Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Permitting Photographic Reproductions of Postage Stamps.

TO BE EFFECTIVE, laws must be in step with the needs of our people. An effective government of laws must not be burdened by the dead weight of past problems and obsolete provisions.

Today I am pleased to sign an amendment removing such a provision from our statute books.

In the past, it was illegal to reproduce United States postage stamps in color. Such reproduction, it was felt, might facilitate the work of counterfeiting.

Since stamp counterfeiting is today virtually nonexistent, this restriction is no longer necessary. There is no reason now why the full meaning and beauty of our postage stamps cannot be communicated to all the world in color reproduction.

On July 4th, for example, we will issue a beautiful series of 10 stamps depicting the history of our national flag. It is a magnificent history which the stamps portray colorfully and fittingly.

Because of this bill, introduced by Congressman Thaddeus Dulski, Chairman of the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, we can share the story and significance of our flag with the peoples and nations of our earth.

There is no longer any reason, in law or logic, to deny such valued contributions to man's experience by restricting color reproduction of postage stamps. I am pleased that Congressman Dulski's initiative has given me this opportunity to strike an obsolete provision from our law books. In doing so, we make government an even more effective instrument of the people's needs and will.