Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 105 Part 3.djvu/624

 105 STAT. 2508 PROCLAMATION 6264—MAR. 25, 1991 of Saudi Arabia follow a long line of Americans who have boldly stepped forward to defend the universal cause of freedom. Today, as we offer a special tribute to our most distinguished combat veterans, the Medal of Honor recipients, we can be thankful for the extraordinary example they set. The Congress, by Public Law 101-564, has designated March 25, 1991, as "National Medal of Honor Day" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day. NOW, THEREFORE. I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 25, 1991, as National Medal of Honor Day, a day dedicated to all Medal of Honor recipients. I urge all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6264 of March 25, 1991 Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 1991 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation The peoples of the United States and Greece enjoy a rich friendship based on strong ties of kinship and culture—ties fortified by our common devotion to the ideals of freedom and democracy. Our shared values and mutual interests make the celebration of Greek independence on March 25 a significant event for all Americans. Although we celebrate on this occasion events that took place just 170 years ago, the values shared by the peoples of Greece and the United States are rooted far deeper in history. Indeed, it was the ancient Greeks who, with their profound observations of human nature and their seminal experiments in civil order and justice, enkindled the light of democratic thought among men. Our Nation's Founders were wellschooled in classical languages and Greek literature, and the ideas of Solon, Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek philosophers and statesmen greatly influenced their own. Indeed, in his historic treatise on the Rights of Man, Thomas Paine wrote: "What Athens was in miniature, America will be in magnitude. The one was the wonder of the ancient world; the other is becoming the admiration and model of the present." His words reflect the inspiration and insight that this Nation's Founders derived from the ancient Greek city-states as they worked to establish an enduring representative democracy in America. Widely regarded as the "cradle of democracy," Greece stands today as a strong ally of the United States, aligned with us by its commitment to freedom and human rights. As partners in the NATO Alliance, we have

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