US Presidency
1967

They reduced my request for funds this year by two-thirds. There are some who feel that we can not afford additional good teachers for the children of poverty in urban areas. Or new efforts to house those who are most in need of housing. Or to aid in education to those who need to read and write. Theirs is a strange system of bookkeeping. I believe we should be counting the assets that these measures can bring to America: cities richer in opportunity; cities more full of promise; cities of order, progress, and happiness. Instead, some are counting the seeds of bitterness. This is not a time for angry reaction. It is a time for action: starting with legislative action to improve the life in our cities. The strength and promise of the law are the surest remedies for tragedy in the streets. But laws are only one answer. Another answer lies in the way our people will respond to these disturbances.