On
March 15, President Bush participated in a celebration of Hungary's
contributions to global democracy in the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. This
special celebration was dedicated to three important events in Hungarian
history: The 1848 and 1956 revolutions and the collapse of the Iron Curtain
in 1989. The event was organized by Hungarian-born congressman Tom Lantos and the
Hungarian Embassy. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Minority Leader Harry
Reid, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
George H. Walker, Ambassador of the US to Hungary and Ambassador András
Simonyi addressed the audience and praised Hungary's contributions to
freedom and democracy.
Rep.
Tom Lantos, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, President Bush, Amb. Simonyi and
Amb. Walker
"The Hungarian example is an
example of patience, and an example of the fact that freedom exists in
everybody's soul. It's an example that tyranny can never stamp out the
desire to be free," President Bush said in his speech. The President thanked the
Hungarian government and the Hungarian people for contributing in
Afghanistan and Iraq and referred to Hungary as "one of the leading lights
of democracy." Click here to read President
Bush's speech.
Rep. Tom Lantos and President
Bush. Tom Lantos praised Hungary's role in the fall of the Iron Curtain and quoted
Kossuth's
words when he addressed the Congress in the Statuary Hall in 1851: "If we
want to find the sunlight of freedom, we have to come to America."
In
his speech, Ambassador Simonyi
pointed out that the sacrifice of Hungarian freedom fighters in 1848 and
1956 was not in vain. "In 1989, we rejoined the west, opened the
floodgates of democracy. Victory would not have been possible without the
strong will of our people, our love for freedom, without the perseverance of
the Western democracies, the United States and Europe." The Ambassador announced
that Mayor Williams, Congressman Lantos and the Hungarian Government
initiated the establishment of a memorial in Washington, DC, devoted to
freedom fighters. Click here to read
Amb. Simonyi's full speech.
President Bush shakes hands with Ambassador Simonyi
Rep. Lantos and the Speaker of the House, Dennis
Hastert.
Speaker Hastert thanked Hungary for setting an example
of a free society that was a bulwark against extremism. "Even now, as
we are watching the roots of democracy take hold in Iraq and Afghanistan and
Liberia, we must commit to doing everything we can to foster democratic
institutions in developing nations," the Speaker said.
At the end of the ceremony, Congressman Lantos, Ambassadors Walker and
Simonyi laid a wreath at the bust of Lajos Kossuth, leader of the 1848 Revolution, that was displayed in the Statuary Hall for this event
only.
The
event was attended, among other dignitaries, by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld,
Washington, DC, Mayor Anthony Williams, House International Relations
Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, President of the Appeal of Conscience
Foundation Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Members of Congress, members of the
diplomatic corps, Hungarian 1956 freedom fighters, and other members of the
Hungarian-American community.
House
Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi
Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid
Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist
