Speech of Senator Harry S. Truman Before the Allegheny County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Extracted text

OCR Page 1 of 12
SPEECH BY SENATOR HARRY S. TRUMAN BEFORE THE ALLEGHENY COUNTY CHAPTER OF THE PENNSYLVANIA MOTOR TRUCK RELEASE ON DELIVERY ASSOCIATION TO BE HELD IN PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA ON APRIL 14, 1944. Mr. Chairman, and members of the Allegheny County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association: I am very happy to be able to be present at your Fourteenth Annual Conference and to discuss with you some of the problems with which we are faced in these critical times. Your principal interest, of course, is transportation, and particularly, motor transportation. A great part of my interests and acti- vities as a Senator are likewise concerned with transportation. Since 1935, I have been a member of the Interstate Commerce Committee of the Senate. As many of you may recall, I acted as Vice-Chairman of the Subcommittee of the Interstate Commerce Committee Investigating Railroad Financing and Reorganiza- tions. Furthermore, the Special Committee of the United States Senate Investi- gating the National Defense Program, of which I have the honor to be Chairman, has devoted considerable attention to the study of transportation, and as you probably know, filed a report on this subject about the middle of last December Beyond these activities, however, I have always been intensely interested in the subject of transportation because of its fundamental and basic importance. I like to look upon the function of transportation as being man's device for combating and mastering the natural obstacle of distance. It seems to me that the advance of civilization and the ability of society to satisfy its wants depends upon the improvement in the means of transporting persons and property. We could not have enjoyed our high standard of living in this country if we had not developed the best transportation system in the S NARA