http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=37707&st=&st1
Remarks by Telephone to the Annual Convention of the Knights of Columbus in Chicago, Illinois
August 5th, 1986
Thank you all, and good afternoon. There are far too many distinguished members and friends of the Knights of Columbus with you today for me to recognize them all, but permit me to extend my greetings to Your Excellencies and, of course, to the leader of the Knights of Columbus, my friend, Supreme Knight Virgil Dechant. I believe you know we're trying out a new technology today—one with a hookup that will enable me to hear you, as you've been told, if you laugh or applaud. And I thought the best way to test it would be to tell an old story. So, if you'll permit me.
It has to do with a young fellow that arrived in New York Harbor from Ireland, an immigrant to our country. And a short time later, he started across one of those busy New York streets against the light. And one of New York's finest, a big policeman, grabbed him and said, "Where do you think you're going? .... Well," he says, "I'm only trying to get to the other side of the street there." Well, when that New York policeman, Irish himself, heard that brogue, "Well," he said, "Now, lad, wait." He says, "You stay here until the light turns green, and then you go to the other side of the street." "Aah," he says, "the light turns green." Well, the light turned orange for just a few seconds, as it does, and then turned green, and he started out across the street. He got about 15 feet out and he turned around, and he says, "They don't give them Protestants much time, do they?" [Laughter]
Hey, you know, this system does work. [Laughter] But I want to tell you that I've had a place in my heart for the Knights of Columbus since I was a boy. You see, my father was a Knight, and he never missed an opportunity to express his pride in the K of C or join in its efforts on behalf of charity and tolerance. I can still remember when the silent picture "Birth of a Nation" opened in our hometown. Dad told us that the movie portrayed the Ku Klux Klan in a favorable light and that the Reagans were one family that wouldn't be seeing it. Well, even as a boy, I sensed that in taking that stand my father had done something strong and good, something noble. And you know, to this day I've never seen that famous movie.
Since becoming President, my appreciation for the Knights of Columbus has deepened. You can't sit where I'm sitting now and fail to understand the importance of Americans who give as much to our nation as you do. Last year alone the Knights donated over $66 million to good causes, provided more than 20 million hours of volunteer community service, responded generously to OPERATION: Care and Share, and contributed $1 million to the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. And then there are the scores of neighborhoods throughout the country where the Knights have provided a playground, a basketball court, a football field. Just the other day our Secretary of Education, Bill Bennett, remarked that when he was growing up in Brooklyn, none of the kids used the words "swimming pool," they just told their parents they'd be down at the K of C.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004972/
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Release Date: 3 March 1915 (USA)
I recognize the date 11/28/1976 as when I left the Jupiter moon Callisto for my 4/14/1977 return to Earth. After successfully diverting the comet earlier in 1976, we thought Callisto would be my final stop as my oxygen supply was almost depleted. I found water ice on Callisto and was able to make it back to Earth. This reference by President Reagan about Secretary of Education, Bill Bennett, would seem to support my thoughts that I had found a telephone to call into the Navy after I escaped from the Libyans on 4/14/1986.
From 7/31/1943 to 11/28/1976 is: 33 years, 3 months, 4 weeks
33-34
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bennett
William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative pundit and politician. He served as United States Secretary of Education from 1985 to 1988.
3rd United States Secretary of Education
In office
February 6, 1985 – September 20, 1988
President Ronald Reagan
