The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986. The bill had passed the Senate by a count of 78 to 22, and the House of Representatives by 338 to 90. But on November 2, 1983, Reagan signed a bill, proposed by Representative Katie Hall, to create a federal holiday honoring King. President Reagan originally opposed the holiday, citing cost concerns. Six million signatures were collected for a petition for Congress to pass the law and is considered the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S.
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The success of this strategy was cemented when musician Stevie Wonder released the single ‘Happy Birthday’ to popularize the campaign in 1980 and hosted the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981. Soon after, the King Center looked for support from the corporate community and the general public. At the time, only two other figures had national holidays honoring them: George Washington and Christopher Columbus. Two of the main arguments mentioned by opponents were that a paid holiday for federal employees would be too expensive and that a holiday to honor a private citizen would be contrary to longstanding tradition, as King never held public office. House of Representatives in 1979 however, it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage.
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The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. Senator Edward Brooke introduced a bill in Congress to make King’s birthday a national holiday. Day as a holiday was promoted by labor unions.