Press copy of Special Message by the President on Urgent National Needs, 25 May 1961
Press copy of President John F. Kennedy's urgent message to Congress. In his address the President argues for increased defense spending and support for the nation's space program, and proposes putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
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OCR Page 1 of 11FOR RELEASE AT 12:30 P.M. (E.D.T.)
MAY 25, 1961
NOTICE: There should be no premature release of this message to Congress,
nor should its contents be paraphrased, alluded to or hinted at in earlier
stories. There is a total embargo on this speech until 12:30 p.m., May 25,
1961, which includes any and all references to any material in this
message.
Pierre Salinger
Press Secretary to the President
THE WHITE HOUSE
SPECIAL MESSAGE BY THE PRESIDENT ON URGENT NATIONAL
NEEDS
TO A JOINT SESSION OF THE CONGRESS -- (As Actually Delivered)
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, my co-partners in government,
Gentlemen -- and Ladies: The Constitution imposes upon me the obligation
to "from time to time give to the Congress information of the State
on the Union". While this has traditionally been interpreted as an annual
affair, this tradition has been broken in extraordinary times.
These are extraordinary times. And we face an extraordinary challenge.
Our strength as well as our convictions have imposed upon this nation the
role of leader in freedom's cause.
No role in history could be more difficult or more important, We stand for
freedom. That is our conviction for ourselves that is our only
commitment to others. No friend, no neutral and no adversary should think
otherwise. We are not against any man -- or any nation or any system --
except as it is hostile to freedom. Nor amlhere to present a new military
doctrine, bearing any one name or aimed at any one area. I am here to
promote the freedom doctrine.
I.
The great battleground for the defense and expansion of freedom today is the
whole southern half of the globe Asia, Latin America, Africa and the
Middle East the lands of the rising peoples. Their revolution is the
greatest in human history. They seek an end to injustice, tyranny, and
exploitation. More than an end, they seek a beginning.
And theirs is a revolution which we would support regardless of the Cold
War, and regardless of which political or economic route they should cloose
to freedom.
For the adversaries of freedom did not create the revolution; nor did they
create the conditions which compel it. But they are seeking to ride the
crest of its wave -- to capture it for themselves,
Yet their aggression is more often concealed than open. They have fired no
missiles; and their troops are seldom seen. They send arms, agitators,
aid, technicians and propaganda to every troubled area. But where fighting
is required, it is usually done by others -- by guerrillas striking at night,
by assassins striking alone assassins who have taken the lives of four
thousand civil officers in the last twenve months in Vietnam alone --
by subversives and saboteurs and insurrectionists, who in some cases
control whole areas inside of independent nations.
MCRE
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