Kennedys-King Day Dinner Remarks at the Annual Dinner Honoring John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, It.

Thank you, my good friend Walter Fauntroy, Mayor Barry, who spoke so eloquently about future plans for the city and for mine and his relationship, Mrs. King, distinguished guests, fellow Democrats, and fellow citizens of the District of Columbia:

I've been reading lately about Mayor Barry's attempts to find a house to live in. [Laughter] He has my sympathy. I understand his problem. It took my wife and me 2 solid years— [laughter] —of hard work to get the exact house we wanted in the District. [Laughter] And we could not have succeeded without the help of many of you. And I have particularly enjoyed the high quality of the garbage collection— [laughter] —in our residence, Mr. Mayor.

It's especially appropriate that the Democratic Party of this District should honor the recent heroes of our country, for it was only recently that your own struggle for the right to vote was honored. The early days of that struggle were shadowed by the cruel and heart-rending deaths of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. They championed the cause of the voiceless-people whose silent pain became an ocean roar that swept across our Nation, helping to wash away ancient hatreds and prejudice and discrimination and fear.

Their success was made possible by the people who stood with them, their closest loved ones, like Coretta Scott King, who spoke on this platform a few minutes ago. We finally won some of the battles which they began. And, as you know, old barriers have been falling so that many people can now share more fully the life in a nation dedicated to freedom and equality. This has been especially true here in the District. Yet for all of our victories, the right for full citizenship must continue.

Our strong District Democratic Party, represented by this enormous crowd tonight, is proof of some of those victories. You won the right to vote for President in 1964. It took you 10 years to win the right to vote for local officials, in 1974. You've got a good record. In 1964, 1968, 1972, you cast at least or almost 80 percent of your votes for the Democratic candidate for President. This is the kind of careful, balanced political judgment that I really admire. [Laughter] This District is truly the most Democratic place in our country and, therefore, a good place to live. And it inures a great deal of justifiable credit to you.

In 1976 you were able to improve even on that remarkable early record, casting 82 percent of your votes for the Carter-Mondale ticket, and I thank you for it. And I hope that you all do even better in 1980— [laughter] —for all the Democrats who run.

You yourselves have produced outstanding political leaders: your able representative to the United States Congress, Walter Fauntroy; your dynamic and nationally admired young mayor, Marion Barry; the effective leader of your local Democratic Party, Bob Washington; your distinguished national committeeman and committeewoman, John Hechinger and Sharon Dixon.

And, in addition, this great city has provided many outstanding people to serve with me in the administration of the affairs of the United States of America: people like Pat Harris, Cliff Alexander, Geno Baroni, Sterling Tucker; Tyrone Brown, the FCC; Emmett Rice, the Federal Reserve; Senator Joe Tydings, Ruth Prokop, the Merit Systems Protection Board; Edith Barksdale Sloan, the Consumer Product Safety Commissioner; Bunny Mitchell; Wiley Branton at Conrail; Marjorie Lawson, Kennedy Center; Jim Dyke; Pauline Schneider, and many others—I don't have time to name them all. But this forces the Federal Government to recognize you, to recognize your hopes and your dreams and your problems and your aspirations. And it also gives the District, which has a highly motivated and consummately, politically educated electorate, to have a great and beneficial effect on the rest of our country.

The party that produced this tremendous array of talent also nurtured the District's image as a vigorous local entity, separate and apart from the seat of our Federal Government. As a matter of fact, as you well know, there are really two Washingtons: one, of the Federal city, which is a national and an international center; and hometown Washington, where 700,000 local people live and work and make a good city function. When I campaigned, I often mentioned the mistakes of the Federal Government, and I have even had a few things to say about that since I have been living here. But I have never confused the two cities, and I have only had good things to say about hometown Washington.

This city enjoys the special beauty and the cultural advantages of being the Nation's Capital. And you've coped well with the special responsibilities of being an international center. But hometown Washington must also correct or prevent problems that you share with other cities throughout this country—such as urban decay, poverty, crime, and unemployment. You manage this and you manage it well, because you have a special kind of determination which has sustained this community despite generations of deprivation of basic human rights.

As far as hometown Washington is concerned, I have the same commitments tonight that I had when I was a candidate for President.

