, i'm a person living persona -- i am a person living with aids. all the people who are uninsured ought to be covered silicon find out how many health care slaves we have in this country and then go to the drug company and find out how many slaves we have for the drug companies. host: now the clip is ready on reform from president obama. >> as hard as it might be, as uncomfortable and contentious as the debates may become, it is time to get serious about fixing the problems. one

conyers: by direction of the committee on judiciary, i send to the desk a privileged report for filing under the rule to accompany house resolution 994. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 994, a resolution directing the attorney general to transmit to the house of representatives all information in the attorney general's possession relating to the decision to dismiss united states versus new black panther party. the speaker pro tempore: that will be referred to the house will be referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i ask to address the house for one minute for the prps of inquiring about next week's schedule. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cantor: i thank the speaker. i yield to the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader, for the purpose of announcing next week's schedule. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. on monday the house is not in session

conyers: likewise i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1010. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion is reconsidered and laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> thank you, madam speaker, i move to intend the rules and agree to the resolution honoring the lives of the seven americans killed and those wounded in the attack on forward operating base chatman in khost, eaving, on december 30, 2009. the chair: the -- the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: house resolution 1009. honoring the seven americans killed on khost, afghanistan, for their service to the united states and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas,

. >> thank you, assemblyman conyers.i recognize the president of the new jersey senate, from gloucester county, representative steve sweeney. >> madam speaker, i wish to inform the joint session of the 214th legislateture that the governor has arrived. my colleagues, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor and pleasure to present the governor of the state of new jersey, the honorable jon s. corzine. >> ok. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. thank you. come on. thank you. thank you. thank you, everybody. please, please. very nice of you. thank you. want to do it again? thank you much and good afternoon, everyone. happy new year to everyone. great to be with you. warm welcome on this inauguration of the 214th legislative session. let me especially welcome the new legislative leadership team. you're a terrific duo, senate president sweeney, speaker oliver. i have great respect for both of you for stepping up in these difficult times. challenges have always offered the opportunity and i know b

conyers, is important. if it's a