Kalispera, Athina!<\/p>\n
I stand before you today for what will be my final July Fourth celebration as Ambassador.<\/p>\n
The theme of today\u2019s Independence Day celebration is \u201cEducation, Inclusivity, and Accessibility.\u201d\u00a0 As part of our commitment to accessibility, I have been asked to describe myself.\u00a0 Well, somehow, after almost 1,000 days at this incredible but demanding job, I still have most of my hair \u2013 now if anyone had ever met my father, you\u2019d know this was a gift from my mother.\u00a0 I suppose one might charitably describe me as moderately cute, maybe a 6\u20195 from a distance?\u00a0 But there\u2019s far less of me this thanks to a wonderful Greek diet \u2013 I am down about 40 kilos.<\/p>\n
But seriously, what I can say without hesitation is that I remain no less humbled at the privilege of serving my country in my family\u2019s ancestral homeland.<\/p>\n
I hope my love for Greece and its people \u2013 and President Bidenopoulos\u2019 love for Greece and its people \u2014 is as evident as our two nations\u2019 commitment to democratic ideals.<\/p>\n
I am often asked, \u201cIs Greece important to the United States? We\u2019re a small country here.\u201d Well I said, \u201cThe President of the United States understood it when he nominated a proud Greek-American to serve as the Ambassador here.\u201d<\/p>\n
My time as Ambassador has been nothing less than a generational honor.\u202f\u202fI have so many of you to thank for supporting, educating, and inspiring me in all the ways you have.<\/p>\n
This is especially true of my wife Olga and our three wonderful children, who uprooted their lives in our lovely village in New York to support me in this noble endeavor.<\/p>\n
Today is a celebration of the birth of the American democratic experiment, one based on principles and values born here in Athens and shared between our two countries at a critical crossroads in our histories.<\/p>\n
And more than just a celebration, I hope this event will be a call to action.<\/p>\n
A call for all of us, everywhere, to find the courage to act on our convictions.<\/p>\n
Last year I stood at a podium just up the road, at Jefferson House, and told you we are defined by our choices.\u202f The choice to pursue love, not hate.\u202f The choice to pursue unity, not division.\u202f Dignity — for all people.\u00a0 Because all people are born with inherent dignity.<\/p>\n
These are important sentiments, but without action, they are mere words.<\/p>\n
So today, I want to speak about the commitment \u2013 the courage — to actually do the hard work of protecting our precious democracy.<\/p>\n
To put in the time to confront increasingly existential threats to civil society and, indeed, our very planet.<\/p>\n
That we have choices is the gift of democracy. But it is a gift, my friends, that comes with obligations \u2013 and that includes the obligation to defend democracy with all our might.<\/p>\n
Thousands of years ago, Athenians came together for the first time in self-determination, choosing how and by whom they would be governed.<\/p>\n
Nearly two and a half centuries ago, a small group of American farmers, merchants, printers, and shopkeepers — outnumbered and outspent by their adversaries \u2013 had the courage to risk everything, including their lives, in pursuit of these Athenian values.<\/p>\n
Common threads stitch our quests for freedom together.\u00a0 In 1776 Patrick Henry said, \u201cGive me liberty or give me death.\u201d\u00a0 In 1821 at Agia Lavria, Bishop\u00a0Germanos\u00a0said, \u201cEleftheria i Thanatos.\u201d\u00a0 In crucial moments, we have been each other\u2019s spark, and the democracies we have built become beacons of light to the world.<\/p>\n
Whether inspiring Greece itself in 1821 as it fought for independence from the Ottoman Empire, or dozens of great nations after World War II and beyond, the Athenian-American model of democracy remains a global inspiration for historic change.<\/p>\n
But we must not forget that it is our brothers and sisters in Ukraine who are still giving their lives on the front line in defense of independence, freedom from tyranny, and self-rule, and we just cannot forget that.\u00a0 We must ensure that Ukraine is safe, and whole, and entirely Ukrainian.<\/p>\n
