Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday (H.R. 3706) debates
During these debates Helms alleges that King was a Communist citing former FBI head, J. Edgar Hoover’s, files on King as evidence. He also requests that the Senate hold hearings to investigate his claims before they vote on H.R. 3706. Senator Kennedy and other rebut these allegations and remind the Senate that the Church committee looked at these very allegations in 1976 and issued a report stating that King was never found by the FBI to be involved with the Communist Party or to be a Communist himself. Kennedy also speaks to the wiretap on King, and states his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, would be the first to say that the wiretap of King was wrong.
Date: 10/18/1983
Access Conditions: Public Domain