AN AMERICAN PROBLEM      Now let none of us in any sections look with prideful righteousness on the troubles in another section, or on the problems of our      neighbors. There is really no part of America where the promise of equality has been fully kept. In Buffalo as well as in      Birmingham, in Philadelphia as well as in Selma, Americans are struggling for the fruits of freedom.      This is one Nation. What happens in Selma or in Cincinnati is a matter of legitimate concern to every American. But let each of us      look within our own hearts and our own communities, and let each of us put our shoulder to the wheel to root out injustice      wherever it exists.      As we meet here in this peaceful, historic chamber tonight, men from the South, some of whom were at Iwo Jima, men from the      North who have carried Old Glory to far corners of the world and brought it back without a stain on it, men from the East and      from the West, are all fighting together without regard to religion, or color, or region, in Viet-Nam. Men from every region fought      for us across the world 20 years ago.      And in these common dangers and these common sacrifices the South made its contribution of honor and gallantry no less than      any other region of the Great Republic - and in some instances, a great many of them, more.      And I have not the slightest doubt that good men from everywhere in this country, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico,      from the Golden Gate to the harbors along the Atlantic, will rally together now in this cause to vindicate the freedom of all      Americans. For all of us owe this duty; and I believe that all of us will respond to it.      Your President makes that request of every American.      PROGRESS THROUGH THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS      The real hero of this struggle is the American Negro. His actions and protests, his courage to risk safety and even to risk his life,      have awakened the conscience of this Nation. His demonstrations have been designed to call attention to injustice, designed to      provoke change, designed to stir reform.      He has called upon us to make good the promise of America. And who among us can say that we would have made the same      progress were it not for his persistent bravery, and his faith in American democracy.      For at the real heart of battle for equality is a deep seated belief in the democratic process. Equality depends not on the force of      arms or tear gas but upon the force of moral right; not on recourse to violence but on respect for law and order.      There have been many pressures upon your President and there will be others as the days come and go. But I pledge you tonight      that we intend to fight this battle where it should be fought in the courts, and in the Congress, and in the hearts of men.      We must preserve the right of free speech and the right of free assembly. But the right of free speech does not carry with it, as      has been said, the right to holler fire in a crowded theater. We must preserve the right to free assembly, but free assembly does      not carry with it the right to block public thoroughfares to traffic.      We do have a right to protest, and a right to march under conditions that do not infringe the constitutional rights of our      neighbors. And I intend to protect all those rights as long as I am permitted to serve in this office.      We will guard against violence, knowing it strikes from our hands the very weapons which we seek - progress.      In Selma as elsewhere we seek and pray for peace. We seek order. We seek unity. But we will not accept the peace of stifled      rights, or the order imposed by fear, or the unity that stifles protest. For peace cannot be purchased at the cost of liberty.      In Selma tonight, as in every - and we had a good day there - as in every city, we are working for just and peaceful settlement      We must all remember that after this speech I am making tonight, after the police and the FBI and the Marshals have all gone,      and after you have promptly passed this bill, the people of Selma and the other cities of the Nation must still live and work      together. And when the attention of the Nation has gone elsewhere they must try to heal the wounds and to build a new      community.      This cannot be easily done on a battleground of violence, as the history of the South itself shows. It is in recognition of this that      men of both races have shown such an outstandingly impressive responsibility in recent days - last Tuesday, again today. CONTINUED