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 3/15/2009 - President Bush praised Hungary on Hungarian National Day. March
15th marks Hungary's National Day and the anniversary of its historic
1848 democratic revolution led by Louis
Kossuth against Hapsburg domination. “I believe the
example of Hungary proves that freedom is universal. I believe everybody
desires to live in freedom,” President Bush said in the US Capitol's beautiful statuary hall, where AHF's Kossuth Bust first lay.  Kossuth was the leader of then “It's
an example that tyranny can never stamp out the desire to be free.”
[Download Full Speech]. Numerous AHF members joined the event chair, Congressman Tom Lantos and
distiguished speakers and guests that included Congressmen Pelosi, Hastert,
Reid, Frist, and Hyde, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, Hungarian Ambassador
Simonyi, Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, and US Ambassador to
Hungary Walker in the US Capitol.
 Bush
thanked the Hungarian people for their contribution in “helping
the newly free in Afghanistan and Iraq realize the blessings of liberty.
We thank them for being allies in keeping the peace.”
March 15 commemorates the beginning of the 1848-1849 Hungarian Revolution
and War of Independence against Hapsburg domination. It is one of the
country’s three national days and marks the birth of modern parliamentary
Hungary.
 U.S.
Ambassador to Hungary George Walker, also speaking at the commemoration
in Washington, paid tribute to “the freedom fighters of 1848 and
1956 who fought for independence, for a more democratic political system
and for human rights.” He also noted that in 1989 “Hungarians
opened their gates to East German citizens fleeing their country in large
numbers and simultaneously, and at considerable risk, opened the doors
to Austria and freedom, thereby defying the Warsaw Pact.”
 The
chair of the celebration was Hungarian-born U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos
of California, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations
Committee. Bush praised Lantos as “a person who understands the
difference between freedom and tyranny,” and he thanked Lantos and
his wife “for never letting anybody forget that freedom is precious
and necessary in our world.”
 Last
year Lantos introduced a resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of
the Hungarian revolution of 1956 and reaffirming the friendship between
the people and governments of the United States and Hungary. The resolution
was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives. [See
the text of the resolution]
On February 13, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted a ceremony
and reception at the State Department to mark the 50th anniversary of
the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. [read
more about the event]
[see ALL AHF news stories]
| See the Video of President
Bush's Speech:
See President Bush sign the Hungarian flag!
(Thanks to Sandor Vegh of the HungarianAmerica
Foundation)
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