WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M. today released the following statement honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
"As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day just one year after electing our nation's first African American president, it is tempting to believe that we have reached the Promised Land that Dr. King predicted more than four decades ago.
"We are not the first generation of Americans to feel that our country's sins have been absolved. When Dr. King began his work, few Americans saw our country's system of racial apartheid for the great evil that it was.
"Dr. King's greatest asset was his ability to expand our moral imagination. Through his eyes, we saw our society as it could be. Through his actions, we recognized our own capacity for moving America forward.
"We cannot forget Dr. King's commitment to service and his tireless efforts in moving America forward. Once again this year I challenge everyone to commit to service for our communities in making America and New Mexico the place that Dr. King imagined it would become. Dr. King once said, ‘Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.' We must not forget that, and we must commit - in honor of his legacy, to continue the fight for the principle of equality which he so steadfastly believed in."
