[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[July 5, 1992]
[Pages 1083-1084]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to Polish Citizens in Warsaw

July 5, 1992
    Thank you, Mr. President, for those very kind words. And good 
afternoon to Mrs. Walesa. It's a pleasure to be back here. I'm pleased 
that the U.S. Presidential delegation, headed by our own Secretary 
Derwinski, could be here today.
    So hello, Warsaw, and hello, Poland. Thank you all for this warm 
welcome. Barbara and I are honored to be back once more, to come home 
once more to the birthplace of the Revolution of '89. And I'm especially 
pleased to come here from America's Fourth of July celebration of 
freedom and carry that same spirit to a free Poland.
    This is truly a homecoming, the day Poland welcomes home a part of 
its proud history, a great patriot, a patron of freedom. You spoke 
eloquently of him. Through his long life, Ignacy Paderewski fought for a 
free and independent Poland. When independence came, Paderewski served 
as Prime Minister of your new nation. When occupation came, he joined 
the exiled government. And when he died, America gave this great friend 
of freedom a place alongside our honored dead in Arlington Cemetery to 
rest, in the words of our President Franklin Roosevelt, ``until Poland 
would be free.''
    Few knew then how many dark days would come and go, how many 
lifetimes would pass until this day. When years passed without fanfare 
or ceremony, when a small, simple marker took the place of a larger 
stone, Poles understood. In 5 years or 50 years, Paderewski would one 
day come home to Polish soil.
    Today, a patriot has come home. Today, Poland is free. And what a 
magnificent day this is. On this Sunday, from St. John's Cathedral to 
the village churches of Zakopane, the bells toll not simply the solemn 
requiem but a new beginning, a new birth of freedom for Poland and its 
people.
    It's a new beginning not just for Poland but for all of Europe and 
the world. It is proper that we mark this new birth in your country. It 
was here in Poland that the Second World War began. It was here in 
Poland that the cold war first cast its shadow. And it was here in 
Poland that the people at long last brought the cold war to an end.
    I've said many times that in the deepest sense, the cold war was a 
war of ideas, a contest between two ways of life. The rulers of the old 
regime claimed they saw the triumph of the totalitarian ideal written in 
the laws of history. They failed to see the love of freedom written in 
the human heart.
    I recall my last visit to Poland: The fierce defiance and 
determination in the faces of the workers gathered in what was then 
called the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, the warmth and the welcome for 
America made plain to Barbara and me by you, the good people of Poland. 
We'll never forget it.
    Just think of the new world that's emerged these past 3 years: 
Europe, whole and free; Russia, turning from dictatorship to democracy; 
Ukraine and the other nations of the old Soviet empire, free and 
independent. Look at this new world, and remember where that revolution 
began: right here in Poland.
    Today, Poland stands transformed. Your bold economic reforms have 
earned the world's admiration and support. And what's more, they're 
working. Shelves that once stood empty are now stocked with goods. Gone 
is the old Communist Party headquarters, now home to the Warsaw Stock 
Exchange and the Polish-America Enterprise Fund, providing seed capital 
to help Poland's private sector growth and prosper.

[[Page 1084]]

Gone are the slogans and the sham reality; everywhere you hear new 
voices and new hope. Freedom has come home to Poland.
    For all that is new, there are things that have not changed, things 
that sustained you through the darkest days: Polish strength, Polish 
spirit, Polish pride. Reaching your dreams will be difficult. I know the 
sheer volume of new voices can sometimes be deafening. But from the 
clamor of new voices must come democracy, a common vision of the common 
good.
    Of course, in many places and for many people there is more pain 
than progress. But we must take care to separate cause from consequence. 
Poland's time of trial is not caused by private enterprise but by the 
stubborn legacy of four decades of Communist misrule. Make no mistake: 
The path you have chosen is the right path. And as you say, Mr. 
President, it is the path of pioneers. Free government and free 
enterprise have helped Poland overcome a crippling past. Free government 
and free markets will bring Poland a bright future.
    Poland is no stranger to sacrifice. Many times before, you were 
asked to do without for the greater good of the state. But today is 
different. This time, yours is a sacrifice blessed by freedom, the 
sacrifice of a nation determined to make its destination democracy.
    Poland has made great progress in its reforms, moving this country 
to a new stage in its economic revolution. As always, the United States 
of America stands ready to help. In 1989, the United States worked with 
Poland and others to establish a $1 billion fund to help support a free 
currency for a free Poland. Now we need to consider new uses for that 
fund, to help Poland as it faces today's challenges. That's why I am 
proposing that once Poland is back on track with the IMF that we make 
that fund available for other uses, perhaps to finance Polish exports or 
to help capitalize banks to support new businesses. The U.S. 
contribution alone will amount to $200 million.
    This is a Polish and American idea that I will take to the economic 
summit at Munich. There I will urge the leaders of the world's great 
democracies to join with us to seek new ways to help Poland toward 
progress and prosperity. Let there be no doubt: America shares Poland's 
dream. America wants Poland to succeed. And we will stand at your side 
until success is guaranteed to everyone.
    We mark today not simply the memory of a great Polish patriot, we 
celebrate the men of moral courage who sustain this nation: President 
Lech Walesa, Father Popieluszko, Pope John Paul II. But Poland could not 
have come this far, Poland could not have won its freedom if only a few 
had the courage to stand up against the state. Freedom was won by the 
everyday heroes of the underground, the men and women who kept faith 
when faith was forbidden, who spoke the truth against a wall of lies, 
the true heroes of democracy: the people of Poland.
    Your strength of spirit drives away all doubt: Poland will succeed. 
Poland will succeed because Poles have made this journey before. In a 
strange new world called America, in the stockyards of Chicago, in the 
steelworks of Cleveland, in a thousand towns thousands of miles from 
this land they love, Poles worked and worshipped and built a better 
life--Polish hands building the American dream. Now at long last, Poles 
can build that dream right here at home.
    As President of the United States of America, as a fellow democrat, 
as friend of a free Poland, I bring this message: America stands with 
you. America wants Poland to succeed and to prosper. America wants 
Poland, now and forever, to be free.
    Thank you all for this warm welcome. May God bless the free people 
of Poland. And may God bless both our great countries, Poland and the 
United States of America. Thank you. Thank you very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at approximately 2:30 p.m. 
                        at Castle Square. In his remarks, he referred to 
                        Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a Roman Catholic 
                        priest who was murdered in 1984.