; Whereas, between 1957 and 1968, Dr. King traveled more than 6,000,000 miles, spoke more than 2,500 times, and wrote 5 books and numerous articles supporting efforts around the country to end injustice and bring about social change and desegregation; Whereas, from 1960 until his death in 1968, Dr. King was co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church; Whereas, on August 28, 1963, Dr. King led the March on Washington, DC, the largest rally of the civil rights movement, during which, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and before a crowd of more than 200,000 people, Dr. King delivered his famous I Have A Dream speech, one of the classic orations in American history; Whereas Dr. King was a champion of nonviolence, fervently advocated nonviolent resistance as the strategy to end segregation and racial discrimination in America, and in 1964, at age 35, became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for his efforts; Whereas through his work and reliance on nonviolent protest, Dr. King was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; Whereas the work of Dr. King created a basis of understanding and respect and helped communities, and the United States as a whole, to act cooperatively and courageously to restore tolerance, justice, and equality among people; Whereas, on the evening of April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead sanitation workers in protest against low wages and intolerable working conditions; Whereas Dr. King dedicated his life to securing the fundamental principles of the United States of liberty and justice for all United States citizens; Whereas Dr. King was the leading civil rights advocate of his time, spearheading the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s and earning worldwide recognition as an eloquent and articulate spokesperson for equality