[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 25, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H2616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CELEBRATING 193RD ANNIVERSARY OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 193rd 
anniversary of Greek independence. Citizens of Greece have always been 
a proud people in body, mind, and spirit.

                              {time}  1030

  From Pericles, Greek statesman and general, dubbed the first citizen 
of Athens; to Plato, who laid a groundwork in philosophy so vast that 
the entirety of European philosophical tradition is said to simply be a 
footnote to his work; to Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first head of 
state of an independent Greece, Greeks have been exceptional, Mr. 
Speaker.
  I am almost certain that Thomas Jefferson cast an eye across the 
Atlantic towards Greece when he uttered these words in 1821, when 
Greece declared their independence:

       The flames kindled on the 4th of July 1776 have not spread 
     over much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble 
     engines of despotism--on the contrary, they will consume 
     these engines and all who work them.

  It is no coincidence that the Feast of Annunciation, a commemoration 
of the conception of Jesus Christ, was chosen to ignite the action for 
independence.
  I am blessed to be of two cultures that have been beacons of liberty 
for all of civilization, the place of my birth, the land of the free, 
and the home of the brave, the United States of America; and the land 
of my ancestors, the birthplace of democracy, the Hellenic Republic.
  Many Greeks fought for years, clutching to the heritage, culture, and 
faith. Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the emblem of freedom for 
Hellenes, the flag bearing a white cross and nine blue and white 
stripes representing the nine letters in Eleftheria, which means 
freedom.
  Eight years of bloodshed and battle led to the Treaty of Adrianople, 
the formal declaration of a free and independent Greece.
  Greece was the world's first advanced civilization, one that provided 
a cultural heritage that has influenced the world. Firsts in 
philosophy, mathematics, politics, sports, and art all stemmed from a 
free Greece.
  Liberty and justice, freedom to determine the path of one's own life, 
these are human desires and were embodied by Greece throughout their 
fight for independence.
  Those unyielding Hellenes paid life and limb for those desires, and 
generations of Greeks--Americans of Greek descent as well--for decades 
to come owe their ancestors many thanks.
  As George Washington once said:

       Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid 
     growth.

  This held true in Greece in 1821, as it did in America in 1776.
  ``Freedom or Death''--Eleftheria Thanatos--was the battle cry of the 
revolutionaries nearly 200 years ago. It rings true today. Freedom is a 
powerful and beautiful notion. The Greek people achieved that for 
themselves 193 years ago, and I am proud to celebrate in memory of 
those who fought bravely to shed the shackles of the Ottoman Empire.
  Long live Greece--zito Hellas--and God bless America.

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