•HRES 246 IH 
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, in an October 21, 1823, letter to Greek scholar 
Adamantios Koraes discussing the ongoing Greek strug-
gle for independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that ‘‘[n]o 
people sympathise more feelingly than ours with the 
sufferings of your countrymen, none offer more sincere 
and ardent prayers to heaven for their success’’; 
Whereas, on January 19, 1824, in a speech in support of his 
resolution to send an American envoy to Greece amid its 
struggle for independence, then-Congressman Daniel 
Webster recognized ‘‘the struggle of an interesting and 
gallant people . . . contending against fearful odds, for 
being, and for the common privilege of human nature’’; 
Whereas individual American Philhellenes, including future 
abolitionist Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, future abolitionist 
Jonathan Peckham Miller, and George Jarvis, traveled to 
Greece to fight alongside and provide aid to the Greek 
people in their struggle for independence; 
Whereas the people of the United States generously sent hu-
manitarian assistance to the people of Greece during 
their struggle for independence, often through philhellene 
committees; 
Whereas Greece heroically resisted Axis forces at a crucial 
moment in World War II, forcing Adolf Hitler to change 
his timeline and delaying the attack on Russia; 
Whereas Winston Churchill said that ‘‘if there had not been 
the virtue and courage of the Greeks, we do not know 
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•HRES 246 IH 
which the outcome of World War II would have been’’ 
and ‘‘no longer will we say that Greeks fight like heroes, 
but that heroes fight like Greeks’’; 
Whereas hundreds of thousands of the people of Greece were 
killed during World War II; 
Whereas Greece consistently allied with the United States in 
major international conflicts throughout its history as a 
modern state; 
Whereas the United States and Greece reinforced their com-
mitment to security cooperation by signing an updated 
Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement on October 5, 
2019, that will expand defense ties between the two coun-
tries and promote stability in the region; 
Whereas the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 
visited the United States from January 5 to 8, 2020, and 
held meetings with members of Congress, including mem-
bers of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen-
ate, which demonstrated the continued vitality and sig-
nificance of the United States-Greece relationship; 
Whereas a high-level review of the United States-Greece Stra-
tegic Dialogue took place in Greece on September 28, 
2020, which underscored Greece’s importance to the 
United States as a geostrategic partner in the Eastern 
Mediterranean and Balkans and as an important NATO 
ally; 
Whereas Greece is a strategic partner and ally of the United 
States in bringing political stability and economic devel-
opment to the Balkan region, having invested billions of 
dollars in the countries of the region and having contrib-
uted more than $750,000,000 in development aid for the 
region; 
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•HRES 246 IH 
Whereas the Government and people of Greece actively par-
ticipate in peacekeeping and peace-building operations 
conducted by international organizations, including the 
United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 
the European Union, and the Organization for Security 
and Co-operation in Europe; 
Whereas Greece remains an integral part of the European 
Union; 
Whereas the United States has demonstrated its support for 
the trilateral partnership of Greece, Israel, and Cyprus 
by enacting into law the Eastern Mediterranean Security 
and Energy Partnership Act of 2019 (title II of division 
J of Public Law 116–94) and through joint engagement 
with Greece, Israel, and Cyprus in the ‘‘3+1’’ format; 
Whereas Greece received worldwide praise for its extraor-
dinary handling during the 2004 Olympic Games of more 
than 14,000 athletes and more than 2,000,000 spectators 
and journalists, a feat the Government and people of 
Greece handled efficiently, securely, and with hospitality; 
Whereas the Greek-American community has greatly contrib-
uted to American society and has helped forge the strong 
ties between the United States and Greece; 
Whereas the Government and people of Greece and the 
United States are at the forefront of efforts to advance 
freedom, democracy, peace, stability, and human rights; 
Whereas those efforts and similar ideals have forged a close 
bond between the peoples of Greece and the United 
States; 
Whereas, in support of the Greece 2021 Committee estab-
lished by the Government of Greece, the United States 
Mission in Greece has launched a campaign to celebrate 
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•HRES 246 IH 
the bicentennial of the independence of Greece and the 
200 years of friendship between the United States and 
Greece; and 
Whereas it is proper and desirable for the United States to 
celebrate March 25, 2021, Greek Independence Day, with 
the people of Greece and to reaffirm the democratic prin-
ciples from which those two great countries were founded: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) extends warm congratulations and best 
wishes to the people of Greece as they celebrate the 
200th anniversary of the independence of Greece; 
(2) expresses support for the principles of 
democratic governance to which the people of Greece 
are committed; 
(3) commends the Greek-American community 
for its contributions to the United States and its 
role as a bridge between the two countries; 
(4) notes the important role that Greece has 
played in the wider European region and in the com-
munity of nations since gaining its independence 
200 years ago; and 
(5) commends the critical role Greece plays in 
promoting stability in the Eastern Mediterranean 
and Western Balkans. 
Æ 
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