[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 31, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          RECOGNIZING 188TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. STEVE ISRAEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 24, 2009

  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the glorious 
contributions of Greek civilization to the world, and to congratulate 
the people of Greece on the 188th anniversary of their independence.
  I can speak no more simply than Edith Hamilton who wrote in her 
classic 1930 study of Greek civilization that ``the Greeks came into 
being and the world, as we know it, began.''
  I stand here as the Member of an institution whose very existence is 
owed to the Greek imagination and beneath a dome supported by columns 
of Greek inspiration. The principles of democratic governance, the ones 
which our Founders drew upon heavily to establish this republic, were 
first expounded upon in ancient Greece, and it is to that first age of 
reason that all democratic civilizations owe a debt of gratitude.
  But it was not only the political philosophy of Greek civilization 
that left its mark on the world. One cannot walk the streets of this 
city without noticing its obvious tribute to the architecture of our 
democratic forebears. Stone columns line our most important buildings 
and stand guard our most cherished documents.
  In addition to the philosophical and physical structures we honor in 
our own time from Greece, we also pay tribute on this day to its legacy 
in the arts and sports. The epic of Homer, the poetry of Pericles, 
Pindar and Aeschylus, the comedy of Aristophanes, the history of 
Herodotus, the Olympics and the marathon--any simple recitation will be 
incomplete and not wholly do justice to the accomplishments of 
centuries. But, let it be said that time has shown the greats of their 
time to be the greats of all time.
  Our more recent histories our bound together as well. Just as our 
independence was a tribute to the ideas of ancient Greece, so too was 
Greek independence inspired by the American Revolution. Greek Commander 
in Chief Petros Mavromichalis, 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.''
  Since that kind and graceful message so long ago, the relationship 
between the United States and Greece--allies in times of both peace and 
conflict--grows stronger. Generations of Greek-Americans have 
maintained their traditions here, just as other civilizations for 
centuries have passed on the guiding lights of Ancient Greece. I am 
proud to join the Greek-Americans of New York's Second District in 
celebrating the 188th anniversary of their independence day.

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