Political Quotes

“legend has it that more than 200 years ago, the bey of Tunis, as token of esteem and friendship, sent one of his finest stallions to U.S. President George Washington. Unfortunately, customs officials in the nascent republic denied entry to the horse, which spent its remainder of its days in the port of Baltimore. After this somewhat rocky start, I am happy to report that U.S.-Tunisian relations have improved considerably. Today, in fact, marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Tunisia as an independent country, a time during which Tunisia has enjoyed a strong and healthy relationship with the United States. Today I wish to congratulate Tunisia for its many accomplishments, and to highlight some of the instances of cooperation between our two countries. In recent years, Tunisia has taken positive steps towards the establishment of a more democratic system of government. Although the ruling party continues to dominate the political scene, Tunisia has made an effort to broaden political debate, including recent passage of an electoral law that reserved 19 seats of the National Assembly for members of opposition political parties. Because the government has placed a high priority on funding social programs, today Tunisia has literacy and life expectancy rates that are among the highest in the region.”