August 13, 2008 Lech Kaczynski President, Republic of Poland Presidential Palace Warsaw, Poland Dear President Kaczynski, On behalf of the Polish American Congress, I commend your courage and resolve, along with that of the President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, President Valdis Zalters of Latvia, President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania, and President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, for traveling to Tbilisi and in calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities in Georgia, especially as it relates to the clearly inordinate use of force by Russia. The repugnant scenes of death and devastation perpetrated by a nation of nearly one hundred fifty million sending its air, land, and sea armed forces against a nation of five million conjures up all the past historical images of a brutish, autocratic Czarist empire and then equally brutish Soviet empire having its way with ethnic, religious, and political minorities within its empire and in neighboring states contiguous to it. Today the death and devastation are perpetrated in the name of an allegedly democratic Federation whose thinly-veiled antecedents persist into the 21st century. The ongoing events in Georgia provide me and all those who witness these tragic developments with a sobering reminder that the struggles for democracy are not easily won, and that there is no end to this fight until powers such as Russia cease to arbitrarily impose their will on much smaller and militarily weaker nations by the unprincipled and reckless exercise of their military superiority. As an American of Polish descent whose ancestors lived under Russian oppression, I expect that my country – the United States of America – will do everything in its power to reasonably succor the people and the democratically-elected government of Georgia because, as we are the world’s best exemplar of democracy that upholds rather than tramples on human rights, it is the morally right thing to do. Respectfully, Frank J. Spula President |
Octobr 17, 2008 - President Bush Discusses the Visa Waiver Program Office of the Press Secretary/ White House News  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Please be seated, thank you. Welcome to the White House. I'm pleased to stand with the representatives of seven countries -- the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea -- that have met the requirements to be admitted to the United States Visa Waiver Program. Soon the citizens of these nations will be able to travel to the United States for business or tourism without a visa. I congratulate these close friends and allies on this achievement, and I thank you for joining us here.I also thank Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of the Homeland -- Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff for working hard to make sure this day has finally arrived. Appreciate other members of the administration here and members of the Diplomatic Corps. More... 400 Hurley Avenue Rockville, MD 20850-3121 tel. 301-340-1954 fax: 301-309-1406 e-mail:jbanc@jbanc.org |