[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[March 25, 1992]
[Pages 504-506]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Greek Independence Day Proclamation

March 25, 1992
    Welcome to the Rose Garden on this beautiful day. We're so pleased 
to have you all here. Thank you for the welcome for His Eminence and me. 
It's a pleasure to welcome you, many of you, most of you, back to the 
White House.
    First, may I pay my most sincere respects to Archbishop Iakovos, a 
true spiritual leader for whom we have enormous respect. And I'm just 
delighted that he's here with us today. And I want to thank our Cabinet 
Minister Ed Derwinski, who is so well-known 
in Greece, and Ambassador Zacharakis, 
who is here. And also our congressional 
contingent: Mike Bilirakis, over here; George Gekas was to be here, but 
he may

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have been kept away by work. And of course, Senator Arlen Specter is 
with us today. I would like to welcome Mr. Angelopoulos from Athens, who 
presented me this commemorative medal in the Oval Office just a minute 
ago. We are delighted you are here, sir.
    This Greek-American--this Greek Independence Day--I say Greek-
American day because Americans of Greek heritage celebrate it--it's a 
wonderful day for the Greek-American community and for all of us who 
cherish freedom. Greece can never be just another country to the United 
States. And the U.S. and Greece are the firmest of friends, the 
strongest of allies. And I might take this opportunity to salute Prime 
Minister Mitsotakis, with whom I have a very cordial relationship, most 
cooperative relationship. I talked to him just the other day on the 
phone.
    We are committed to maintaining the close cooperation that has 
developed with his government, and we will continue to serve as a 
catalyst in the U.N. Secretary-General's effort to negotiate a fair and 
a permanent settlement to the Cyprus issue. In our view, there is one 
Cyprus, and we are going to continue to heal the division that scars 
this lovely island. Now, we have consistently made clear our view that 
the time has come to settle this question, and I am going to continue to 
give it my personal attention. We're also sensitive to Greek concerns 
about the breakup of Yugoslavia. And I've been in touch again, I 
mentioned, with my dear friend Prime Minister Mitsotakis about this 
highly sensitive issue. And as his Government works towards a solution 
to this, it can be assured of our support.
    Neither Greece nor America is a stranger to the struggle for 
freedom. And as allies in NATO we've worked in common cause to preserve 
the peace. Today we remember that our ideals and values have been 
preserved at high cost, the valor and sacrifice of our nations' finest 
young men and women. Greek heritage is, in so many respects, American 
heritage. And I'm deeply moved to realize how important it is to 
interpret for future generations the significance of our independence 
days. We must not forget, and we cannot let our children forget, lest 
the struggle be repeated. And so we celebrate these anniversaries of 
freedom, and we tell the old stories in order to preserve that which we 
value so highly.
    This morning I want to commend the Greek-American community for the 
way you've preserved your traditions. The Greek-American culture 
continues to provide a model for greatness. I can cite many examples, 
but I want to particularly commend the value that this wonderful 
community places on family and on tradition. Through your commitment to 
strong families, those great traditions have endured, and your culture 
has thrived in this new land. These values, the ones that we pass along 
from one generation to the next, are the greatest of all legacies. But 
these are not just a comfortable luxury. They are a vital part of the 
social capital that a nation must possess if it's to be great, but more 
significantly, if it's to be good.
    Today as we join with you to commemorate the 171st anniversary of 
Greek independence, we also celebrate Archbishop Iakovos' 33d year as 
Archbishop of the Americas. As His Eminence was at the forefront of the 
march for civil rights, now the Greek-American family is at the 
forefront in the modeling for today's generation those enduring personal 
and family values that are the necessary underpinning for continued 
democracy and freedom.
    I still remember Archbishop Iakovos' benediction at our convention 
in 1988, and he prayed in a nonpartisan way, I want to say. But he 
prayed that we would, and here was the words, ``Carry, renew, and 
redefine the legacy and mandate to keep this Nation under God in an 
unending quest for unity, justice, moral integrity, and spiritual 
alertness and readiness.'' On this Greek Independence Day, let that be 
the prayer and the challenge to us all.
    And now it is my real pleasure to put pen to paper and proclaim 
Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and 
American Democracy.

                    Note: The President spoke at 11:18 a.m. in the Rose 
                        Garden at the White House. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Christos Zacharakis,

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                        Greek Ambassador to the United States, and 
                        Panayiopis Angelopoulos, Greek industrialist. 
                        The proclamation is listed in Appendix E at the 
                        end of this volume.