John F. Kennedy photo

Remarks Upon Signing Bill Appropriating Funds for Inter-American Cooperation and for Reconstruction in Chile

May 27, 1961

It is a great honor in the company of distinguished Members of the Congress and our friends from this hemisphere, to sign this bill which implements the Act of Bogota.

This proposal was originally put forward by my predecessor, and it is a source of satisfaction to us all that we are now able to make a substantial contribution to the betterment of the life of the people who share the great adventure of living in the Western Hemisphere.

The cooperation between the countries, north and south, their efforts to make a better life for their people, their willingness to advance, their common willingness to take the necessary steps which will insure a more fruitful existence, all these are essential if this hemisphere is to move forward in a true Alliance for Progress.

This is an effort made by the people of the United States to participate in this effort. I think in the coming months and years we can build a stronger and more prosperous hemisphere, a hemisphere in which all people from the top down to the bottom of the globe share in hopes for a better life.

So it is a great pleasure for me to sign this act in the presence of the Members of the Congress, whose actions made this bill possible, and in the presence of a distinguished predecessor of mine, President Truman, who in his administration carried out the efforts to improve relations substantially in this hemisphere.

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. in his office at the White House. The bill (H.R. 6518) as enacted is Public Law 87-41 (75 Stat. 86).

John F. Kennedy, Remarks Upon Signing Bill Appropriating Funds for Inter-American Cooperation and for Reconstruction in Chile Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/234583

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