![]() The bill also established the "Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January. The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986. The final vote in the House of Representatives on August 2, 1983, was 338–90 (242–4 in the House Democratic Caucus and 89–77 in the House Republican Conference) with 5 members voting present or abstaining, while the final vote in the Senate on October 19, 1983, was 78–22 (41–4 in the Senate Democratic Caucus and 37–18 in the Senate Republican Conference), both veto-proof margins. ![]() But on November 2, 1983, Reagan signed a bill into law, proposed by Representative Katie Hall of Indiana, to create a federal holiday honoring King. When asked to comment on Helms' accusations that King was a communist, the president said "We'll know in thirty-five years, won't we," referring to the eventual release of FBI surveillance tapes that had previously been sealed. President Ronald Reagan originally opposed the holiday, citing cost concerns. Democratic New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan declared Helms' document a "packet of filth", threw it on the Senate floor, and stomped on it. Helms led a filibuster against the bill and on October 3, 1983, submitted a 300-page document to the Senate alleging that King had associations with communists. Helms criticized King's opposition to the Vietnam War and accused him of espousing "action-oriented Marxism". Senators Jesse Helms and John Porter East (both North Carolina Republicans) led the opposition to the holiday and questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. Six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law, termed by a 2006 article in The Nation as "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. The success of this strategy was cemented when musician Stevie Wonder released the single " Happy Birthday" to popularize the campaign in 1980 and hosted the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981. ![]() Soon after, the King Center turned to support from the corporate community and the general public. honoring them: George Washington and Christopher Columbus. Only two other figures have national holidays in the U.S. Two of the main arguments mentioned by opponents were that a paid holiday for federal employees would be too expensive and that a holiday to honor a private citizen would be contrary to longstanding tradition (King had never held public office). However, it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage. The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. After King's death, Representative John Conyers (a Democrat from Michigan) and Senator Edward Brooke (a Republican from Massachusetts) introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday. Day as a holiday was promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations. Day Proposals Sign (1969) promoting a holiday on the anniversary of King's death Ronald Reagan and Coretta Scott King at the Martin Luther King Jr. ![]() Main article: Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later on January 20, 1986. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15 and the latest is January 21. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. ![]() Born in 1929, King's actual birthday is January 15 (which in 1929 fell on a Tuesday). It is observed on the third Monday of January each year. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and often referred to shorthand as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. ![]()
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