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Martin Luther King honored in memorial groundbreaking ceremony
WASHINGTON — The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial will give the slain civil rights leader "his rightful place among the great Americans honored on the National Mall," President Bush said this morning at the memorial's groundbreaking ceremony.
"Today we see only these open acres, but we know that when the work is done, the King memorial will be a fitting tribute," Bush said in a short address.
The four-acre site will be developed along the Tidal Basin, not far from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.
Bush was among a number of speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony, including former president Bill Clinton, entertainer Oprah Winfrey and poet Maya Angelou.
"It is because of Dr. King that I stand, that I have a voice to be heard," Winfrey said. "I do not take that for granted."
Clinton signed a measure in 1996 that allowed the memorial to be built on the National Mall. Bush thanked his predecessor for backing the memorial, and joked that Clinton — who has been involved in a number of efforts with Bush's father, former president George H.W. Bush — "has become my fourth brother."
"I'm proud to dedicate this piece of the nation's capital to the memory of a great man," Bush said. "Dr. King showed us that a life of conscience and purpose can lift up many souls."
"America has come a long way since Dr. King's day, yet our journey to justice is not complete," the president said.
Project organizers have raised more than $65 million toward the $100 million cost of building and maintaining the King Memorial. They hope to have it completed by the spring of 2008.
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