[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[May 21, 1992]
[Pages 812-814]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 812]]

Remarks at the Ohio Freedom Day Celebration in Parma, Ohio

May 21, 1992
    Thank you so much. Thank you, Governor Voinovich. I think the people 
in Parma probably understand this, but let me just say it: You've got a 
great Governor of this State, and I'm proud to be with him. May I salute 
two members of my Cabinet, the President's Cabinet, with me here today: 
Secretary Jack Kemp, who runs HUD, doing a great job; he's out there 
working to help through enterprise zones and homeownership, doing a 
great job there. And then another one whom you all know very well, most 
of you do, a man who has introduced me to much of ethnic America, 
Secretary Ed Derwinski, the Secretary of the Veterans Administration.
    I want to thank Mayor Ries, who greeted me earlier, Parma's Mayor, 
welcoming me to this wonderful community. Another old friend, Ralph 
Perk, we go back a long, long time, Ralph, to when he was Mayor of the 
city of Cleveland. And of course, Mike DeWine, who I want to see in the 
United States Senate, now the Lieutenant Governor of this State.
    Let me thank all of you for this Freedom Medal. I was pointing out 
to Ralph something he had already seen. But I love these signs, all of 
them hand-done, but ``Freedom Is America's Name'' and ``Let Freedom 
Ring.'' What says it better than that? I don't know. It is fantastic. I 
think it is very fitting that George Voinovich, your Governor, has 
proclaimed this Freedom Day. And Americans like yourselves, not just 
here but all across the country, gave us the strength, the 
determination, the will to topple the Berlin Wall and to work for the 
freedom of Eastern Europe and for the rest of what used to be the Soviet 
Union.
    You never gave up. You never, ever gave up. You said your prayers; 
you said them over and over again, praying for your friends and your 
families that were left halfway around the world, but you never, ever 
gave up. And I've been in public life for some time; half my life in 
public life, half in private. And one thing I've seen, wherever, is the 
faith that the Americans, different nationalities, had in the fact that 
their countries, their people would be free. You never gave up, and I 
congratulate you for that.
    Today we hear so much gloom and doom about what's wrong with the 
United States of America. But we can all take pride that we brought 
about the fall of the Iron Curtain, the death of imperial communism, and 
we prevented the cataclysm of the third world war because freedom-loving 
people in America and in Europe persevered and won the cold war 
definitively. And we should take great pride in that.
    It's risky to go into any particular country in this homogenous 
group, I'll tell you, but a group joined together because of freedom, 
but with many ethnic backgrounds. But the great leader of the Ukrainian 
Catholic Church, Cardinal Slipyj, endured years of pain in prison, and 
we'll never forget his role. We'll never forget Hungary's noble symbol 
of courage, the late Cardinal Mindszenty. Both of these men died in 
lonely exile. But they inspired others, not just in Hungary but others, 
to persevere. And they inspired others to literally change the world. 
And now both are hailed openly as heroes in their native land, just as 
they are honored here in America. The church, faith had a lot to do 
about the success of the United States in standing up against communism 
and working and prevailing for freedom.
    This day, Freedom Day, we also honor heroes of the nineties, 
statesmen like Havel and Walesa and Landsbergis. And we marvel at how 
our world has changed. You know, during the eighties, Havel and Lech 
Walesa spent time in prison for the crime of speaking up for freedom. 
That was the crime, to speak up for freedom. And it was scarcely more 
than one year ago that Landsbergis of Lithuania took his stand, armed 
with only the truth and the spirit of patriotism against the Red army 
forces who were gunning down innocent citizens in Lithuania. So, we 
won't forget that.
    And this day honors the work of half a century of our GI's and of 
our allies who

[[Page 813]]