Our democracies inspire not only historic change but personal change \u2013 as millions of people across many generations risk their lives to come to our shores, the people Emma Lazarus referred to on the Statue of Liberty, those \u201chuddled masses yearning to breathe free.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democracy is a magnet, and I am proud of the work that our Embassy has done to work with Greece and other nations to help those who are truly risking their lives in search of a better life.<\/p>\n
Not to be glib, but how many \u201cmasses\u201d (\u201chuddled\u201d or otherwise) are \u201cyearning\u201d to cross oceans and continents to get into Iran or to get into North Korea or other places with misplaced anti-democratic values and agendas?<\/p>\n
May Greece and the United States continue to be ever more \u201cshining cities on the hill,\u201d lands of refuge, freedom, and opportunity for all.\u00a0 Democracies like ours afford more safety, more room for everyone to thrive and live up to their full potential.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s be clear and honest:\u00a0 We have much work to do to not just to promote democracy but to protect it.<\/p>\n
We have much work to do to live up to the words of our Founders and our inspired poets.<\/p>\n
We have much to do to \u201cwalk the talk\u201d of creating a \u201cmore perfect union\u201d \u2013 to have the courage \u2013 and there is that word again — to apply these principles to solve our most pressing problems.<\/p>\n
If we want to breathe life into our foundational principle, \u201cE Pluribus Unum,\u201d Out of Many, One, we cannot be mere bystanders to threats such as public incivility, social inequality, and climate crisis.<\/p>\n
We must be driven by a belief that all people have an inherent right to dignity.\u00a0 Dignity in who they love. Dignity at our borders, dignity at our workplaces, our courtrooms, and our classrooms.<\/p>\n
We dedicate ourselves to ensuring civility and respect in our public discourse, to rejecting hatred and divisiveness, to embracing civility, and love, and filoxenia.<\/p>\n
And we cannot and we must not tolerate political violence such as what happened to former President Trump in Pennsylvania this past weekend.\u00a0 It is not who we are as a people, it is not what a democracy stands for, and we must reject it and seek to prevent it in all its forms.\u00a0 Weaponizing fear and cruelty will not lead to the kind of world we want to leave to our children.<\/p>\n
Let us find inspiration in the words of scripture: “May my house be a house for all people.”\u202f For all people, not just people who look like us or think like us or pray like us.\u00a0 But for all people.<\/p>\n
We must have the courage to confront historical inequities and structural inequalities, to ensure that every person, regardless of background or ability or the circumstances of their birth, has an opportunity to thrive and be the best version of themselves.\u00a0 Kindness, and civility, and empathy are the path to a higher-minded, more prosperous society.<\/p>\n
My family prospered in America, but it knew full well the pain of inequality.\u202f My family knew war.\u202f My family knew poverty.\u202f My parents\u2019 village, Platanos, had no running water or electricity.\u202f Only an outhouse.<\/p>\n
But like millions and millions across the decades, my parents came to the United States in search of opportunity and a safer place to raise a family.<\/p>\n
Call it their Hellenic-American dream!<\/p>\n
But my parents had the opportunity to work hard and eventually start a bgerusiness.\u00a0 I was fortunate to receive an excellent public school education, to raise a family of my own, start a business, and have the opportunity to serve my country.<\/p>\n
So when I say these blessings come with a sacred obligation to ensure that the same opportunities are available to all, I speak not only from the heart \u2013 but from my family\u2019s experience that is ingrained in me.<\/p>\n
In terms of practicing what we preach, I want to use this occasion to talk about the steps we took to make this celebration inclusive and accessible.<\/p>\n
No one should ever have to RSVP \u201cno\u201d to a U.S. Embassy event because we haven\u2019t done the basic, foundational work of ensuring our event is fully accessible to all.\u00a0 This is exclusion.<\/p>\n
So as part of the Embassy\u2019s commitment to inclusion, this year for the first time we moved our Fourth of July reception out of the Ambassador\u2019s residence, which has not yet been made fully accessible.\u202f This is about inclusion.<\/p>\n
