In New York City tomorrow the day will be marked by a massive. colorful parade and a score or more banquets. Several weeks ago I had the privilege of being present when the President signed a proclamation designating October 12 as Columbus Day. The President took the occasion to hail the new immigration law which was passed last year and which has done so much to halt previous inequities in our immigration system. In conclusion the President said:. When Columbus day comes In 1966or a century from nowour American Revolution will still be going on. We will still be building. Men from Italy and a hundred other lands will be among us building. And any man who has the courage and a will to work and who loves liberty will be free to join our ranks as a fellow immigrant. Mr. Speaker. I am proud to have been a sponsor and supporter of the immigration legislation to which the President referred. Mr. Speaker. this is why it is important that Americans pay adequate attention to the day marking the anniversary of the birth of Columbus. Our indebtedness to him should serve to remind us of the indebtedness we have to all those patriots who lived. fought. and died that we might have the Nation we have today. It should also serve to remind us of the rock upon which this country is builtthe ideals. wisdom. courage. and determination of the tens of thousands of immigrants who adopted this country as their own and of the generations which followed them. This. then. is what we must never take for grantedthe blessings of freedom and the terrible price paid for it. We must never forget that as we must never forget the eternal debt we have to our forefathers through whose veins flowed the blood of more than a score of alien nationalities.
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