The lesson of our times is sharp and clear in this movement of people from one land to another.

So it is in that spirit that I declare this afternoon to the people of Cuba that those who seek refuge here in America will find it.

When the earliest settlers poured into a wild continent there was no one to ask them where they came from.

I am asking the Department of State to seek through the Swiss Government immediately the agreement of the Cuban Government in a request to the President of the International Red Cross Committee.

There is no excuse for communities to use other people's rivers as a dump for their raw sewage.

No one has a right to use America's rivers and America's waterways that belong to all the people as a sewer.

The ultimate victory of reclaiming this portion of our national heritage really rests in the hands of all the people of America, not just the Government here in Washington.

But we must act, and act swiftly.

I believe that with your help and your continued cooperation, water pollution is doomed in this century.

With the signing of the Water Quality Act of 1965 this morning, I pledge you that we are going to reopen the Potomac for swimming by 1975.

There is no excuse for a river flowing red with blood from slaughterhouses.

Now, Therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby extend through the year 1966 the period during which all persons are specially invited to see the United States, visit our historic shrines, our…

Today, we proclaim our refusal to be strangled by the wastes of civilization.

This sort of carelessness and selfishness simply ought to be stopped; and more, it just must be reversed.

I am pleased with this opportunity for the United States to participate with Japan in the joint solution of health problems which will have worldwide benefits.

Today, we begin to be masters of our environment.

I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby extend through the year 1966 the period during which all persons are specially invited to see the United States, visit our historic shrines, our natural wonders…

I want to be very clear about this, because we must, in our own interest and in the interest of those who rely on the dollar as a reserve currency, maintain our payments in equilibrium.