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16 de mayo de 1959
Me 1aa extraft&do la pregunta que•• formulan loa autore• del lnforme.
El Artfculo U (oEe) del Proyecto Fern6a dlapoae ea IN tncl10 (a) que el Comi•tonado B.ealdente reclblrl reconocimiento oficial por parte de todo• lo• Departamento• del Goblenlo de
101
Eatacl<>• Unidos tras de presentar al Departamento
ele E1tado un certtllc:ado de eleccih que expld& el Goblerao del Estado Libre
Aaoclado de Puerto Rlco.
Eata dlapoalc:i&>n carece de la m&a leve novedad.
Tlene au anteceden.te
ea lo ya dlapueato el\ el Artfculo 36 de la actual Ley de Relaciones Federal•• con
Pue~o
Rico, que a 1u vez coftatltuye el Artfculc;> 36 4e1 Acta .Tone• d• 1917, que
a au ve• procede de la Seccl6n 39 del Acta F6ráker de 1900. Por tanto, deade
que loa Eatadoe Unidos eatablecleron un Gobierno Civil en Puerto Rico a comlen(
aoa de atglo. ha exlatldo la traclicl6n de
f¡Ue
el Comlalotaado Residente que aquf
ele¡im.o1, no• wepreeente en 101 .Estados Unldoe y •ea reconocido como tal por
101
Departamento• del Gobierno
ederal tra.a de preeentar
e1ecct6n ant• el Departamento ele Estado en
WAahlngton~
un certificado de
Reptto ml extraftesa.
pueato que 101 dbtlquldoa letrado• autores del extenefalmo bdorme hubieran
podido comprobu ficQmente eato• dato• de babor con1ultado el prbner tomo de
l•• L•f"• de Puerto B.lco Anotada••
donde ligu.raa nueetres docwnento• con1tl•
tuclonalea bl1ico1, con eu reapectlvo hletorial.
, Since tlie laat titanic strug¡le between the force• of freedom and thelr
enemiea, followed by leeaer confiicts which temselvee highlighted toclay'a
status of unceaaing alert, Armed Forces Day has attained new dim.e neiona,
new meanings of great importance to all oí us. lt is the day on which we
expresa our pride
~d
confidence in aJl the men and women in the aever-1
br.anches of the tJ~ s. Armed Forces, whose alertness a~d dedicaÍion guuda
our way oí life, guard our very Uves and those of our children. It is
eminently fitting that we should so express our appreciation to those many
thoueands who on the whole remain nameless in the days' news and in the
Halla of Fame .
Without their sk.ill, without their devotion, without their
alertneae, our most poweríul weapons, our most awesome means for
protecting our che:rished ways oí life, woulcl be little more than eo much
hardware. I ehould like also to paya personal tribute to the many thousands
of Puerto Ricans who have joined the U. S. Armend Forces and given both
their dedication and their lives to the preservation of the ideals ol democrati
freedom .
Many who have beheld the modern day's fearful arma.mente ha.ve atated
with aome truth that today is an age in which 11man•s science has outstripped
hb whdom for uain1 that science .
11
lt ia, however, a comíorting fact th&t
with the mean• at hand for the destructíon of civilization everywhere, and
of man himseli along with that cí viliz-tion, man hae hitherto had the ,.nsdom
iaot to indulge in such destruction.
And the members of the armed forces
whom we honor today are in many important ways the guardia.ns oí that
wisdom.
More tban ever, in thia day of terrlble poaaibilitie9, we need
- z ..
oúr armed. forces and their men and women; more tban ever, we must, and
gladly do, rely on the good sense of those men and women;, more than ever
we are indebted to them on the one hand for their readiness for tha.t one
mome~t
of dreadful action which may spell our doom or salvation 1 on the
other for the probability that that moment, in large measure b ec::ause of
\
their alertness, may never come.
While they hold the l ort, we have the opportunity to look aroúnd us
and seek new ways of protecting and butt e si ng civilization.
We design and
per.t'ect our physical weapons, and we must d esign and perfect more.
We
enlist, train, and trust the men and wora'-in who may have to use those
weapons, and we mus t enlist, t r ain and t r ust more.
But meanwhile, we
also are coming to realize that the one gr e at defense oí the freé and
democratic way ef life is that way of liíe itaelf , its strengthening, its
spreading- .. by choice, design, and exampl e - - to a ll the world's people.
The ultimate protection of free dorn and demo cracy is not guns or bombs;
it is more freedom, more democracy e very d ay , :for all God 's children on
eai-th. to be sprea4 and st rengtihened by a ll means while the armed might
of the free nation:s oí the world assure us the time and the opportunity so
to cio.
Nuélear arms are tremendous and te r rible weap ons for defense or
offense; the human spirit, the human drive for freedom and decency in
human life, i8 infitútely more tremendous, infinitely more terrifying to its
enemies.
That dua1 role, of military protection going hand in hand With the
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