This bill is designed to reaffirm, at the seat of our National Government, our basic American belief that government should be responsible to the governed.

The choice is up to us all, to you here in Chicago, to those of us in Washington; depends on the will of the people and the will of the Congress.

And I must say, Mr. President, I know of no more vital, energetic, warmhearted, vigorous, hopeful people than the great citizens of this great democracy.

Those are the things which together we must achieve for our people, and I want to assure you through the Alliance for Progress we will stand and work shoulder to shoulder in making this hemisphere an example of what democracy can mean.

No act is more contrary to the spirit of our democracy and Constitution—or more rightfully resented by a Negro citizen who seeks only equal treatment—than the barring of that citizen from restaurants, hotels, theaters, recreational areas and other public accommodations and facilities.

Only a strong and vital America can become the model of Democratic progress to the newly emerging nations who are looking for guidance and for help.

We look toward the day when the men and women of Poland shall stand again in freedom and justice, and we shall hasten, by every honorable and responsible means, the arrival of that day.

And we owe it to our Nation to educate our children, for the bedrock of democracy is a constantly rising level of the education of its citizens.

I think a nation that holds itself out as the champion of democracy has an obligation to do better by all Americans.

How can we improve on the Constitution?

May the day come in our lifetime when the people of this great and ancient race are freed from the evils of dictatorship, and resume their rightful place as a part of the world of free men.

It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.

The surgeon owes all the more a responsibility to the society of which he is an integral part; a responsibility to help make our democratic processes work.

The first step toward the losing of our freedoms is refusing to exercise the freedom to vote.

I have expressed myself a number of times on the right of the people here to vote.

We cannot keep it unless we are willing to fight for it.

We must keep it just what it is--a government of all the people, and for all the people.

In this great American city, the ultimate power lies with the people.