Remarks in Mitchellville, Maryland

Father Donanzan and all of those who are attending this wonderful picnic here so very close to Washington and so very close to the heart of America:

I want to say that it is a very great privilege for me to have the opportunity on this Sunday afternoon to come to an event which tells us so much about the strength of our country. I know you are having a wonderful time. I went by some of the food shops. I just had lunch. I'll have to take some home to eat tonight at the White House.

I know, too, that you realize that this serves a very good cause, this home for some of our senior citizens and also the church in Washington which supports it.

But I would like to speak very briefly to you about what you and those of Italian background have meant to America and what you make it possible for America to mean to the world.

Just a moment ago I met the leader of this band. He told me very interesting thing. He said that almost all the members of this orchestra are from the Army and the Marines and the Navy--they generally are in the Army and the Marines and the Navy, but here, they are joining in this band at this Italian event.

Now, that tells us something, of course, about Italians generally, their great sense of music and love of music. Anybody who has been to Italy, as I have been so many times, knows this. Anybody who has been to an Italian affair knows it. But perhaps you did not know that the President's official band, or orchestra, in the White House, is the Marine Band. The way it was set up, the way it was gotten together, was in the very early days of this country when Thomas Jefferson was trying to find a suitable orchestra, or band, for the White House. He couldn't find it among those in the Colonies at that time, and so he sent off to Italy and got some Italians to come over and they formed the nucleus of the band. But you all know the contribution in the field of music.

You have had an opportunity today to see something in the field of government. I am very proud that one of the most outstanding members of our Cabinet is John Volpe, the former Governor of Massachusetts. And with the record of Italians in discovering this country, as travelers, naturally he is in charge of transportation, and he is taking us a long way, I can assure you.

I, too, want to pay my respects to John Scali. As a matter of fact, he was the one that delivered the invitation. John Scali is a member of our White House Staff. And he has traveled with me all over the world, when he was a reporter for one of the television networks. You wonder how anybody in a television network got to work for the White House Staff. Well, I can assure you that he is one of the very best, and he does a fine job representing the great profession of the news media and also for the President of the United States.

And then, too, on such an occasion as this, I would like to refer to a lot of others. I was trying to think if I could claim any Italian background. All I can say is this: Every time I have been in Italy and every time I attend an Italian picnic, I think I have some Italian blood, I can assure you of that.

And Larry Hogan, the Congressman from this district, told me the same thing as we were walking up here.

Let me just put this in one very nonpolitical sense, which I know all of you will appreciate. Many years ago--it was 1956, as a matter of fact--I went to the border of Hungary to help receive the Hungarians, the young Hungarians who were fleeing from the Communist Government, crossing into Austria. It was Christmastime. It was a very desperate time. And about 150, 000, you will remember, came across that border, and many of them were received in the United States. And at that time, many people in the United States, shortsighted people, said, "This is a bad thing, because all of these new immigrants are going to make it harder for us to get jobs, it is going to make it more difficult for us to build the kind of a country we want."

The man who, at the very late years of his life, was put in charge of that program was Herbert Hoover--Herbert Hoover, who went back many, many years, who had handled refugees for many years. I asked him about that charge that had been made, and this is what he said. He said: "I have studied the whole history of America and of all of those people that have made America. And every new group of people who come from a country abroad to the United States make America richer, because they help build America, they bring a more diverse culture to America, they bring music, they bring culture, they bring religion, they bring strength." I think that we can say that about every group, but I can certainly say it about those who are proud of their Italian-American background.

Let me tell you what I know about you and what you have contributed, some things that are so characteristic of your homes, your communities, your families. First, when you run into an Italian-American community you will find that there is a strong sense of patriotism. Oh, they are proud of their Italian background, but they are proud first to be Americans all the way.

And in our armed services there is no group in this country that has a finer record of volunteering and serving courageously than those of Italian background. And we are proud of that.

Second, those of Italian background are builders. I don't say that just because John Volpe is a builder and a contractor, but I say it because all over this land they have a marvelous record of working hard, they believe in hard work, they believe in earning what they get. And that is something that builds America.

And there is something else they add-the people of Italian background--as this event here today demonstrates, they have a deep religious sense, they have a loyalty to their church and to their community, which helps their church and their community and their Nation as well.

And then finally--and this is the last point and it tells us a lot about this event--they love their families, their children, and also their parents and the older people, like the people who are living in this home. And that is the final message I would leave with all of you today.

This is a time when we naturally are thinking of the future, of our young people. We want them to have a better life than we have had, but let's always remember that what we have today wouldn't be here if a lot of people hadn't come to America, hadn't worked hard and built America. Let's give our older people, our mothers and our fathers and our grandparents, the respect that they deserve and the honor that they deserve.

And now with all that, I have been trying to think of something that I could say in conclusion. I know a few Spanish words. I know even a few Russian words. Whenever I travel in Italy I pick up a few Italian words, but if the pronunciation is wrong, you blame John Volpe, not me. Grazie a tutti. [Thank you all.]