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    "label": "Lithuanian Ancestry Message, 1976",
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    "id": "1668576",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Lithuanian Ancestry Message, 1976",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1668576",
    "collections": [
        "Eliska A. Hasek Files (Ford Administration)",
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        "Presidential messages"
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        "day": 26,
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{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/ford/grf-0121/644215/1668576.pdf",
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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box 1, folder \"Lithuanian Ancestry Message, 1976\"\nof the Eliska Hasek Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald R. Ford donated to the\nUnited States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives\ncollections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in\nthe public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are\npresumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject\nto a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nWASHINGTON\nFebruary 26, 1976\nTO AMERICANS OF LITHUANIAN ANCESTRY\nAs we celebrate the birth of freedom in America, more and more\nof our people are mindful of their bi-national heritage. Your\nLithuanian-American activities call attention to the remarkable\nefforts of millions of talented and hard-working individuals from\nall over the world who built America into the great nation we\nknow today.\nI am keenly aware of your great anxiety concerning your homeland,\nfamilies and friends who have been and are still profoundly affected\nby East - West political developments in Europe. Last summer,\njust before departing for Helsinki, and before that in February of\n1975, I met with your leaders to discuss these concerns and to em-\nphasize that the accord I would sign in Helsinki was neither a treaty\nnor a legally binding document.\nThe Helsinki agreements, I pointed out, were political and moral\ncommitments aimed at lessening tensions and opening further the\nlines of communication between the peoples of East and West. I\nassure you again that there is no cause for the very understandable\nconcern you raised about the effect of the Helsinki Declarations on\nthe Baltic nations. The United States has never recognized the\nSoviet incorporation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and is not\ndoing so now. Our official policy of nonrecognition is not affected\nby the results of the European Security Conference.\nIt is the policy of the United States--and it has been my policy ever\nsince I entered public life--to support the aspirations for freedom\nand national independence of the peoples of Eastern Europe by every\nproper and peaceful means.\nI commend you for your continued contributions to our national\nlegacy and to our durable system of representative government.\nToday, I salute you for your struggle on behalf of all human free-\ndom.\nHerald R. Ford\nBERALD LIBRARY ? FORD"
}