as adenour said in those early days, it was a dream of a few, it became a hope for the many. today it is a necessity for all of us. [ applause ] and it wasn't easy. old animosities had to be overcome. national pride had to be joined with a commitment to a common good. complex questions of sovereignty and burden sharing had to be answered. and at every step, the impulse to pull back for each country to go its own way had to be resisted. more than once, skeptics predicted the demise of this great project. but the vision of european unity soldiered on. and having defended europe's freedom in war, america stood with you every step of this journey. a marshall plan to rebuild, an airlift to save berlin, a nato alliance to defend our way of life, america's commitment to europe was captured by a young american president, john f. kennedy, when he stood in a free west berlin and declared that freedom is indivisible. and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. with strength and resolve and the power of our ideals and a belief in a unified europe, we didn't simply end the cold war. f