Remarks at the C.C.C. Camp near Johnstown, Pa.

My first thought in coming to Johnstown and to this section of the great State of Pennsylvania is to bear to you a simple word of thanks and of gratitude to you good people who showed such heroic courage last March when you found yourselves in dire peril. You have shown the finest qualities of good American citizenship and the whole country is grateful to you for the way you faced danger at that time.

We want to keep you, as far as we can, from having to face that situation again in the days to come. I need not assure you that the Federal Government, so long as I have anything to do with it, is going to cooperate with your communities and with your State in taking every possible measure to prevent floods in the future.

I came here especially to see with my own eyes what I had read about and seen in photographs. I am going through various sections of the country on that same mission because I believe I can render better service if I see things at first hand than if I just sit in Washington.

Again I want to express my gratitude to you for your courage at the time of the flood and the way you are facing this situation today. Many thanks.