Last week, Vice President Harris and I visited Atlanta, Georgia, the cradle of civil rights in America. We paused and prayed at the crypt of Dr. and Mrs. King. We met members of their family: Dr. Bernice King, Martin Luther King III, his wife, Andrea, his daughter Yolanda. We met students who were changing the world, just like generations of young people before them had done that. In fact, Dr. King was just one of those young people -- 15-year-old student at Morehouse College when he began his journey to fulfill the promise of America for all Americans, a promise it holds that we're all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. Dr. King wasn't just a dreamer of that promise. He was a doer, and on this federal holiday that honors him. It's not just enough to praise him. We must commit to his unfinished work. To deliver jobs and justice. To protect the sacred right to vote, the right from which all other rights flow. The attack on our democracy is real, from the January 6th insurrection, to the onslaught of Republicans anti-voting laws in a number of states. It's no longer just about who gets to vote, it's about who gets to count the vote, and whether your vote counts at all. It's about two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion. In his time through his courage, his conviction, and his commitment. Dr. King held a mirror up to America, and forced us to answer the question: where do we stand? Whose side are we on? We're in another moment right now, where the mirror is being held up to America -- being held up again. The question being asked again: where do we stand? Whose side are we on? Will we stand against voter suppression? Yes, or no. Will we stand against election subversion? Yes, or no. Will we stand up for an America where everyone is guaranteed the full protections and the full promise of this nation? Yes or no. I know where I stand, and it's time for every elected official in America to make it clear where they stand. It's time for every American to stand up, speak out, be heard. Where do you stand? Whose side are you on? On this day of remembrance, service, and action, may God bless Dr. and Mrs. King and their family, and may God bless you all, and may God protect our troops.
