[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY

 Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to join my 
colleagues in celebrating Greek Independence Day. On this day, we 
reflect on how much we owe to the Greek people and their ancestors, and 
we remember the sacrifices they have made to remain free. We also honor 
the friendship between Greece and America and our historic democratic 
link.
  Mr. President, I come from an ethnically diverse city, Baltimore, 
where neighborhoods still carry the flavor of our ancestors. We know 
the value of democracy and we cherish our freedom. We also pay homage 
to our forefathers who came to America in search of freedom and 
opportunity, and to those who spent lifetimes fighting to preserve 
freedom.
  It is fitting then, that we honor the great and noble people of 
Greece, whose ancestors gave the world the precious gift of democracy. 
In the 2,400 years since Pericles and the Golden Age of Athenian 
democracy, the democratic ideal has triumphed over kings, over 
emperors, and over dictators of the right and left. Today, there are 
more democratically elected governments than at any time in history. 
Democracy is so much a part of our lives today that we take it for 
granted only a government chosen by its people can survive. But it took 
2,400 years of conflict to come to this point.
  Today we also salute the valiant Greek people, who have fought 
alongside Americans in every major international conflict of this 
century. We remember their great sacrifice in World War II, when over 
600,000 Greeks fell to the Fascists, an incredible 9 percent of 
Greece's population at the time.
  Mr. President, independence did not come easily for Greece. Her 
history is full of struggles against dictators from the west, 
conquerors from the east, and subversion from within. Her people had to 
fight over and over for their freedom. That is why Greeks understand--
as only those who have been through a baptism of fire can really 
understand--what it means to be a free people.
  We also celebrate the strong and vital link between Greeks and 
Americans, two proud peoples united by their common democratic 
heritage. The Greeks who flocked to America in the early part of this 
century with their enormous energy and talent helped build the great 
engine that now powers the American economy. Their very successful 
Greek-American descendants now occupy leadership positions in business, 
in the legal and medical professions, and in American politics. One of 
the Greek-American community's most illustrious sons, I am proud to 
point out, serves in the U.S. Senate in the person of my friend and 
esteemed colleague, the senior Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes.
  Mr. President, I am very proud to join in today's celebration of 
Greek Independence Day.

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