Congressional Record—Senate S440
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S440 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 1, 2006 We did not hear from these compa- prosperous country. I along with the try together until her final days. She nies today because they have declined rest of America will be watching to see never stopped believing that we have a to appear at this hearing. I am dis- if these statements are reflected in the historic responsibility to move Amer- appointed by their decision. Boycotting President’s policies and budget request, ica forward and extend the American this hearing will not stifle our ques- however. dream to all those who seek it, regard- tions or the need for their account- We need to relieve America’s depend- less of race. Today, as a nation, we ability to Congress and American con- ence on foreign oil. Although the Mid- mourn Mrs. King’s passing. We are sumers. The chairman has announced a east is not the source of the majority thankful for her time here with us, the second hearing for the end of this of our energy, its share has grown dur- fruits of her labor, and the profound month, and the executives from the oil ing this administration. I also urge the impact she has left on a grateful coun- companies will attend, whether volun- President and the Republican leader- try. tarily or in answer to subpoenas. We ship of Congress to work with us to re- I yield the floor. will not rest in our effort to under- lieve our dependence on foreign inves- Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I wish stand, and then correct, the problems tors and on borrowing from Social Se- to offer some remarks on our loss of in the energy markets. curity to finance the record deficits Mrs. Coretta Scott King, who has On its face, the deplorable issue here and growing debt that their policies passed away at the age of 78. I join my is not the unprecedented profits gar- have created. colleagues in cosponsoring and sup- porting S. Res. 362 to honor the life of nered last year. Surely, any business f the size of these corporations could and express the condolences of the Sen- produce a high yield selling their prod- REMEMBERING CORETTA SCOTT ate on her passing. uct at $60 a barrel. Rather, the striking KING Coretta Scott King was born April 27, issue here is how these profits compare Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, it is 1927, on a farm in Heiberger, AL, to with years past. For example, since with great sadness that I offer my con- Obadiah, Obie, and Bernice McMurry 1999, oil refiners have seen a 334 percent dolences on the passing of Coretta Scott. Though her family owned the increase in yield made on each gallon Scott King, who passed away at the age land, it was often a hard life. All the of gasoline refined. Moreover, these of 78. Indeed, I offer these remarks on children had to pick cotton during the same companies have more than dou- behalf of all Missourians who have been Great Depression to help the family bled their control over oil production. touched by her legacy and that of Dr. make ends meet. Time and time again, oil companies Martin Luther King, Jr. A tireless Graduating from Lincoln Normal have defended startling statistics such champion and partner in her husband’s School in Marion, AL, at the top of her as these. They claim that increased work, Mrs. King’s life represents an class in 1945, Coretta went to Antioch costs for production, exploration, and American story from which we can all College in Yellow Springs, OH. After meeting environmental standards jus- draw strength. She never stopped graduation, she moved to Boston, MA, tify increasing prices at the pumps. working toward the prize God called where she met Martin Luther King, Jr. They were married in 1953 on the lawn This is obscene. I say it is time to in- her to achieve. vest in the American people. We need Born in rural Alabama on April 27, of her parents’ house and with the cere- mony performed by King’s father. to investigate excessive market con- 1927, Coretta Scott was the second Coretta King received a degree in voice centration in the oil industry that is child of Obadiah and Bernice Scott, and violin at the New England Conserv- stifling competition, constricting sup- hard working parents who wanted more atory, then moved with her husband to ply, and ultimately harming con- opportunities than they had for their Montgomery, AL, in September 1954 sumers. And then we need to do some- children. An ambitious student, Mrs. after he was named pastor of the Dex- thing about it. King graduated first in her high school ter Avenue Baptist Church. Together, I was glad to hear the President class and continued her studies at An- they had four children: Yolanda Denise sounding like a Democrat on energy tioch College in Yellow Springs, OH. King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter last night in his State of the Union She had a passion for education and Scott King, and Bernice Albertine speech. I can only hope that his words music and went on to the New England King. mean that he has finally abandoned the Conservatory of Music in Boston, fol- Mrs. King received honorary degrees failed policy of the Cheney energy task lowing her graduation from Antioch. from many institutions including force that had worked in secret with It was in 1952 in Boston where she Princeton University and Bates Col- Ken Lay and other energy industry big- met the man who would become her lege. She was a member of Alpha Kappa wigs. Had we adopted the Democratic husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Alpha, a noted African-American wom- energy proposal on which Senator They were married the next year and en’s sorority. BINGAMAN and others have worked so eventually settled in Atlanta, where The King family was front and center hard over the last several years, we they reared their four children, Yo- to one of the most turbulent times of would be much farther along. Nonethe- landa, Martin, Dexter, and Bernice. the 20th century. Just 2 weeks after the less, we welcome the President and, I Mrs. King was by no means a bystander birth of her first child, Rosa Parks was hope, some congressional Republicans in the groundbreaking changes her hus- arrested on a Montgomery bus, helping to the Democratic emphasis on alter- band worked to achieve. She was a spark what would develop into the native and renewable fuels. After all partner in her husband’s historic work modern civil rights movement that that the Bush administration and the to make this country whole. would be led by her husband. The Republican leadership have done to ad- Following the murder of her husband struggles that followed included a nar- vance the interests of the oil compa- in 1968, Mrs. King could have chosen to row escape from death in 1956 when nies, including the attempts by House retreat into the privacy of her family. Mrs. King and her daughter were home Republican leadership to insert special Indeed, in the aftermath of that trag- when a bomb exploded at the family’s interest provisions in conference re- edy, she was a widow who had the sole residence—her husband was speaking ports to give oil companies immunity responsibility of raising four young at Rev. Ralph Abernathy’s First Bap- for the environmental and health dam- children. But instead, Mrs. King brave- tist Church at the time. age they cause, this reversal of posi- ly chose to continue her husband’s Mrs. King later put together a series tion would be a good development for work and his quest for racial equality. of Freedom Concerts that combined po- the American people. She worked tirelessly to have her hus- etry, narration, and music to highlight Along with conservation, renewable band’s birthday memorialized as a na- the movement and also raise funds for energy is a key to a cleaner, more effi- tional holiday and to establish the the Southern Christian Leadership cient energy future. If the President King Center, a lasting memorial and Conference. In 1962, she served as a would work with us and follow through research institution dedicated to the Women’s Strike for Peace delegate to with sensible proposals, we can forge a Dr. King’s principles of justice, equal- the 17-nation Disarmament Conference bipartisan partnership. Working to- ity, and peace. in Geneva, Switzerland. gether, we can do better to make this Mr. President, Coretta Scott King Notably, she preceded her husband by a safer more energy efficient and more continued her work to bring this coun- 2 years in opposing the Vietnam War, VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:27 Feb 05, 2014 Jkt 081600 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\2006SENATE\S01FE6.REC S01FE6 mmaher on DSKCGSP4G1 with SOCIALSECURITY February 1, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S441 addressing a 1965 antiwar rally at Following her husband’s assassina- the lives of five men and two women, Madison Square Garden in New York tion, Coretta Scott King picked up his among them Christa McAuliffe, who City, while also serving as a liaison to mantle and made clear that his dream, was to have been the first teacher in international peace and justice organi- of a just America, was her dream too. space. She is quoted as saying shortly zations. Over the nearly 40 years that followed, before the flight, ‘‘One of the things I Over the years, she was active in pre- her fight for that dream took her to hope to bring back into the classroom serving the memory of her husband and every corner of the world and into is to make that connection with the in other political issues.