November 16, 1970
Page 37270
SENATOR MUSKIE SPEAKS OUT ON NATIONAL UNITY: ADDRESS BY SENATOR EDMUND MUSKIE TO THE MILK PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION IN CHICAGO, ILL., SEPTEMBER 4, 1970
Mr. YARBOROUGH. Mr. President, recently I had the pleasure of listening to a speech delivered before the Milk Producers Association by my distinguished friend and colleague from Maine, Senator MUSKIE. Although the speech was directed to an audience composed primarily of dairy producers, I was impressed by the universal quality of its message. The 25,000 persons in the auditorium composed the largest convention ever held in America of one single agricultural producing commodity.
In an era that is characterized by an unprecedented avalanche of destructive and divisive rhetoric, it was indeed refreshing and most heartening to hear a speech that sounded the call for unity, reason, and renewed national purpose. To an electorate that has endured one of the most abrasive political campaigns in our history and who are bone weary of the divisive verbiage that has spread cancerlike across this country, this speech should be a most welcome relief.
For the benefit of my colleagues and all Americans, I ask unanimous consent that the text of Mr. MUSKIE's speech be printed in the RECORD at this point.
There being no objection, the speech was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
REMARKS BY SENATOR EDMUND S. MUSKIE, MILK PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION, CHICAGO, ILL., SEPTEMBER 4, 1970
This is an audience of fathers and mothers and sons and daughters from rural America – very much like my people back home in Maine.
As far as I know, no one has ever before had the opportunity to speak to so many people representing a single farm commodity group.
This is because the movement toward agriculture self-help – of the scope you represent – is unique in the history of agriculture. I have observed with great interest your attempt in the dairy industry – under the leadership of Harold Nelson and Dave Parrto – to form a marketing organization large enough to develop commodity group policy.
Farmers have never before really tested their ability to conduct the marketing programs necessary to improve their relative economic position.
But they should – and they are doing so now through this organization.
Although they have sometimes been taken for granted, the efficiencies of American agriculture are a source of great national strength.
We are proud – and we should be – that our production per man hour ... per acre ... and per animal ... has progressed to the point where Americans can buy their food for a smaller percentage of their income than ever before in this country or in any other country in world history.
Without the productivity gains of agriculture, more Americans would have to devote their time, their financial resources, and their mental energies to produce the basic necessities of life.
We have been to the Moon.
We have found cures to many diseases. We have expanded educational opportunities to an extent never before achieved. And only because we could first of all produce the materials we needed to feed and clothe the Nation.
Agricultural people have served another great purpose. They have strengthened our moral fiber.
They have preserved the spiritual values which are America.
And they have established the basis for a whole society.
An out-of-stater crossing the New Hampshire border into Maine, reached an intersection – he saw two roads pointing north – and he asked someone at the side of the road which one to take. "Does it make any difference?" "Not to me it don't," was the reply. That homely little story reflects America's greatest problem – over 200 years we learned that it does make a difference to each of us what happens to the rest of us – but we have forgotten that in recent years.
I am speaking of the need for all Americans to begin working together again . . . to cooperate with each other . . . to form a more perfect union.
That has been the promise of our country for almost 200 years. And it is a promise we must fulfill.
And yet, for several years now, Americans have been turning away from each other, instead of towards each other . . . younger people from older people . . . black Americans from white Americans . . . city folk from farmers.
The Nation has become divided. Its people have become angry. And their dreams for the future are fading away.
More than a century ago, a man spoke here in Illinois. He was seeking political office in a troubled time. And he quoted the gospel according to St. Mark: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
That warning came from Abraham Lincoln. And what he said is as true now as it was in 1858.
The foundations of this house . . . our house . . . the house in which every American lives . . . are trust and fairness and understanding and compassion.
And these very foundations are under attack – not from without, but from within . . . not from unfriendly words, but from ugly acts . . . not from a great many people, but from an extreme few.
I submit that the violence which we hear about and read about is contrary to liberty; is contrary to justice; is contrary to life itself.
Free men must condemn it in the strongest terms.
And those who commit it must be held accountable for their actions, as swiftly as possible.
But even that is not nearly enough.
