    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [June 8, 1999]
    [Pages 903-904]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the State Dinner Honoring President Arpad Goncz of Hungary
    June 8, 1999

        Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the White House. And a special
    welcome to President and Mrs. Goncz,
    members of the Hungarian delegation.
        Exactly 150 years ago, in 1849, a young Congressman from Illinois,
    serving his first and only term in the U.S. House of Representatives,
    offered a resolution supporting the Hungarian people's struggle for
    independence and democracy. At that time, the leader of the Hungarian
    freedom movement, of course, was Lajos Kossuth. The Congressman was
    Abraham Lincoln. The bonds between our citizens, based not only on the
    large number of distinguished Hungarian-Americans in our country but
    also on our shared aspirations for freedom and democracy, have very deep
    roots.
        I would like to say a special word of thanks to Congressman
    Tom and Annette Lantos, and others who have helped them, because they are
    responsible for the fact that a bust of Kossuth now stands in the
    rotunda of our Capitol. Ralph Waldo Emerson called him ``the angel of
    freedom.'' He was only the second non-American--

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    Lafayette being the first--to address both Houses of Congress. Crowds
    greeted him wherever he went. He was a true American hero.
        Mr. President, like Kossuth, you taught yourself English while you
    were in prison, at a time when you had just escaped a death sentence and
    faced a life term because you stood for liberty. Later, you translated
    the works of many great writers: Edith Wharton, Thomas Wolfe, William
    Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Arthur Miller, James Baldwin, John Updike,
    Alice Walker. And at least two I think are here tonight, William
    Styron and Susan Sontag. These translations offered Hungarians a window on the
    West and earned you many admirers at home. This work is just one part,
    but it is a vital part, of your contribution to ending the division of
    Europe.
        I even noted in preparing for this that you translated into
    Hungarian President Bush's 1988 campaign
    biography, ``Looking Forward.'' [Laughter] Now by the time Al Gore and I
    published our book, ``Putting People First,'' in 1992, you were already
    President of Hungary and unfortunately too busy to translate this
    profoundly important work. [Laughter] At least, I choose to believe that
    is the reason you did not choose to translate it. [Laughter]
        In this decade, your own works have been translated and published in
    English, your plays performed in the United States. They are a brave set
    of explorations of political conflict and war, freedom and betrayal, the
    struggle for daily survival and dignity in the face of adversity.
    Americans have absorbed these works as we have watched you lead your
    nation, deepening freedom there and promoting human rights and ethnic
    tolerance around the world and especially in your own region. The only
    Hungarian head of state to make an official visit to Romania in this
    century, you told the joint session of Parliament there that ethnic
    minorities enrich their nations and form a valuable connective link in
    strengthening relations between nations.
        Your vision of people living together and nations living together,
    resolving differences peacefully, drawing strength from their diversity,
    treating all people with equal dignity, this will form the basis of a
    better future for Europe and the world. It is at the heart of what we
    have been trying to do in our efforts to reverse ethnic cleansing in
    Kosovo and to build a southeastern Europe in which all people can live
    together in dignity and freedom.
        Now, Mr. President, normally when I propose a toast to a visiting
    head of state, I say something like ``cheers.'' I have been advised by
    the State Department that the Hungarian word for ``cheers'' is, and I
    want to quote from the memo I got--[laughter]--``practically impossible
    to pronounce correctly.'' [Laughter] I have accepted their considered
    judgment. [Laughter] So, instead, I would like to salute you and Mrs.
    Goncz with the words that greeted
    Kossuth on streamers all across New York City on the day he arrived in
    America: Isten Hozta. Welcome.
        I ask all of you to join me in a toast to President and Mrs. Goncz
    and to the people of Hungary. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:35 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Maria Zsuzsanna Gonter, wife of
    President Goncz. The transcript released by the Office of the Press
    Secretary also included the remarks of President Goncz.