You in the Congress have given us more than leadership: you have given our people a gift of hope.

We believe that we are going to take the necessary precautions to preserve the scenery of our land for the enjoyment of our children.

We are planting trees by the rivers of water, and in the words of the Psalm, 'They will bring forth fruit in their season.'

Now we are moving behind the planning stage.

Our goal is simple: to speed the miracles of medical research from the laboratory to the bedside.

This job cannot be done, however, just by the Government alone.

In the event of inability the President would--if possible--so inform the Vice President, and the Vice President would serve as Acting President, exercising the powers and duties of the Office until the inability had ended.

In the event of an inability which would prevent the President from so communicating with the Vice President, the Vice President, after such consultation as seems to him appropriate under the circumstances, would decide upon the devolution…

Our first concern will be with those Cubans who have been separated from their children and their parents and their husbands and their wives and that are now in this country.

This bill says simply that from this day forth those wishing to immigrate to America shall be admitted on the basis of their skills and their close relationship to those already here.

The Federal Government will work closely with these agencies in their tasks of charity and brotherhood.

Our beautiful America was built by a nation of strangers.

It corrects a cruel and enduring wrong in the conduct of the American Nation.

Today, with my signature, this system is abolished.

We can now believe that it will never again shadow the gate to the American Nation with the twin barriers of prejudice and privilege.

The dedication of America to our traditions as an asylum for the oppressed is going to be upheld.

Once again, it stamps the mark of failure on a regime when many of its citizens voluntarily choose to leave the land of their birth for a more hopeful home in America.

This bill that we will sign today is not a revolutionary bill.