For the climate of America . . . of bitterness and fear and division . . . must itself be changed if we are ever to reduce the level of violence in any substantial degree.
You may know that I have traveled across much of this country in the last 20 months ... visiting some 45 States ... getting exposed to different people, different problems, different attitudes ... and speaking with thousands of Americans of every generation, and occupation, and political persuasion.
And frankly, I have not found people as optimistic as they used to be ... about the prospects for building a better life as time goes on.
And why?
Why do we have divisions?
Why are we tearing each other apart?
Why can't we work together as we used to?
Certainly, there is a tragic war ... that we must end.
There is a stagnant economy ... that we must revitalize.
There is a barrier of misunderstanding and mistrust . . . that we must bring down. But above all else, there is a courage we seem to have misplaced – the courage to talk sense ... to exercise restraint and moderation . . . to try crossing the borders that divide us.
It is a courage we need in rural America as well as urban America ... on campuses as well as on the streets ... in every section of this country.
It is a courage that young people need as much as their elders, I have talked to hundreds of thousands of them – they want to improve America, not reject her.
They want America to be united, not insecure.
They want to be proud of America, not ashamed of her.
And they must be asked to help out, not be told to keep still. And if they are asked, they will respond. And if they are not asked, there may be no future.
Bear in mind that many of them will not reach the ages of many of us here, until after the year 2000 – a spread of thirty years. And thirty years in this rapidly changing world means the same as centuries in an earlier time.
The changes which have taken place make it possible for man to know more . . to travel at greater speeds ... to reach out into the heavens.
And they also make it possible for man to destroy his natural environment . . to destroy his fundamental values ... and to destroy himself.
Our young people must live with these changes longer than we will. And they will have to live with the even more awesome changes that will surely come.
What concerns them is whether it will be possible for human beings to remain human in such a world. They are afraid they may lose what we have worked so long and hard to preserve . . the freedom to grow and build and develop one's self in peace.
They are America's future – the only future America has – whether at home or on a distant battlefield.
Perhaps you remember an incident in the '68 campaign ... when a young man named Rick Brody chose to confront me on an October day in a village square in the small town of Washington. Pennsylvania.
He was very intent on speaking his mind, from the middle of the crowd. And I felt he should have his say.
So he came up to the microphone ... said what was on his mind ... and then stepped down to let me respond.
Whether or not it was pleasant to listen to him . . . to hear him out ... it was important, for both of us.
What he wanted was what we all want: A beginning of peace; a beginning of respect for each other; a beginning of a more liveable world.
And then I heard no more from him, until he came to see me in my office several weeks ago.
He said he wanted to talk things over. He still considered himself a radical. But he was against violence. And he asked me how I thought we could ever change for the better. Specifically – what could he do?
I told him I thought he had three choices: (1) to seek violent change; (2) to ignore the problems; (3) to develop the skills, the abilities, and to try reasoning with people ... persuading them in a sensible way ... and joining with them to work toward common objectives – objectives which are based on values we share, and on a mutual appreciation of what is right and what is not.
He was still uncertain about the future when we finished talking.
But he said he would try to learn for himself, and he would let me know.
I think that attitude is good. It is honest. And it reflects an independence of character that has developed in America since 1776. We must find our bearings again.
We must reach out to each other,
And we must apply ourselves and our resources to the urgent talks which confront us.
All Americans are in the process of sorting out their values – of considering not only our traditions, but what lies ahead.
And we've got what it takes to build lives of promise for every man, woman and child. Whenever I go home to Maine . . . to spend some quiet and unhurried days with the people I have come to know over the years ... I realize that our most fundamental values are still alive – of patience and perseverance and endurance; of reflection and contemplation and reason; of a deep and abiding sense of our limitations as well as our potential.
In Maine, our towns and our cities and our rural communities are still places where each person can preserve and develop his or her own special character; where, even so, neighbors tend to look out for one another; and where, after many years of working the land and engaging in industry and building a State, people know that life is worth living.
I am convinced we can build one country ... by working together ... and believing together ... and talking together.
That is the kind of America we grew up in, and it is the kind of America all of us – including young people – want.
Someone once said, "My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there."
Nothing could be more true. Thank you.