More than 2 years ago, I asked Vice President Walter Mondale to bring together a group, a high-level task force of local officials, officers from our own administration, Members of Congress, and to work with me and to work with you to carry out those campaign commitments and make sure that the basic problems of the District were not only identified but resolved.

First, I'm determined to reduce Federal intrusion into the local affairs of the District of Columbia. I've already ended Presidential review of local decisions where there is no significant Federal interest involved, and I support similar elimination of congressional review of such local matters. I will never treat the District as merely an extension of the Federal Government. I'm committed to complete home rule for the District of Columbia.

This is an easy thing to say; it's a difficult thing to do. But you have a partner here who will work with you in every single opportunity to bring about what I have just described, because until these goals can be reached, we must press for decisions in the meantime that are speedy, simple, and fair to your people.

Secondly, I'm determined to establish a sound financial relationship between the District and the Federal Government.

I support increasing the authorized Federal payment and appropriating the full amount authorized, with a formula to make this process both orderly and predictable. I want to remove the Federal Government from the budgetmaking process for the District, because I think budgets ought to be made by the people who pay them.

There is a fact unknown by the rest of this Nation, that the bulk of your budget comes from local taxes. Other cities get Federal help and they still have a right to make their own budget decisions. and I believe so should the District of Columbia.

We have ended the last vestige of colonialism in Latin America on October 1, when the Panama Canal Treaty was implemented. And I want to end the last vestige of colonialism in America by passing the voting rights amendment in the 38 States of this country to make it law.

With your mayor, with other political leaders, with Waiter Fauntroy, I am eager to cooperate mutually, to consult with one another, to lay a political strategy and to help to carry it out, because there is an awful lot of misinformation around this country about the composition of the District—its people, your qualifications, and the cheating that has taken place under present constitutional provisions, and the tinge of racism which has colored the reluctance to make this decision which is so long overdue. Fundamental justice requires that all citizens have not only a voice but also a vote in Congress.

The right to win congressional approval of this amendment was not easy, but for the first time in history—and this can make a difference—a President is supporting full voting ,representation for the District.

We received the necessary bipartisan support in Congress, because we all worked as a team. We made it attractive for both Democrats and Republicans to support this controversial issue. Had we not, it could not have passed the House or the Senate of the Congress. Many people deserve credit for that victory, but we all owe a special debt of gratitude to the man who never stopped letting us dream the impossible dream—Walter Fauntroy.

That success has been one of the most gratifying victories that's taken place during my administration. But we cannot rest until we have full congressional representation in the House and Senate for the citizens who live in the District.

Early in his administration, Mayor Barry visited me in the Oval Office, and we discussed ways that we could work together to form an even better partnership between him and me, his administration and mine, to solve other problems that involve the District and the Federal Government. Since then, our offices have been working closely together—constantly—to cement and to utilize this partnership.

It hasn't been long yet, but we've already seen significant results.

Working together, we're going to complete the Metro system. The Federal Government has now placed its total monetary commitment to Metro on the table. Now it's up to the surrounding jurisdictions to fund their share of the system -and Washington needs the full 101 miles of the Metro system—and working together as partners, we're going to get it.

Until tonight I believe that that was the plan. We might have to cut maybe a mile or two off, Mr. Mayor, to get a few more garbage trucks. We'll see about that in the future. [Laughter]

Also working together, we've developed a plan to transfer authority to prosecute local crimes from the United States attorney's office to the District Government. Legislation to bring this transfer about will be a top priority for my administration. Other cities have control over their local criminal justice system, and so should the people who live in the District of Columbia.

I'm committed as well to having the mayor appoint local judges. This district is the only jurisdiction in the United States where local judges must be appointed by the President. The right to make decisions affecting your life is crucial to you, but the District also has special problems and it needs special help.

We recently approved grants totaling $58 million for the District. These funds came from you in Federal income taxes paid, and they will go to construct new sewage treatment systems, to complete urban renewal projects, to modernize the public housing development, to provide financial aid and home weatherization for the elderly and low-income people, and to pay for various health improvement programs. The partnership between me and the mayor, my administration and his, is already paying off.

And now I'd like just to add a personal