We welcome you here during a time of very great change in the world, both in the West and in the East.

We still regard the close and intimate ties between the Federal Republic and the United States as the strongest possible insurance for the defense of Europe, which is essential to the defense of the United States.

It is our responsibility, Chancellor, that decision having been made, to build upon it and to attempt to move from an increasingly strong and powerful Europe and Atlantic community to an increasingly strong and powerful free world.

Let us renew that spirit by concerting our energy and our hope with men and women everywhere that the world may move more rapidly toward the time when Thanksgiving may be a day of universal celebration.

Let us renew the spirit of the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving, lonely in an inscrutable wilderness, facing the dark unknown with a faith borne of their dedication to God and a fortitude drawn from their sense that all men were brothers.

I urge that all observe this day with reverence and with humility.

Let us renew that spirit by sharing the abundance of this day with those less fortunate, in our own land and abroad.

It is fitting that we give our thanks for the safety of our land, for the fertility of our harvests, for the strength of our liberties, for the health of our people.

Progress is now being made towards the restoration of peace in the Caribbean, and it is our firm hope and purpose that this progress shall go forward.

The Soviet missile bases in Cuba are being dismantled, their missiles and related equipment are being crated, and the fixed installations at these sites are being destroyed.

The United States intends to follow closely the completion of this work through a variety of means, including aerial surveillance, until such time as an equally satisfactory international means of verification is effected.