John F. Kennedy: “Members of the Congress: The United States did not rise to greatness by waiting for others to lead.”

Before my term has ended, we shall have to test anew whether a nation organized and governed such as ours can endure.

But if these programs were ever to be ended, our failures in a dozen countries would be sudden and certain.

We need a new law--a wholly new approach--a bold new instrument of American trade policy.

The choices we make, for good or ill, may well shape the state of the Union for generations yet to come.