[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 145 (Thursday, October 8, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2474-E2475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  FORMER CONGRESSMAN BRADEMAS AWARDED HONORARY DEGREE BY THE AMERICAN 
                           COLLEGE OF GREECE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN P. SARBANES

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 7, 2009

  Mr. SARBANES. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to note that on June 27, 
2009, our distinguished former colleague in the House of 
Representatives, Dr. John Brademas, was awarded the honorary degree of 
Doctor of Laws by The American College of Greece.
  John Brademas was the first Greek-American elected to the United 
States House of Representatives and as such this honorary degree from 
The American College of Greece has particular symbolic resonance. I 
add, however, that this is the 55th honorary degree received by Dr. 
Brademas.
  Madam Speaker, the remarks of Dr. Brademas at The American College of 
Greece on June 27, 2009 follow.
                                                    June 27, 2009.

Remarks of Dr. John Brademas, President Emeritus, New York University, 
        Neo Faliro, Peace And Friendship Stadium, Athens, Greece

       Father Constantinos, President Horner, Dr. Sue Horner, 
     Consul General McKeever, Chancellor Bailey, chairman Peter 
     Thun of the Board of Trustees, Senior Vice President 
     Protopsaltis, fellow honorees, members of the faculty and 
     graduating students of The American College of Greece.
       It is for more than one reason that I count the award I 
     have just received among the great honors of my life, and I'm 
     especially pleased that my wife, Mary Ellen, a practicing 
     physician, was able to break away from New York City to join 
     us here.
       In the first place, this is a degree from The American 
     College of Greece. As you know, my late father, Stephen J. 
     Brademas, was born in Greece--in Kalamata--and my two 
     brothers and sister and I were all raised to be deeply proud 
     of our Hellenic heritage.

[[Page E2475]]

       ``Be proud that you are an American'', my father used to 
     say, but ``be proud, too, that you are a Greek!''
       All four of the Brademas children were deeply conscious of 
     the importance of our Greek background.
       Here let me say how pleased I am that my cousin, Anna 
     Bredima, General Counsel for the Union of Greek Shipowners, 
     is here today with her two children, Evangelo and Ersiliana.
       Anna, by the way, is a graduate of Pierce College.
       Although my mother was not of Greek descent she was, like 
     her father, a teacher--and that fact emphasizes another 
     dimension of his Greek ancestry that my father used to press 
     upon his children--the importance of learning, of knowledge, 
     of education.
       A second dimension of the history of Greece that my father 
     and I often discussed was democracy. ``We Greeks invented 
     democracy!'' my father reminded us, and said that some of us 
     should still practice it.
       Accordingly, after graduating from Harvard University and 
     one year of postgraduate study there, I went to England, on a 
     Rhodes Scholarship, to study at Oxford University. At Oxford, 
     I wrote a doctoral dissertation on the anarchist movement in 
     Spain but I like to note that although I studied anarchism, I 
     did not practice it!
       For on my return to my hometown in Indiana, I immediately 
     plunged into politics and became a candidate for election to 
     the Congress of the United States. Just old enough--25--under 
     our Constitution to be a candidate, I lost my first race by 
     half a percent. Naturally, I ran again, two years later, but 
     lost a second time. Undaunted, I was first elected, on my 
     third attempt, and then ten times reelected. So I served as a 
     Member of Congress for 22 years.
       In the House of Representatives, I gave particular 
     attention to writing legislation to support schools, colleges 
     and universities; and the students who attend them; to 
     measures to help libraries and museums; and the arts and the 
     humanities, generally.
       In my last four years as a Member of Congress, I was the 
     Majority Whip of the House of Representatives, an assignment 
     that brought me every other week, with Speaker of the House 
     of Representatives, ``Tip'' O'Neill of Massachusetts, and the 
     other Democratic Leaders of the House and Senate to breakfast 
     at the White House with President Jimmy Carter arid Vice 
     President Walter Mondale. All Democrats, we talked politics 
     and policy.
       It was, of course, while a Member of Congress that I became 
     deeply involved in the issue of Cyprus, a matter that 
     continues to preoccupy me. I worked closely then with my 
     valued friend, also a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and the first 
     Greek-American elected to the United States Senate, Paul S. 
     Sarbanes. And I'm pleased to note that Paul's son, John 
     Sarbanes, now serves in the United States House of 
     Representatives.
       As I am the son of a Greek immigrant, I am pleased to call 
     your attention to another son of Greek immigrants, both his 
     father and mother. I speak of Peter C. Peterson, the highly 
     successful and highly respected American business leader and 
     public servant. Peter G. Peterson, co-founder of Blackstone 
     Group and former Secretary of Commerce, has just published a 
     fascinating book, The Education of an American Dreamer, which 
     I am pleased to present to President Horner for the College 
     library. Your faculty and students will find the story of 
     this remarkable son of Greek immigrants inspiring, I am 
     confident.
       More modestly, I am pleased also to present a book of my 
     own to The American College of Greece, The Politics of 
     Education, in which I describe my experience as a Member of 
     Congress in writing legislation to assist schools, colleges 
     and universities; the students who attend them; and measures 
     to assist libraries and museums.
       I move ahead, In 1980, as a result of the landslide victory 
     of Ronald Reagan, I lost my race for reelection to a twelfth 
     term. Shortly thereafter, I was invited to become president 
     of New York University, the largest private, or independent, 
     university in the United States. In 1991 I became president 
     emeritus, my present responsibility, so now I'm only going 
     some twelve hours a day!
       If I were to single out one dimension, of my commitment to 
     strengthening New York University, it would be that I gave 
     particular attention to building our programs for the study 
     of other countries and cultures, not only through programs in 
     New York City but centers abroad as well. Much of the 
     responsibility of an American university president focuses on 
     fundraising, both from the Federal government and private 
     sources. So I pressed hard, and, I believe, effectively, to 
     bolster the financial situation of New York University.
       I must add just a word about my present initiative, another 
     strongly shaped by my Greek origins, the establishment at NYU 
     of the John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress, of 
     Congress as a policy-making institution.
       Let me explain that unlike parliamentary institutions in 
     Europe, the Congress of the United States has great power, in 
     addition to that of the President of the United States, to 
     make national policy. But with 100 Senators and 435 
     Representatives and without the party discipline 
     characteristic of parliamentary systems, it is not easy for 
     even informed Americans to understand Congress. So we are, 
     with the establishment of the John Brademas Center for the 
     Study of Congress at New York University, creating an 
     institution that will bring together Senators, 
     Representatives, scholars and citizens to discuss the ways in 
     which our national legislature makes national policy and ways 
     of improving the system.
       Now, ladies and gentlemen, from what I have told you, I 
     hope you can see that I have inherited from my Greek father 
     at least two dimensions of the extraordinary contributions of 
     Hellenic civilization to today's complex world: first, 
     respect for learning, for education; and second, respect for 
     politics, for democracy.
       So even as I pay tribute to two distinguished persons you 
     are also honoring here today, Andrew Athens, a valued friend 
     of many years and an outstanding leader of the Greek-American 
     community; and Mikis Theodorakis, musician, scholar, public 
     servant, I reiterate how deeply touched I am to receive an 
     honorary degree from The American College of Greece.

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