Martha Rountree

“ The great majority of the American people regard the Bicentennial as the grandest birthday party that any nation has ever had an opportunity to celebrate. But there are tiny extremist minorities in our society who regard their own country with hatred, who do not understand the meaning of freedom, and who regard totalitarian dictatorships in the style of Russia, Cuba, and the People's Republic of China as the ultimate social utopia. To these people, our Bicentennial celebration is anathema — and some of them, therefore, are making active plans to spoil it. ”

“ Like all patriotic Americans, we believe we have much for which to be grateful — that every American, indeed, may proudly celebrate the fact that he or she lives in one of the freest and most productive and culturally prolific societies that has ever existed on the face of this Earth. ”

“ As a private citizen, I am concerned over the growing body of evidence that these extremist minorities, which are encouraged and abetted by certain foreign governments, are planning to disrupt the official Bicentennial celebration in various ways, and there exists a serious possibility of the kind of violence that occurred in Chicago at the time of the 1968 Democratic Convention, as well as the bombing and other terrorist actions. ”