Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, do hereby designate the week beginning July 1, 1962, as National Safe Boating Week.

It is my hope that the Congress will consider this proposal promptly and that the bill will be enacted into law.

The leaders of the Soviet Union are also watching this decision.

For of all the awesome responsibilities entrusted to this office, none is more somber to contemplate than the special statutory authority to employ nuclear arms in the defense of our people and freedom.

The fact of the matter is that we cannot make similar strides without testing in the atmosphere as well as underground.

I have today authorized the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense to conduct a series of nuclear tests--beginning when our preparations are completed, in the latter part of April, and to be concluded as quickly as possible…

That is why this Nation has long urged an effective worldwide end to nuclear tests.

Our real objective is to make our own tests unnecessary, to prevent others from testing, to prevent the nuclear arms race from mushrooming out of control, to take the first steps toward general and complete disarmament.

Only through such strength can we be certain of deterring a nuclear strike, or an overwhelming ground attack, upon our forces and our allies.

In the absence of any major shift in Soviet policies, no American President--responsible for the freedom and the safety of so many people--could in good faith make any other decision.

He thereby took into his mortal hands the power of self-extinction.

As you know, this house was burned once by the British.

We want others to bear their proportionate share of the burden but we do not suggest that we in the United States should fail or flinch or become fatigued.

There is no easy solution.

I welcome you to Washington.

A free society is a critical society, and therefore I know you are constantly concerned about our position here and around the world.

This is a tremendous burden which falls upon the United States and the people of this country.

So as I said a year ago in assuming the Presidency, no generation has ever borne a greater responsibility than this generation, and as a member of it I welcome that responsibility.