III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 75 

Designating March 25, 2005, as ‘‘Greek Independence Day: A National Day 

of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2005 

Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BENNETT, Mr. 

BIDEN, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. 

CHAMBLISS, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. COBURN, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. CORZINE, 

Mr. CRAIG, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. DODD, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. GREGG, 

Mr. HAGEL, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KERRY, 

Mr. KOHL, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. LOTT, Mr. LUGAR, Ms. MIKULSKI, Ms. MURKOWSKI, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. REED, Mr. 

REID, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. SCHUMER, 

Mr. SMITH, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. SUNUNU, 

Mr. THOMAS, Mr. VOINOVICH, and Mr. WYDEN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Designating March 25, 2005, as ‘‘Greek Independence Day: 

A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American 

Democracy’’. 

Whereas the ancient Greeks developed the concept of democracy, in which the supreme power to govern was vested 

in the people; 
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Whereas the Founding Fathers of the United States drew 

heavily on the political experience and philosophy of ancient Greece in forming our representative democracy; 

Whereas Greek Commander in Chief Petros Mavromichalis, a 

founder of the modern Greek state, said to the citizens 

of the United States in 1821, ‘‘it is in your land that liberty has fixed her abode and . . . in imitating you, we 

shall imitate our ancestors and be thought worthy of 

them if we succeed in resembling you’’; 

Whereas Greece played a major role in the World War II 

struggle to protect freedom and democracy through such 

bravery as was shown in the historic Battle of Crete that 

presented the Axis land war with its first major setback, 

setting off a chain of events that significantly affected 

the outcome of World War II; 

Whereas the price for Greece in holding our common values 

in their region was high, as hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed in Greece during the World War II period; 

Whereas, throughout the 20th century, Greece was 1 of only 

3 nations in the world, beyond the former British Empire, that was allied with the United States in every 

major international conflict; 

Whereas President George W. Bush, in recognizing Greek 

Independence Day, said, ‘‘Greece and America have been 

firm allies in the great struggles for liberty. Americans 

will always remember Greek heroism and Greek sacrifice 

for the sake of freedom . . . [and] as the 21st Century 

dawns, Greece and America once again stand united; this 

time in the fight against terrorism. The United States 

deeply appreciates the role Greece is playing in the war 
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against terror. . . . America and Greece are strong allies, 

and we’re strategic partners.’’; 

Whereas Greece is a stabilizing force by virtue of its political 

and economic power in the volatile Balkan region and is 

one of the fastest growing economies in Europe; 

Whereas Greece, through excellent work and cooperation with 

United States and international law enforcement agencies, arrested and convicted key members of the November 17 terrorist organization; 

Whereas President Bush stated that Greece’s successful ‘‘law 

enforcement operations against a terrorist organization 

[November 17] responsible for three decades of terrorist 

attacks underscore the important contributions Greece is 

making to the global war on terrorism’’; 

Whereas Greece was extraordinarily responsive to United 

States requests during the war with Iraq, as Greece immediately granted unlimited access to its airspace and 

the base in Souda Bay, and many United States ships 

delivering troops, cargo, and supplies to Iraq were refueled in Greece; 

Whereas the Olympic Games came home in August 2004 to 

Athens, Greece, the land of their ancient birthplace 2,500 

years ago and the city of their modern revival in 1896; 

Whereas Greece received world-wide praise for its extraordinary handling of over 14,000 athletes from 202 countries and over 2,000,000 spectators and journalists and 

did so efficiently, securely, and with its famous Greek 

hospitality; 

Whereas the unprecedented Olympic security effort in Greece 

for the first post-9/11 Olympics included a record-setting 

expenditure of over $1,390,000,000 and assignment of 
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over 70,000 security personnel, as well as the utilization 

of an 8-country Olympic Security Advisory Group which 

included the United States; 

Whereas Greece, geographically located in a region where 

Christianity meets Islam and Judaism, maintains excellent relations with Muslim nations and Israel; 

Whereas Greece has had extraordinary success in recent 

years in furthering cross-cultural understanding and reducing tensions between Greece and Turkey; 

Whereas Greece and the United States are at the forefront 

of the effort for freedom, democracy, peace, stability, and 

human rights; 

Whereas those and other ideals have forged a close bond between our 2 nations and their peoples; 

Whereas March 25, 2005, marks the 184th anniversary of 

the beginning of the revolution that freed the Greek people from the Ottoman Empire; and 

Whereas it is proper and desirable to celebrate with the 

Greek people and to reaffirm the democratic principles 

from which our 2 great nations were born: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates March 25, 2005, as ‘‘Greek 

3 Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of 

4 Greek and American Democracy’’; and 

5 (2) encourages the people of the United States 

6 to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and 

7 activities. 

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