Ladies and gentlemen, there are no faint hearts in Fort Worth, and I appreciate, I appreciate, your being here this morning. Mrs. Kennedy is organizing herself, it takes longer, but of course she looks better than we do when she does it. But we appreciate your welcome.
This city's been a great western city, the defense of the west, cattle, oil, and all the rest. It has believed in strength in this city, and strength in this state, and strength in this country. What we're trying to do in this country and what we're trying to do around the world, I believe is quite simple, and that is to build a military structure which will defend the vital interests of the United States, and in that great cause, Fort Worth, as it did in World War II, as it did in developing the best bomber system in the world, the B-58, and as it will now do in developing the best fighter system in the world, the TFX, Fort Worth will play its proper part.
And that is why we have placed so much emphasis in the last three years in building a defense system second to none. Until now the United States is stronger than it's ever been in its history, and secondly we believe that the new environment, space, the new sea, is also an area where the United States should be second to none and this state of Texas, and the United States is now engaged in the most concentrated effort in history to provide leadership in this area, as it must here on Earth, and this is our 2nd great effort, and next December, next month, the United States will fire the largest booster in the history of the world, putting us ahead of the Soviet Union in that area, for the first time in our history.
And thirdly for the United States to fulfill its obligations around the world, requires that the United States move forward economically, that the people of this country participate in rising prosperity, and it is a fact in 1962 and the first six months of 1963, the economy of the United States grew, not only faster than nearly every Western country, which had not been true in the 50's, but also grew faster than the Soviet Union itself, that's the kind of strength the United States needs- economically, in space, militarily, and in the final an*lysis that strength depends on the willingness of the citizens of the United States to a**ume the burdens of leadership.
I know one place where they are- here in this rain, in Fort Worth, in Texas, in the United States, we're going forward. Thank you.