[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E614-E615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 5, 2005

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise today and join the 
millions of my fellow Americans in commemorating Greek Independence Day 
which, on March 25th celebrated the 184th anniversary of the rebellion 
and the struggle of the Greek people against the Ottoman Empire.
  What makes Greek Independence Day so special here in America is that 
it reminds us of the strong principles and bonds that the U.S. and 
Greece share. In looking into the struggles of our two nations, we 
realize how much our struggles have in common, and how much each 
country has been influenced by the other.
  Greece and the United States are bound by an absolute commitment to 
the democratic ideals of justice and freedom and continue to be strong 
allies. By commemorating Greek Independence Day, we also celebrate the 
strength and the resolve of the human spirit that has been the 
inspiration of us all.
  I am very pleased to place into the Record a statement made on this 
184th anniversary of Greek independence written by one of my 
constituents, Constantinos Nicolaou:

           Statement of Mr. Constantinos Nicolaou of Maryland

       The greatness of the human spirit, regardless of any 
     efforts to suppress it, will always rise against tyranny and 
     oppression and will start revolutions where heroism will pay 
     any price, even the ultimate sacrifice of life, in order to 
     gain freedom and independence.
       Every time we commemorate heroism such as the one exhibited 
     by the Greeks on March 25, 1821 and during the ensuing 
     struggle for their freedom, we cannot help but think of our 
     great Founding Fathers, who were so much influenced by the 
     ancient Greeks in their struggles for freedom and the 
     creation of what had become the freest, most democratic 
     country in history, the United States of America.
       Thomas Jefferson looked to the ancient Greek philosophers 
     and their teachings as an inspiration in trying to create a 
     fair, strong, democratic state. And it was not accidental 
     that many of the Greek leaders of the 1821 revolution, turned 
     to America for inspiration as they were embarking in their 
     struggle for freedom.
       Both nations were faced with seemingly insurmountable 
     struggles, rising against empires to claim their rights to 
     life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Both nations 
     became triumphant at the end, because of their love of 
     freedom. The great American Patriot, Patrick Henry, 
     proclaimed, ``Give me liberty or give me death.'' The Greek 
     patriots went to battle proclaiming, ``Eleftheria I 
     Thanatos'' --liberty or death.
       As with the American Revolution, the Greek revolution is 
     filled with stories of heroism and sacrifice. News of such 
     heroism and sacrifice met with strong feelings of support by 
     the American public and by their politicians, including 
     President James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, who expressed 
     their support for the Greek revolution through their annual 
     messages to Congress. Henry Clay, our secretary of state in 
     1825, was very vocal in his support of Greece's fight for 
     independence. Daniel Webster, more often than not, influenced 
     his colleagues in looking into the Greek struggle with 
     sympathetic interests.
       It is, of course, no surprise that our Founding Fathers and 
     other prominent Americans were supportive of the Greek 
     struggle for independence. As mentioned, they themselves had 
     been inspired by the ancient Greeks. Thomas Jefferson, of all 
     the Founding Fathers, had a particular affinity for Greece, 
     not only because of its classical republican philosophy but 
     also because of his studies of the origins of languages. He 
     expressed that affinity many times, as in a letter to John 
     Brazier on August 24, 1819. In that letter, Thomas Jefferson 
     addresses ``Mr. Pickering's Memoir of the Modern Greek,'' and 
     the Memoirs review by Brazier. He tells Brazier, ``I had been 
     much pleased with the memoir, and was much also with your 
     review of it. I have little hope indeed of recovery of the 
     ancient pronunciation of the finest of human languages, but 
     still I rejoice to the attention the subject seems to excite 
     with you, because it is evidence that our country begins to 
     have a taste for something more than merely as much Greek as 
     will pass a candidate for clerical ordination. . . . Among 
     the values of classical learning, I estimate the luxury of 
     learning the Greek and Roman authors in all the beauties of 
     their originals. And why should not this innocent and elegant 
     luxury take its preeminent stand ahead of all those addressed 
     merely to the senses? I think myself more indebted to my 
     father for this than for all other luxuries his cares and 
     affections have placed within my reach.''
       Jefferson expressed his empathies with Greece revolting 
     against its Ottoman rulers. In an 1823 letter to Adamantios 
     Coray, the Greek patriot and scholar that he had met in Paris 
     years earlier, he stated:
       ``. . . You have certainly began at the right end towards 
     preparing them [the Greek people] for the great object they 
     are now contending for, by improving their minds and 
     qualifying them for self-government. For this they will owe 
     you lasting honors. Nothing is more likely to forward this 
     object than a study of the fine models of science left by 
     their ancestors; to whom we also are all indebted for the 
     lights which originally led ourselves out of Gothic 
     darkness.''
       No people sympathize more feelingly than ours with the 
     suffering of your countrymen; none offer more sincere and 
     ardent prayers to heaven for their success. And nothing 
     indeed but the fundamental principle of our government never 
     to entangle us with the broils of Europe could restrain our 
     generous youth from taking some part in this holy cause. 
     Possessing ourselves the combined blessing of liberty and 
     order, we wish the same to other countries, and to none more 
     than yours, which she first of civilized nations presented 
     examples of what man should be.

