and it is essential that we utilize the skills and the talents of all of our
people. In the handicapped people, we have a vast reservoir of un-
tapped manpower which common sense and good judgment tell us
should be used. We may conclude, then, that it is both humane and
practical to employ persons with physical or other impairments. Men
and women who remain unemployed because of handicaps not only
contribute nothing to the general wealth of their country, but also
become a needless burden upon the rest of society. If put to work,
they produce goods and pay taxes like the rest of us. In helping the
handicapped to help themselves, therefore, we are also helping
ourselves.

Finally, may I repeat that I am pleased and honored to be here
today. Again, my congratulations to you boys and girls who have won
prizes with your essays and posters. I hope that your efforts will inspire
many others to continue the good work in helping handicapped persons
in Maryland to develop into useful, productive, happy citizens.

ADDRESS, MARYLAND NURSING HOME ASSOCIATION

BALTIMORE

July 11, 1963

It is a pleasure to be here again this year to enjoy the warm hospi-
tality of my friends of the Maryland Nursing Home Association. May
I begin by offering my commendation and expressing my apprecia-
tion to you for the valuable assistance you have given the State and
its political subdivisions in the effort that is being made to improve the
lot of the older men and women of Maryland.

We would all agree, I think, that one of the great unsolved problems
of our age is what to do about our senior citizens — what steps we may
take to provide them with adequate housing, medical care and recrea-
tional opportunities. President Kennedy, in a message to Congress last
February, expressed what I believe to be the sentiment of the American
people when he said:

"A proud and resourceful nation can no longer ask its older people
to live in constant fear of a serious illness for which adequate funds
are not available. We owe them the right to dignity in sickness as well
as in health. "

The problem is one that challenges the imagination and the re-

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