kept NATO strong; the radio broadcasters who pierced the Iron Curtain 
with words of hope and truth. I remember when Lech Walesa came to the 
United States. He wanted to go to Radio Free Europe so he could meet and 
look into the eyes of the voice that he had heard speaking up for 
freedom when that was the only hope the people of Poland had, a 
wonderful story about our Nation's perseverance.
    We think of world leaders whose deeds were as powerful as their 
words: Margaret Thatcher and Helmut Kohl, my predecessor Ronald Reagan, 
who had so much to do with keeping our sights set on the fall of 
communism, and of the families--we think of them--in the East and the 
West who prayed together, and parents who taught their children right 
from wrong. The physical and moral strength of these people transcended 
and destroyed the Iron Curtain.
    And I believe that moral strength will prevail, even where violence 
and oppression hold forth, as in the states of the former Yugoslavia. We 
now recognize the full sovereignty of Slovenia and Croatia and Bosnia, 
and we stand in solidarity with their people. Let me make this clear: We 
will not recognize the annexation of territories by force. Aggression 
cannot be rewarded. But we must stay involved, trying to find a peaceful 
answer to the whole question of Yugoslavia.
    So, as George said, we do stand on the threshold of a new world, a 
world of peace and opportunity. And I really see this as the opportunity 
of a century. And it's amazing to learn about some of the efforts that 
have already begun, think tanks and fax machines that are networking to 
foster democracy and free enterprise in the Baltic republics, in Ukraine 
and Russia, throughout Eastern Europe.
    Governor Voinovich tells me the growth of telephone traffic between 
Ohio and Ukraine is absolutely phenomenal. New phone links are helping 
families restore these old bonds and helping new business ventures get 
going. People from Kiev and Vilnius now travel here without having to 
fear that they left home for the last time.
    Government is doing its part. Two weeks ago I had a wonderful 
meeting, for those particularly interested in Ukraine, a wonderful 
meeting with Kravchuk, President Kravchuk, welcoming him to the White 
House and then taking him up--we flew in a helicopter up to Camp David, 
pointing out the different rural communities in agricultural America and 
urban America.
    I think we made real progress working with President Kravchuk on 
reducing the threat of nuclear war. We announced our pledge to establish 
the science and technology center in Ukraine. We signed agreements that 
are going to foster trade and investment with Ukraine. And I've taken 
action to grant most-favored-nation status for Ukraine as soon as 
possible. And again, for the Ukrainian-Americans present, I am very, 
very proud that one of the men closest to me in the White House, Roman 
Popadiuk, will be sworn in next week as the first American Ambassador to 
Ukraine.
    We've got to keep working on this. Just last week, a couple of days 
ago actually, I had an equally good meeting with the President of 
Kazakhstan, President Nazarbayev. And like Kravchuk, Nazarbayev pledged 
to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear-weapon state. And 
he pledged to remove all the nuclear weapons within the 7-year period of 
the START agreement.
    And in a few more weeks, the President of Russia, a gigantic new 
country, President Yeltsin coming to the United States, and we are going 
to meet together in Washington to chart a new partnership with Russia 
for the future. And it is a wonderful thing to be talking about business 
and freedom instead of talking about nuclear arms and the worry that our 
kids used to have in this country about the nuclear threat.
    We're eager to develop strengths and strengthen our ties with 
Byelarus and Moldova and Armenia and all the nations that have won 
independence from Soviet rule. And working with them and our allies we 
want to establish a democratic peace, a lasting peace that is built on 
trust, a peace that is built on shared values, not simply the absence of 
war.
    And so to finish this job, I need your help. We've done much to 
support the new nations of the Commonwealth, C.I.S. And there are other 
initiatives that will help

[[Page 814]]

these nations along the road to democracy and freedom. For Russia, 
largely for Russia but also for the Ukraine and others, we have the 
``FREEDOM Support Act'' which I've sent up to the Congress, which will 
provide new opportunities for American business. It's going to clear 
away a lot of that cold war legislation, get rid of that, that now 
inhibits trade and investment with Ukraine and the other nations of the 
old Soviet empire. It provides new authority to continue food assistance 
totaling $110 million in food guarantees for the purchase of American ag 
products. And Congress should act now.
    We've got problems at home, but we must not miss this historic 
opportunity to guarantee the peace for these kids here and to guarantee 
the freedom for those across the ocean. So join with me in asking 
Congress not to disappoint our children and to support us as we try to 
pass the ``FREEDOM Support Act.'' And if we meet these responsibilities 
today, a generation from now people might be speaking about a 
``Ukrainian miracle'' or a ``Baltic miracle,'' much as we marvel at the 
recovery of Western Europe just a few years ago, ravaged by the Second 
World War. They came back strong. And everyone calls it the ``miracle of 
Western Europe.'' Now we want the same things for these new republics. 
And with your support, we can get it.
    I know that it is still Easter season in your church. And to close, 
I want to tell a story about Easter this year, not in Ukraine but in 
Russia. Many of you will recall the big military parades that the 
Soviets used to have there in Red Square, always with a huge portrait of 
Lenin as the backdrop, on the wall of the State Historical Museum. Well, 
this year at Easter, there was no portrait of Lenin. Instead, a massive 
icon towered over Red Square, an icon of the Resurrection, and atop it, 
the words Christos Voskrese, Christ is risen.
    And the way I look at it is this: This really is a season of 
resurrection throughout the once-captive nations of Europe. And it is a 
wonderful time to be alive to see these days, to enjoy the freedom that 
God has given us in the freest, most wonderful Nation on the face of the 
Earth, the United States of America. May God bless each and every one of 
you.
    And may I say, as the President of the United States, I will keep 
working for freedom around the world. And with your support, I know we 
will be successful in seeing these European and former Soviet republics 
become free and whole, with the people enjoying a life they never would 
have dreamed of.
    Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank 
you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 1:53 p.m. in the 
                        auditorium at St. Josephat's Cathedral.