[[Page E615]]

       The ties that bind America and Greece go, of course, far 
     beyond their parallel and noble struggles for freedom. The 
     philosophical and cultural connections, although little known 
     to the public at large, could not be stronger or better 
     assimilated. Such connections were born almost at the same 
     time with the birth of our nation, if not before. In his 
     excellent study of ``Lincoln at Gettysburg,'' Gary Wills 
     tells us:
       ``America as a second Athens was an idea whose moment had 
     come in the nineteenth century. . . . In the early 19th 
     century, an era that became known as America's Greek Revival 
     was taking shape. Archaeological discoveries in Greece at the 
     time brought the ancient democracy to mind just as modern 
     Greece began its struggle for freedom from the Turks.
       ``Edward Everett, President of Harvard, founder of Mount 
     Auburn, congressman, Massachusetts's governor, minister to 
     the Court of St. James's in London, senator, secretary of 
     state and principal speaker at Gettysburg years later, was 
     the leader of the Greek Revival. Harvard established its new 
     chair of ancient Greek studies for him. While studying in 
     Germany, Everett went to Greece, `to walk over the 
     battlefields where the first democracy of the West won its 
     freedom.' He returned to America convinced that a new Athens 
     was rising here. His appearances, `prompted rallies for Greek 
     independence'--a favorite cause of Everett.
       ``Everett's prestige influenced others, including historian 
     George Bancroft, whose `main interest was Greek history.'. . 
     . Bancroft was ahead of the wave of histories that would 
     glorify Periclean Athens in Victorian England. Direct 
     democracy, a flawed system in republican theory, was 
     rehabilitated, for its usefulness in the parliamentary reform 
     movement, by British historians like George Grote. In 
     America, a similar motion toward government by the people, 
     not just for the republic, was signaled by an enthusiasm for 
     Greek symbols. Barcroft became a Jacksonian Democrat when he 
     began to apply historical skills formed on the Attic 
     democracy to America's development. Walter Savage Landor 
     recognized what was happening in America when he dedicated 
     the second volume of his Pericles and Aspasia to President 
     Andrew Jackson.''
       Greece and the United States, bound by their absolute 
     commitment to freedom and justice, have always been the 
     strongest of the allies. Greece stood by us and fought with 
     us in every single war or conflict since we both gained our 
     freedom. And we always stood by Greece, and although at times 
     we appeared to have forgotten how loyal and valuable the 
     Greeks had been to us, our ultimate commitment to their 
     freedom and well-being never wavered.
       And as we commemorate and fight to free all people, let us 
     remember that some other friends of ours are still agonizing 
     and asking for our help in fighting forces of evil still 
     occupying their land and their homes. The people of the 
     Republic of Cyprus, Greeks and Turks and all others, should 
     be given more active support by our great nation in their 
     efforts to reunite the island and get rid of the occupying 
     forces. U.S. leadership is essential, and now it is the time 
     that we should remember that the Cypriot people are where we 
     had been, and they are striving for what we have earned long 
     time ago, that is, their right to freedom, liberty and the 
     pursuit of happiness.
       It is essential that American leadership urges Turkish and 
     Turkish Cypriot leaders towards peace. These are the two 
     sides that hold in their hands, to the largest extent, the 
     peaceful solution to the Cyprus problem. A solution that 
     undoubtedly will benefit all the people of Cyprus, but it 
     will also benefit the nations of Greece and Turkey, will 
     stabilize the region, and will strengthen the bonds and 
     relationships between the United States and the countries 
     involved in the conflict.
       As we commemorate Greek Independence Day, we are 
     celebrating the strength and the resolve of the human spirit 
     as well as man's unbending will in the pursuit of freedom. 
     The people of ancient Greece gave us values and ethics and 
     showed us how to fight for freedom and democracy. Our 
     country, more than any other country, shares those values and 
     ethics, and in days such as this we reaffirm our common 
     democratic heritage with the Greek people. The commemoration 
     and celebration remind us also that we should stay forever 
     vigilant in fighting for and protecting our freedom and our 
     democracy, least we lose the right to determine our lives and 
     our future.
       Dionisios Solomos was the great poet who transformed in his 
     poetry the unparalleled struggle and the sacrifices of 
     Hellenism in the pursuit of Freedom. The Revolution so much 
     influenced his poetry that he is considered the national poet 
     of Greece. One of his most inspired poems, Hymn to Liberty, 
     has almost become synonymous to that Revolution and it became 
     Greece's National Anthem. The poem was published in 1825, 
     along with translations in Italian, French and English.
       The Revolution would have never been the same without 
     Solomos. The enthusiasm of the fighters, as well as the 
     international sympathy among the Philhellenes would have 
     definitely been smaller without the Hymn to Liberty.
       Probably nowhere was Solomos's vision of Liberty depicted 
     better than here, in the United States. Here, in the Rotunda 
     of our own Capitol Hill, we see a most wonderful painting of 
     Liberty, with the sword in hand chasing her enemies, exactly 
     the way Solomos envisioned her in his Hymn to Liberty. This 
     figure was painted by another son of Greece, one who really 
     grasped Solomos's vision of Liberty, Constantino Brumidi.
       And as a tribute to the United States, Solomos envisions 
     our country rejoicing in seeing Greece fighting for Freedom. 
     He describes the American feelings this way:

     Most heartily was gladdened
     George Washington's brave land:
     For the iron bonds remembered,
     Her old slavery's cruel brand.

       We live today in a great, free country. Our country became 
     great, and will always be so, because the spirit and the 
     morals that we share with Greece, as so eloquently expressed 
     by Solomos, will always be with us.

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