Let me this morning begin by talking about a woman who many of you know; the story, of course, is legend. On December 1, 1955, in an Alabama city, a woman had just finished her work for the day. She was a seamstress. She was about 40 years old. She was tired, her feet hurt; she had worked a long day, and she was on the way home.<p>
She went back and forth to her job by bus. And on this day, at the end of the workday, with tired feet, this woman boarded a bus and took the first available seat. And as the bus traveled down the avenue, the bus began to fill up. And on this day, December 1, 1955, as the last seat was taken on the bus, a white male passenger boarded the bus and looked at this woman, Rosa Parks, and said, `You must leave your seat and move to the back.'<p>
She refused to do so. At that point in the life of this country, she was required to ride in the back of the bus. Her dignity that day, as well as the fact that she had worked a long day and was tired, but her dignity especially, persuaded her to say, `I'm not moving,' and she remained in her seat. Others around her began to curse her, as the story is told. The bus driver stopped and refused to move the bus because this woman would not move to the back of the bus and give her seat to a white passenger.<p>
The police were called, and Rosa Parks was arrested and thrown in jail. Her indiscretion? She refused to give up her seat and refused to move to the back of the bus.<p>
Well, it is some 40 years later now, and I guess all of us would say we are proud to understand that the quiet dignity and strength of Rosa Parks lit a fuse that caused an explosion of understanding and, yes, tension--but most especially understanding--that has changed things in this country for the better. The avenue where that bus traveled on that December day in 1955, and where that arrest was made, is now named Rosa Parks Avenue.<p>
Sometimes one can force change by simply refusing to move. Some say, `Well, don't just sit there.' Rosa Parks just sat there because she felt she was entitled to do that, and that single act by that courageous woman, who will live in our history, has caused substantial change in our country.<p>
So when they say, `Don't just sit there,' I think sometimes on some issues some of us say, `Well, wait a second; where we sit is important.'<p>
On this issue today of Social Security, some of us believe that where we are in this country, with a program that is, I think, the most significant and the most remarkable program of its kind anywhere in the world, it is one that ought not be trifled with. It ought not be threatened. It ought not, in our judgment, be in any way changed so that the American people will not have confidence that Social Security will be there when they need it.</body>
