$2 Million for King Holiday Panel Backed
Legislation authorizing the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission to spend $2 million over five years and directing it to use the holiday to promote community service passed the Senate on Tuesday.
The House approved a similar bill on a routine voice vote in March, but the Senate debated it for two days as Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) pushed an amendment that would have stripped the commission of its federal funding.
The Senate defeated Helms’ amendment, 70 to 28, and then passed the bill, 94 to 4.
“Is the money in this bill . . . better spent on a King parade in Atlanta (and) having the King commission staff travel first class on airlines . . . or is it better spent on the war on drugs or cleaning up crime in public housing?” Helms asked.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Harris Wofford (D-Pa.) and Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.), also directs the commission to link celebration of King’s birth with community service projects, such as cleaning up parks.
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