FROM the REMARKS ON SIGNING by W. J. CLINTON, the GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY PROCLAMATION, on 25 MARCH 1993.

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Because the make the W. J. Clinton former President of USA: 1993 - 2001 who sign the Greek proclamation of day of independence and in which signature they participated or were reported, the Director of Communications George Stephanopoulos, the Archbishop Iakovos, and the members Greek American community, Paul Sarbanes, David Leopoulis, Dr. Drew Kampuris, Peter Pappas, Angelo Zicapulous, Paul Tsongas, Phil Angelides, Chris Spirou, John Podesta, Sylvia Mathews, that participated in the fight for the victory of W. J. CLINTON or in various serious places in the government, front we present the Remarks on Signing the Greek Independence Day Proclamation, it should we inform all our Greek and Emigrant brothers for a price that became in a particular personality. This is one of the acquaintances and extensively discussed personalities in the community of America it honoured the University the Feast of Letters. It is the dean (protopresbyteros) Rompert (Charalampos) G. Stefanopoulos, father of George Stefanopoulos, which was adviser of former President of USA, W.J. Clinton.

Father  Stefanopoulos is assistant professor in the seat of «Eastern Christian Thought» of University Saint Ioannis N. Y. It works in the University for above 20 years. One of the four children of father Stefanopoulos, followed the same street of Clergy. It is Nun, Agapia. Subject of speech of father Stefanopoulos in the University was «the pole of Cathedral of Temple of Saint Trinity New York and the Hellenism of America».

In Cathedral of Temple of Saint Trinity, in which constitutes the epicentre of public life and cohesive ring of community in New York, served for 25 years father Stefanopoulos, after it followed a way from the Theological Faculty of Boston, in the University of Athens and afterwards in the University of Boston. 

From the ordination of father Rompert (Charalampos) in 1959, in the small community of Saint Dimitrios in Fall River of Massachusetts, in the Community of Sotira (Savior) in Ray and afterwards in Cathedral of Saints Konstantinos and Helen in Cleveland of Ohio, and in 1982 in Cathedral Temple of Saint Trinity in Manhattan.

Now we inform all our Greek and Emigrant brothers about Remarks on Signing the Greek Independence Day Proclamation

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 Iakovos, 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 long-standing 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 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 varies. 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 overrepresentation 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 of my distinguished language instructor, Mr. Stephanopoulos, «Zeto e Hellas».

Citation: John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database).

Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=46374.