To ensure an accessible event, we reached out to leaders in the disability community, who guided us through an accessibility review, helped us adjust our processes, and trained our staff to assist our guests today.\u202f This is our first Fourth of July with sign language interpretation.<\/p>\n
To all who have helped and educated us and made us better, you have my gratitude.\u00a0 Thank you!<\/p>\n
But we aren\u2019t stopping with this event.\u202f We are putting our money where our mouth is.\u202f As my friend President Biden tells me, don\u2019t tell me what your values are.\u00a0 Show me your budget, and I will tell you what your values are.<\/p>\n
So we have funded a project that trains individuals with disabilities to use 3D printing to solve everyday accessibility challenges.\u00a0 We\u2019re investing in educational partnerships with schools and universities.<\/p>\n
Sometimes doing the small things have big impact.\u00a0 With the Ministry of Education, we are investing in short-term professional exchange programs for Greek teachers seeking to make their classrooms more inclusive.<\/p>\n
And one of the most inspiring things that I have done here in Greece is travel to Volos to visit our partner, Bridges of Acceptance, Greece\u2019s first reverse inclusion classroom, where love, kindness, and empathy stirred my heart, and where I witnessed improved educational outcomes for all children.<\/p>\n
In all this work, we strive to live up to the promise of our Founders.\u00a0 Imperfect as they were, they paved the way with a vision of freedom for all, opportunity for all, democracy for all.<\/p>\n
And speaking of our environment, as we sit in this beautiful, air-conditioned building in this majestic city by the sea, we need to do more than just talk about climate change.\u00a0 It is one of the most pressing challenges of our time.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s getting worse.\u00a0 It knows no borders.\u00a0 It has perilous personal and geopolitical implications.\u00a0 Now Greeks know this full well, having suffered from historic fires and floods this past year.\u00a0 Climate disruption affects us all, but it disproportionately affects the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n
Only through collaboration will we win this fight.\u202f We must share technology, expertise, and resources, as we did at Our Ocean Conference.\u00a0 Greece was a wonderful host.\u00a0\u00a0 where the world came together and transformative work got done.\u202f We came away with billions of dollars in new commitments for a cleaner, healthier ocean for our children, and our children\u2019s children.<\/p>\n
I began this speech with a call for action \u2013 to commit to dignity and opportunity for all.\u00a0 Allow me to end on the same note.<\/p>\n
Folks, history will judge us for how well we live up to the commitments that democracy demands of us.\u00a0 For how well we address historical inequities.\u00a0 For the opportunities we provide.\u00a0 For the conscious choices we make to not only do the right thing, but the smart thing.<\/p>\n
Because we cannot continue to underinvest in large swaths of our society and expect to build an agile, vibrant, innovative economy or a healthy, resilient planet.<\/p>\n
Dr. King said the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.\u202f Yet it only bends that way when we push on it, sometimes we push on it somewhat violently to do the urgent business of now, not letting up, even when the going gets tough.<\/p>\n
As the Talmud says, we are not obligated to complete the work, but we\u2019re also not obligated to abandon it.<\/p>\n
What will you do, today, to help make our world a house for all people?<\/p>\n
If not you, then who?\u00a0 If not now, then when?<\/p>\n
Let us choose inclusion, not exclusion.<\/p>\n
Let us choose unity, not divisiveness.<\/p>\n
Let us choose peace, not violence.<\/p>\n
Let us choose love, not hate.<\/p>\n
Let us choose opportunity and possibility.\u00a0 Let us choose hope.<\/p>\n
I wanted to thank all of you for the kindness and warmth you have shown my family and I over the past two-plus years.<\/p>\n
Happy Independence Day!<\/p>\n
Zito i Ellada!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Zito i Ameriki!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kalispera, Athina! I stand before you today for what will be my final July Fourth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":243356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[297],"tags":[307],"class_list":["post-243348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy-english","tag-featured-en"],"yoast_head":"\n