[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 41 (Friday, March 19, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NOWRUZ AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF IRANIAN-
                               AMERICANS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. EDWARD R. ROYCE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 15, 2010

  Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, the following speech, ``Nowruz: A New Day 
for Humanity,'' was given by Dr. Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, on the evening of 
March 17, 2010, at the Library of Congress for the Nowruz Commission's 
inaugural event. Dr. Karimi-Hakkak serves as Chair of the Nowruz 
Commission's Cultural Committee.

                     Nowruz: A New Day for Humanity

       Nowruz, literally meaning ``new day,'' has lived up to its 
     name in wondrous ways. For at least three millennia, it has 
     provided the supreme occasion for renewal and rejuvenation. 
     The power behind its inexhaustible appeal resides in a simple 
     truth: humans need a ritual that transcends distinct and 
     distinguishable group identities to celebrate our common 
     humanity. Nowruz does so by inviting everyone to contemplate 
     nature as it puts on its most magnificent dress at springtime 
     and to synchronize personal and communal relations with the 
     spirit of nature. Pointing to nature's ability to renew 
     itself each and every year, Nowruz manifests intense human 
     yearnings that transcend all divisions. The roots of Nowruz 
     are scattered in myth and in history in much of western Asia 
     and is anchored most profoundly in Persian mythology, where 
     it marks the beginning of the calendar. In recent centuries, 
     as Empires in India and Iran, in Anatolia and Central Asia 
     gave way to the modern countries, Nowruz has been celebrated 
     in accordance with myriad local customs and traditions. 
     Everywhere, however, it offers the promise of a human 
     community in which a race of all races can create a new 
     global culture beyond all nationhood and nationality. It 
     aspires to no less than a human community as beautiful and 
     colorful as nature on the first day of spring.

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