I am assured that the spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding
demonstrated in the initial relationships between our state group and
their federal counterparts augers well for the successful outcome of
the work that lies ahead of us.

REMARKS, LUNCHEON SESSION OF THE 14th ANNUAL

COMMISSIONERS AND GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE ON

METROPOLITAN PROBLEMS

WASHINGTON, D. C.
September 20, 1965

Thank you, Mr. Lassiter, Chairman Lowry, Lieutenant Governor
Godwin, Mr. Reid, General Duke, members of the Metropolitan Wash-
ington Council of Governments, distinguished guests, ladies and gentle-
men:

I am pleased to represent the State of Maryland at this conference
which has been called to review and seek solutions to some of the
problems confronting the capital city of our nation and the Maryland
and Virginia communities lying adjacent to it. Maryland is proud that
two of its larger counties and three of its municipalities are affiliated
with this organization which has as its purpose the betterment of the
lives of the inhabitants of this metropolitan area through the coopera-
tion of the several political jurisdictions which comprise it. My State
(and I am certain the same would apply to Virginia) is keenly con-
scious of the fact that this magnificent city, the seat of our national
government, is very much a part of its sphere of interest.

We know in Maryland, for example, that a very large and ever-
growing segment of the population of our State know Washington
as its home city and is bound closely to it by strong social, cultural and
economic ties. We know that what affects the District of Columbia
affects Maryland, and vice versa. In the strictest sense, the problems
of the District of Columbia are the problems of Maryland and Virginia,
and conversely the problems of Maryland and Virginia—or at least those

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