[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 39 (Friday, March 7, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S1782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DESIGNATING MARCH 25, 2008 AS ``GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY: A NATIONAL DAY 
            OF CELEBRATION OF GREEK AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY''

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 476 which was submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 476) designating March 25, 2008, as 
     ``Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of 
     Greek and America Democracy.''

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded 
to consider the resolution.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to 
reconsider be laid on the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 476) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 476

       Whereas the ancient Greeks developed the concept of 
     democracy, in which the supreme power to govern was vested in 
     the people;
       Whereas the Founding Fathers of the United States drew 
     heavily on the political experience and philosophy of ancient 
     Greece in forming a representative democracy;
       Whereas Greek Commander in Chief Petros Mavromichalis, a 
     founder of the modern Greek state, said to the citizens of 
     the United States in 1821 that ``it is in your land that 
     liberty has fixed her abode and . . . in imitating you, we 
     shall imitate our ancestors and be thought worthy of them if 
     we succeed in resembling you'';
       Whereas, during World War II, Greece played a major role in 
     the struggle to protect freedom and democracy by bravely 
     fighting the historic Battle of Crete, giving the Axis powers 
     their first major setback in the land war, and setting off a 
     chain of events that significantly affected the outcome of 
     World War II;
       Whereas Greece paid a high price for defending the common 
     values of Greece and the United States in the deaths of 
     hundreds of thousands of Greek civilians during World War II;
       Whereas, throughout the 20th century, Greece was 1 of only 
     3 countries in the world, outside the former British Empire, 
     that allied with the United States in every major 
     international conflict;
       Whereas President George W. Bush, in recognizing Greek 
     Independence Day in 2002, said, ``Greece and America have 
     been firm allies in the great struggles for liberty. . . . 
     Americans will always remember Greek heroism and Greek 
     sacrifice for the sake of freedom. . . . [and a]s the 21st 
     century dawns, Greece and America once again stand united; 
     this time in the fight against terrorism. . . . The United 
     States deeply appreciates the role Greece is playing in the 
     war against terror. . . . America and Greece are strong 
     allies, and we're strategic partners.'';
       Whereas President Bush stated that Greece's successful 
     ``law enforcement operations against a terrorist organization 
     [November 17] responsible for 3 decades of terrorist attacks 
     underscore the important contributions Greece is making to 
     the global war on terrorism'';
       Whereas Greece is a strategic partner and ally of the 
     United States in bringing political stability and economic 
     development to the volatile Balkan region, investing over 
     $20,000,000,000, creating over 200,000 new jobs, and 
     contributing over $750,000,000 in development aid to the 
     region;
       Whereas Greece was extraordinarily responsive to requests 
     by the United States during the war in Iraq, immediately 
     granting the United States unlimited access to Greece's 
     airspace and the base in Souda Bay, and many United States 
     ships that delivered troops, cargo, and supplies to Iraq were 
     refueled in Greece;
       Whereas Greece actively participates in peacekeeping and 
     peace-building operations conducted by international 
     organizations including the United Nations, the North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union, and the 
     Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe;
       Whereas, in August 2004, the Olympic games came home to 
     Athens, Greece, the land in which the games began 2,500 years 
     ago and the city in which the games were revived in 1896;
       Whereas Greece received worldwide praise for its 
     extraordinary handling during the 2004 Olympics of more than 
     14,000 athletes and more than 2,000,000 spectators and 
     journalists, a feat Greece handled efficiently, securely, and 
     with famous Greek hospitality;
       Whereas the unprecedented security effort in Greece for the 
     first Olympics after the attacks on the United States on 
     September 11, 2001, included a record-setting expenditure of 
     more than $1,390,000,000 and the assignment of more than 
     70,000 security personnel, as well as the utilization of an 
     8-country Olympic Security Advisory Group that included the 
     United States;
       Whereas Greece, located in a region in which Christianity 
     mixes with Islam and Judaism, maintains excellent relations 
     with Muslim countries and Israel;
       Whereas the Government of Greece has had extraordinary 
     success in recent years in furthering cross-cultural 
     understanding and reducing tensions between Greece and 
     Turkey, as seen most recently with the January 2008 visit to 
     Turkey by the Prime Minister of Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, 
     the first official visit to Turkey by a Prime Minister of 
     Greece in 49 years;
       Whereas Greece is a key energy security hub that delivers 
     gas to Europe via the Turkey-Greece-Italy Interconnector;
       Whereas Greece is a world leader in the assimilation of 
     immigrants, with immigrants having grown to more than 10 
     percent of people employed in Greece;
       Whereas Greece and the United States are at the forefront 
     of the effort to advance freedom, democracy, peace, 
     stability, and human rights;
       Whereas those and other ideals have forged a close bond 
     between the governments and the peoples of Greece and the 
     United States;
       Whereas March 25, 2008, marks the 187th anniversary of the 
     beginning of the revolution that freed the people of Greece 
     from the Ottoman Empire; and
       Whereas it is proper and desirable for the people of the 
     United States to celebrate this anniversary with the people 
     of Greece and to reaffirm the democratic principles from 
     which both Greece and the United States were born: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates March 25, 2008, as ``Greek Independence Day: 
     A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American 
     Democracy''; and
       (2) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

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