Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the newest American holiday.  Each year, one the third Monday of January, schools, federal offices, post offices, and banks across America close as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s  birthday.

It took America 15 years after Dr. King's death, to realize that Martin Luther King Jr. is a man that needs to be honored.  But, it was a tough time getting the bill passed.   The bill had to be first introduced to the House of Representatives.  The speaker for the House of Representatives assigned the bill to another committee where the bill was discussed in detail.  This committee decided that the bill should be sent to a vote.  The House of Representatives voted 338 to 90, thus winning the majority vote.  The bill was then sent to the United States Senate.

Once again, the issue of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday becoming a national holiday had to pass through many committees and public hearings.  After all of this, a final vote was taken.

Many people opposed that idea of turning Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday into a holiday.  The United States had only honored two people with national holidays, George Washington and Christopher Columbus.  Many people felt that other American's deserved a holiday, such as Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.

One obstacle to the confirmation was the Senator from Georgia, who denounced Dr. King as a communist.  Many others feared that a holiday for Dr. King was a way to make up to African Americans for the many centuries of slavery.  And even more people feared the cost of the holiday, knowing that federal workers would have to work overtime to create the holiday.

To those who were criticizing the idea, Senator Bob Dole pointed out, "I suggest they hurry back to their pocket calculators and estimate the cost of 300 years of slavery, followed by a century or more of economic, political, and social exclusion and discrimination."

In the years leading up  to the official declaration of a King holiday, many African Americans celebrated the birthday for themselves with a few states that had declared Dr. King's birthdate a state holiday.  On November 2, 1983, the Senate and House Representatives signed the bill to announce the third Monday of January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  The first national celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. day took place on January 20, 1986.  This year, Dr. King's holiday will be celebrated on January 15, 2001.