HR 9031

1	House Resolution
2	A resolution designating March 25, 2011, as "Greek Day" in
3	Florida.
4
5	WHEREAS, the ancient Greeks established the Olympic Games
6	and developed the concept of democracy, in which the supreme
7	power to govern is vested in the people, and
8	WHEREAS, the Founding Fathers of the United States of
9	America drew heavily on the political experience and philosophy
10	of ancient Greece in forming our representative democracy, and
11	those and other ideals have forged a close bond between our two
12	nations and their peoples, and
13	WHEREAS, the first Greek colonists arrived on the shores of
14	Florida on June 26, 1768, establishing their new lives in the
15	city of Saint Augustine, and later, in the 1880s, Greek
16	immigrants infused the city of Tarpon Springs with their rich
17	culture and values, and
18	WHEREAS, the story of Greek military tactics used at the
19	Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. is still mandatory reading at the
20	National War College in Washington, D.C., and Greek soldiers
21	were with the United States Marines on the shores of Tripoli in
22	the military operations memorialized in the Marines' Hymn, the
23	official hymn of the United States Marine Corps, and
24	WHEREAS, many Americans fought alongside the Greeks during
25	their struggle for independence, and a stirring speech by Daniel
26	Webster led Americans to send funds and supplies to aid the
27	Greeks in their campaign for freedom, which continued until 1829
28	when Greek independence was achieved and the 400-year occupation
29	ended, and
30	WHEREAS, Greek Commander-in-Chief Petros Mavromichalis, a
31	founder of the modern Greek State, said to the citizens of the
32	United States in 1821, ". . . it is in your land that liberty
33	has fixed her abode . . . . in imitating you, we shall imitate
34	our ancestors and be thought worthy of them if we succeed in
35	resembling you," and
36	WHEREAS, Greece gave the Allies their first military land
37	victory of World War II when the Greek Army defeated the
38	Fascists in defense of Greece, and
39	WHEREAS, Greece is one of only three nations in the world,
40	beyond the former British Empire, that was allied with the
41	United States in every major international conflict of the
42	twentieth century, and
43	WHEREAS, Sir Winston Churchill once said of the Greeks,
44	"Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that
45	heroes fight like Greeks," NOW, THEREFORE,
46
47	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
48	Florida:
49
50	That March 25, 2011, is designated as "Greek Day" in the
51	State of Florida.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.