[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 36 (Friday, March 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to congratulate 
all Americans of Greek ancestry on Greek Independence Day. On this date 
in 1821, the Greeks began the revolution that ended the rule of the 
Ottoman Empire which had begun with the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
  The spiritual bond between our two nations is strong. James Madison 
and Alexander Hamilton described our debt to Greek democracy in the 
Federalist Papers:

       Among the confederacies of antiquity, the most considerable 
     was that of the Grecian republics * * * From the best 
     accounts transmitted of this celebrated institution, it bore 
     a very instructive analogy to the present confederation of 
     the American States.

  As if to return the favor, the fighters for Greek independence upheld 
the American Revolution as their ideal. Indeed, I understand that Greek 
intellectuals translated our Declaration of Independence into Greek and 
used it as their own declaration.
  That spiritual bond was strengthened in the early part of this 
century, when one of every four Greek males between the ages of 15 to 
45 immigrated to the United States. Americans of Greek ancestry 
preserved their traditions and customs and contributed to the richness 
of American life, even as they continued to support the welfare of 
their ancestral homeland.
  The friendship between America and Greece is shown by the fact that 
Greece is one of only three nations in the world, beyond the former 
British Empire, who have been allies of the United States in every 
major international conflict this century. Over 600,000 Greeks died 
fighting on the side of the Allies in World War II--9 percent of the 
entire Greek population at that time.
  After Greece won its post-World War II struggle against Communist 
rebels, President Dwight Eisenhower in 1953 paid this tribute:

       Greece asked no favor except the opportunity to stand for 
     those rights in which it believed, and it gave to the world 
     an example of battle * * * a battle that thrilled the hearts 
     of all free men and women everywhere.

  On this Greek Independence Day, I applaud the achievements of Greeks 
around the world and with them continued success, peace, and freedom.

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