Backers of a permanent memorial to Martin Luther King on the National Mall are one million dollars closer to reaching their 100 million dollar fund-raising goal.

General Electric executives visited the memorial site on the east bank of the Potomac River today to announce the donation. 

Representatives of Yellow Transportation have also agreed to launch a traveling billboard campaign to promote the memorial. 

Congress authorized the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity to raise money for the King Memorial in 1996. Since then, 63 (m) million dollars has been collected. 

Groundbreaking at the memorial site just southeast of the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, will be held November 13th. Backers hope to dedicate the memorial in 2008.

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