THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release March 25, 1993
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT GREEK AMERICAN RECEPTION
The East Room
4:38 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: 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.
(The proclamation is signed.) (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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 two 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.
(Applause.)
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 and ally as
Greece to be threatened in any way. (Applause.)
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 nine
years old, David Leopoulis, spent the night with me in the White
House. (Applause.) 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 out 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.
(Laughter and Applause.)
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.
(Applause.) We discovered -- 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.
(Laughter.) 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
American politics has benefitted 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.
(Applause.)
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 borne 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 of my distinguished language
instructor, Mr. Stephanopoulos, Zito ee Ellas.
END4:50 P.M. EST
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