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4-4-149 Draft of 4/1/49 *NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND North Atlantic Pact Speech RECORDS get : SERVICE On this historic occasion, I am happy to welcome the Foreign Ministers of the countries which, together with the United States, form the North Atlantic community of nations. The purpose of this meeting is to take the first step toward putting into effect an international agreement to safeguard the peace and prosperity of this community of nations. It is altogether appropriate that nations so deeply conscious of their common interests should join in expressing their determination to preserve their present peaceful situation and to protect it in the future. What we are about to do here is a neighborly act. We are like a group of householders, living in the same locality, who decide to express their community of interests by entering into a formal association for their mutual self protection. This treaty is a simple document. The nations who sign it agree to abide by the peaceful principles of the United Nations, to maintain friendly relations and economic cooperation with one