[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 12 (Monday, March 29, 1993)]
[Pages 490-492]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Greek Independence Day Proclamation

 March 25, 1993

    I just wanted to ask Mr. Stephanopoulos to come up here so I could 
remove all doubt about how I know what to do. [Laughter] Please sit, 
ladies and gentlemen, Archbishop.
    I have a few remarks, but before I do, I want to formally sign this 
proclamation for Greek Independence Day and present it to the 
Archbishop.

[At this point, the President signed the proclamation.]

    Thank you. Please be seated. I'd like to welcome all of you here to 
the White House and say a special word of welcome to Archbishop Iakavos, 
the spiritual leader of the Greek American community, with whom I have 
just had a wide-ranging discussion of many of the issues that I know 
that concern you. I'd also like to welcome the political leader of the 
Greek American community, my friend Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, 
and to say how delighted I am to sign this proclamation recognizing 
Greek Independence Day and celebrating the democracy that we share in 
the United States with Greece.
    It is particularly timely that we celebrate democracy today at the 
very moment that our friends around the world who have been deprived of 
democracy are working hard against great odds to bring it to full 
flower. And I know, Archbishop, that our prayers are with the people in 
Russia today and throughout the world who are working hard to preserve 
and enhance their own democracy.
    Greece, the birthplace of democracy, and the United States have long 
had a history of friendship and cooperation. The authors of our Nation's 
Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were inspired by 
Greece's commitment to liberty, to freedom, and to democracy. Indeed, 
James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers, and 
I quote, ``Among the confederacies of antiquity, the most considerable 
was that of the Grecian republics.'' Today, those ideas continue to 
strengthen the United States. And working together, Greece and the 
United States have worked to advance the cause of freedom around the 
world.
    It is against that backdrop of longstanding and close cooperation 
between the United States and Greece that I want to say a brief word 
about two issues that I know concern this audience greatly: Cyprus and 
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
    On Cyprus, I want to give you my personal assurance that I and my 
administration will stay fully engaged in the U.N. process of 
negotiations, that we will give our full energies to helping reach a 
fair and permanent solution to the Cyprus dispute, and that we will not 
rest until a solution is found. Already, in the first 2 months of my 
Presidency, I have had the opportunity to raise the issue of Cyprus in 
serious discussions in person with President Ozal of Turkey and by a 
long telephone conversation with Prime Minister Demirel. You can count 
on the United States to be there until this issue is resolved.
    On Macedonia: Here, also, I take seriously the concerns that have 
been raised by Greece. Like Athens, we believe that a solution to the 
dispute over the name of the former Yugoslav Republic must be found 
rapidly to avoid the spread of further instability. I have admired the 
steady hand of Prime Minister Mitsotakis, and I want to work closely 
with him to find an appropriate solution to this problem. Progress has 
already been made on this issue, as I'm sure you know, and I believe we 
can find a just solution with broad vision and flexibility. Again, you 
can be sure that the United States will not allow the security of such a 
close friend

[[Page 491]]

and ally as Greece to be threatened in any way.
    You know, I come from a State where Greek Americans make up only 
one-tenth of one percent of our population, and about half of them are 
in this room today. [Laughter] But their contributions to our State and 
to my life have been enormous.
    Last night, my good friend from the time I was 9 years old, David 
Leopoulis, spent the night with me in the White House. He campaigned 
with me all over America. He became the symbol of an ordinary American 
who was for me. Think of it: Here I was, a WASP, not ordinary, supported 
by a Greek American who was ordinary. [Laughter] He appeared on 
television all over the country and worked with our campaign basically 
to talk about a lifetime of friendship and shared values. And our 
relationship, in that sense, is a mirror image of the relationship 
between the United States and Greece.
    My personal health for many years has been in the hands of Dr. Drew 
Kampuris, whose father, Dr. Frank Kampuris, is an appointee of mine to 
the University of Arkansas board of trustees. There are others here in 
this audience and back home in Arkansas without whom I would not be here 
today.
    My campaign and my administration have gained much from the talents 
of Greek Americans, including my close assistant and Director of 
Communications, George Stephanopoulos, who came up here a moment ago, 
who has become the heartthrob of the teen set of America. George's 
parents are in the audience today, and they did such a good job raising 
him I would like to ask them to stand up.
    We did a little search for Greek Americans on the President's staff, 
and we discovered, notwithstanding some of their last names, the 
following fully qualify: my staff secretary, John Podesta; Sylvia 
Mathews, on the National Economic Commission staff--she hails from a 
little town in West Virginia, which just proves that you really are 
everywhere; Peter Pappas, my Associate Counsel; and George Tenet, my 
Special Assistant and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs at the 
National Security Council. Indeed, you might argue that I could have a 
reverse affirmative action suit for the over-representation of Greeks on 
the White House staff. [Laughter]
    My good friend from New Jersey, Clay Constantinou, is here, who was 
with me from the beginning. There are others here in the audience who 
helped so much in the election. I want to note the presence of Angelo 
Zicapulous and many others who worked in the campaign for whom I'm very, 
very grateful.
    And I also would like to ask us all to remember in our prayers my 
most formidable opponent in the Democratic primary, Paul Tsongas, as we 
pray for his recovery.
    American politics has benefited greatly from the involvement of 
Greek Americans. In the Democratic Party, we had last year two great 
State party chairmen: Phil Angelides in California and Chris Spirou in 
New Hampshire. They each played an integral part in that election. And I 
can't help but say, and I hope the Republicans in the audience will 
forgive me, that it was rather unusual for a Democrat to carry either 
California or New Hampshire, and at least they think it was the Greek 
influence that put us over the top.
    The Greek American community has always taken pride in and has been 
known for its commitment to the values that our country desperately 
needs more of today: commitment to family and neighborhood, to education 
and hard work, to freedom and the rule of law. These are the values that 
built America, shared still by the vast majority of Americans. But we 
know that for America to go where it needs to go, all Americans will 
have to embrace them again.
    And so even as we look beyond our Nation's borders to the problems 
around the world, I ask those of you here in this wonderful house and 
those whom you represent throughout the country to lead our Nation in a 
re-embrace of these values born in the democracy of Greece, nourished in 
the democracy of the United States, now desperately needed in every city 
and hamlet in this country.
    To Greece, the Nation that first shaped the political ideals we 
cherish, and to Greek Americans who help us every day, we are greatly 
indebted. And as I turn to the Archbishop for his remarks, let me say, 
courtesy

[[Page 492]]

of my distinguished language instructor, Mr. Stephanopoulos, Zeto e 
Hellas.

Note: The President spoke at 4:38 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.