On Monday, January 17th, we celebrate Martin Luther King Day in remembrance of Dr. King and all that he did for America. I was honored to have the opportunity to cast my vote in Congress to set aside the third Monday of January in memory of Dr. King. Ceremonies and remembrances on Martin Luther King Day have occurred in West Virginia and across the Nation since 1986, the first celebration of the national holiday.

Dr. King dedicated his life to improving the lives of everyone around him. Throughout his life, Dr. King had three fundamental themes that were of the utmost importance to him: justice, democracy and hope. These subjects were often touched on by Dr. King in his speeches and public appearances.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." It was over forty years ago that Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote these words from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King was a young man, at 34 years old, and wise beyond his years while spending time in jail for demonstrating in public without a permit.

It is clear that injustice is able to spread and, just as Dr. King feared, threaten justice everywhere. We must all take steps to stop injustice, and we do not have to travel the world to do so. We need to work to make sure that justice is not threatened in our communities and towns of Southern West Virginia. This will help spread justice throughout the world and further Dr. King's dream.

Dr. King was a strong supporter of democracy and knew the importance of ensuring that all people had the opportunity to vote. In the last election cycle we had the most voters at the polls in West Virginia since 1972, which is a good step in the right direction. But, we can still do better; we can still get more people out to vote in future elections. Dr. King said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." America must speak loudly with votes every election, because each election is of great importance. Democracy can grow stronger with more participation.

Dr. King lived through the hard times. And throughout his efforts to strengthen democracy and stop injustice, he always had hope for the future. We must have hope that tomorrow will be better than today. We cannot merely have hope without action though, we must also fight for democracy and justice as Dr. King did. If hope accompanies our challenges, then we will be stronger.

Dr. King's strong feeling of hope is epitomized by his words in Memphis, the day before his assassination, "...And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy tonight."

As we celebrate the life of Dr. King, remember his fight for justice and democracy. And remember, through it all, Dr. King always had a dream and he always kept hope for the future.