Political Quotes

“I would like to take this opportunity to rise in observance of March 25, 1994, a day when millions of Greeks around the world join in celebrating the 173d anniversary of Greece's independence. Indeed today we pay tribute to Greek and American democracy and a historic legacy of respect for the individual with which both are profoundly imbued. The famous classical scholar Edith Hamilton once noted, on being named an honorary citizen of Athens in 1957: Freedom was a Greek discovery. The Greeks were the first free nation in the world. Greece rose because there was in the Greeks the greatest spirit that moves in humanity--the spirit that makes men free. Greece and America have enjoyed a friendship which has prospered for more than 170 years, dating back to our Founding Fathers. I should note that the American leadership during the 18th century recognized the important role of ancient Greece in shaping the American Constitution.”