Speech #900139896

Their joys and their sorrows. their successes and their failures. their achievements as well as their disappointments. have all been forthrightly recorded by Miss Tiritilli. I do hope that my colleagues. many of whom have thousands of Americans of Italian descent living in their congressional districts. will read this article in order to gain a more profound understanding of the ItaloAmericans and their contribution to the advancement of our American culture. I do hope also that my colleagues will gain an understanding of the problems and difficulties that faced the early immigrants. like my own mother and father. who came to this country many years ago. This is a true story of America and of the ItaloAmericans who pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps to make America one of the most powerful nations in the world. This story is particularly significant because it happened with all of the other ethnic groups who. like the Italian Americans. helped to build America.