Hollywood, Florida Remarks at the Annual Congress of the International Transport Workers Federation.

President Fritz Prechtl, who would have no problem getting a job as English instructor in any of our schools in this country, Secretary-General Lewis, the North American host committee, who have been honored, along with me and all Americans by your presence here, and delegates to the 33d International Congress of the Transport Workers Federation:

I've come here to meet with this distinguished group, because as the President of our country I am very proud and honored that you have chosen this site for your 33d convention. This Congress has honored us.

I, as a leader of one of the great nations of the world, recognize with admiration and appreciation what you stand for, the breadth of your knowledge and experience in matters that bind nations together, and also because I share with you, as President Prechtl has said, a deep commitment to human rights. You represent, perhaps among all labor organizations, a perspective and an ability to understand international relationships, to see the differences that exist among nations and among peoples, and also to make sound judgments on how those differences can be eliminated or minimized or overcome.

I'm convinced, looking at the perspective of history, that a free labor movement is a pillar of democracy and is absolutely necessary for freedom and for democracy to survive. And I'm filled with admiration, because not only do you represent your millions of members throughout the world but collectively you have espoused, you have supported, sometimes you have even been willing to endanger your own lives or freedom for the human rights of others. You have been in the forefront of this long and continuing, not yet completely successful struggle.

I know, prior to myself, a great American leader, Lane Kirkland, has spoken to you—one of your own, a maritime union member who understands that human rights has a breadth of meaning not completely encompassed in its political connotations. Human rights means the right of an able-bodied man or woman to have a job, to use whatever talent or ability a person might possess to a useful purpose, to support one s own family, to realize one's own personal ambitions, to strengthen one's own community, and to enhance the freedom and a better life for those who live around him.

Human rights also means the granting of justice to those less fortunate, less influential, perhaps weaker, less articulate than are we. Fairness, equality, the honoring of the principles of justice, the elimination of persecution wherever it exists is of course a part of human rights. Political freedom, as President Prechtl pointed out, has not yet been won in many communities and nations around the world. But the struggle for this freedom is indeed a noble one, one that challenges the finest commitments of human beings and sometimes requires the greatest degree of courage.

We also know that part of human rights for an individual or a national community is peace, the absence of war, the absence of hatred, the absence of death. Peace is the noblest purpose of a statesman, but we also recognize that peace can only be achieved through strength, because confidence comes from strength.

With strength, a nation need not prove that it is strong. With strength, a nation can take care of its own needs and seek peace for others. With strength, a nation can be bound together in a sense of unity, without fear of the future, and can assess ways to improve the interrelationship among nations which are not inherently compatible with one another.

You realize, perhaps more than any other group on Earth, the personal economic benefits to be brought to all of us through peace among nations: the opening up of opportunities for trade, commerce, tourism, exchange of ideas, better education, better homes, a better life, a better way to accommodate rapid, unpredictable change. This comes necessarily through the peaceful interrelationship among nations and among people.

A great labor leader, perhaps the greatest who ever lived in our Nation, President George Meany, said international relations are too important to be left to diplomats— [laughter] —or prime ministers or chancellors or presidents or kings. International relations are best understood and best shaped by people like you, who have your primary responsibility in your own home, in your own community, among those who look to you for leadership in dealing with their own human needs, but who see the advantages of a good relationship among nations.

I'm grateful that you've come here to our country, to a beautiful seacoast in a land that is free. I can't tell you that the United States of America is perfect, and I cannot tell you that those who have achieved complete freedom and a complete element of political democracy in their lives will lead a perfect life. The challenges still exist for us all. The questions are difficult to answer. The obstacles are not easily overcome. Courage is still a requisite. Strength is still mandatory. Unity in the face of challenge is required. An ability to accommodate change, when change is inevitable, is a characteristic that must be present among free people. And finally, I think confidence in oneself, in principles and beliefs that never change provide a stabilizing factor in our lives that tide us over the most difficult of times.

These are characteristics of a great nation. These are characteristics of a great labor organization. These are the characteristics of the International Transport Workers Federation, whose Congress here in Hollywood, Florida, in my own Nation, which is so dear to all of us who live here, has honored the people of my country.

So, from the bottom of my heart, let me say congratulations on your great achievement, welcome to a great country, and my best wishes for a more peaceful, more prosperous, and a more free world, where human rights in its broadest possible definition will be honored by all men and women throughout the world.

Thank you, and may God bless you in the future.