[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SALUTE TO GREEK INDEPENDENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN E. SWEENEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 25, 2003

  Mr. SWEENEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following 
statement onto the floor in support of celebrating March 25, 2003, as 
Greek Independence Day. The ancient Greeks developed the concept of 
democracy, in which the supreme power to govern was vested in the 
people. The Founding Fathers of the United States drew heavily on the 
political experience and philosophy of ancient Greece in forming our 
representative democracy.
  Greece is 1 of only 3 nations in the world, beyond the former British 
Empire, that has been allied with the United States in every major 
international conflict in the twentieth century. Greece played a major 
role in the World War II struggle to protect freedom and democracy 
through such bravery as was shown in the historic Battle of Crete and 
in Greece presenting the Axis land war with its first major setback, 
which set off a chain of events that significantly affected the outcome 
of World War II.
  Greece and the United States are at the forefront of the effort for 
freedom, democracy, peace, stability, and human rights. Those and other 
ideals have forged a close bond between our 2 nations and their 
peoples.
  March 25, 2003, marks the 182nd anniversary of the beginning of the 
revolution that freed the Greek people from the Ottoman Empire and it 
is proper and desirable to celebrate with the Greek people and to 
reaffirm the democratic principles from which our 2 great nations were 
born.

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