Remarks at the Swearing In of Daniel P. Moynihan as United States Representative to the United Nations.

Mr. Justice White, distinguished Members of the Congress, ladies and gentlemen:

It is a great privilege and pleasure for me to have the opportunity of participating in this wonderful occasion today, the swearing in of Ambassador Moynihan as the Representative of the United States at the United Nations and as the newest member of our Cabinet.

Ambassador Moynihan has served our Nation, both in and out of government, with a refreshing innovation and intellectual distinction. He served in the White House under the previous administration as a Counsellor to the President and, more recently, as our Ambassador in India.

He has combined over the years other Federal and State government service with an outstanding service as an educator. His numerous writings have earned him a reputation as an outstanding political, economic, and social philosopher.

Above all, he knows what America is all about and what it actually stands for, and he knows our role in international affairs. The challenges that the United Nations now confronts are of tremendous consequence for our own future and for the entire world.

Our Representative must be a person of high ideals and steadfast purpose. Ambassador Moynihan is the right man for the job.

The United States was the chief architect of the United Nations. We joined with others during the dreadful suffering of World War II to conceive an organization for peace and to serve all mankind.

We have been determined supporters of the United Nations, and we will continue to be so in the future. There is no other course, as I see it, consistent with our advocacy of peace and justice for all humanity.

As the need for worldwide cooperation developed, so did the inherent difficulty in finding practical solutions which must advance the enlightened self-interest of the United States as well as the interests of others.

We face not only the fundamental task of maintaining international peace and security but also entirely new problems for world economic interdependence.

We must deal with new political problems as developing nations press forward vigorously to correct what they see as injustices. In this developing situation, we will concentrate on practical and mutually beneficial projects and we will strive for universal cooperation.

We will engage at the United Nations in a dialog of candor and directness and of understanding and respect for the concerns of all member nations. We will seek concrete achievement. We will work with firmness and with patience in a determined effort to foster mutually beneficial relations with the developing world.

At the same time, we will firmly resist efforts by any group of countries to exploit the machinery of the United Nations for narrow political interests or for parliamentary manipulation.

Ambassador Moynihan takes on this very serious responsibility at a time when a vast and vital agenda is before the world; the realization of agreed goals in the area of food and population, the resolution of international conflicts, the strengthening of peacekeeping forces, and a new law of the sea treaty, and of course, economic prosperity for all.

Ambassador Moynihan will carry on in the very high tradition of Ambassador Scali and his other distinguished predecessors. He will have my complete support and that of Secretary Kissinger. His service at the United Nations will be another distinguished contribution in a very distinguished career in a wide variety of areas.

It is my privilege now to ask Justice White to administer the oath to Ambassador Moynihan.