Statement on the 1976 Nobel Prize Winners.

I KNOW that all Americans are truly proud today knowing that our fellow countrymen have won every Nobel Prize for 1976.

If there is a world Olympics in the arts and sciences, it is the Nobel Prize. In competitive sports terms it might be said that in 1976 Americans have swept the field in a way no other country has ever done before.

The credit belongs, of course, to the individuals whose talents and dedication have won this magnificent distinction. But let us never forget our belief-expressed so well in the Declaration of Independence--that only in a free society could the Go&endowed talents of individuals find complete fulfillment.

How happy our Founding Fathers would be at these achievements. How elated Benjamin Franklin would have been with the scientific awards. How grateful John Adams would have been with the awards in economics and in literature.

And finally, how pleased Thomas Jefferson would have been with this finest possible Bicentennial birthday gift for a land devoted to freedom and opportunity.