IT HAS given me great satisfaction to sign the Act providing for the admission of Hawaii into the Union.
Since my inauguration in 1953 I have consistently urged that this legislation be enacted, so the action of the Congress so early in this session is most gratifying.
Under this legislation, the citizens of Hawaii will soon decide whether their Islands shall become our fiftieth State. In so doing, they will demonstrate anew to the world the vitality of the principles of freedom and self-determination--the principles upon which this Nation was founded 172 years ago.
Note: As enacted, the Hawaii Statehood Bill (S. 50) is Public Law 86-3 (73 Stat. 4).
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Statement by the President Upon Signing the Hawaii Statehood Bill. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/235340