Mr. Secretary of State, Ladies and Gentlemen!

I wish to thank you for the cordial words of welcome and your kindness towards Poland. It is my honor and pleasure to be hosted by the Secretary of State, Mr. Colin Powell, an eminent representative of American politics.

What is the United States for Poland today? Is it the only superpower after the fall of the Soviet Union? Is it the greatest economic and military power capable of taking action in any region of the world or perhaps a generator of thoughts, ideas and trends in culture? It is all of the above combined. Indeed, the United States is all of these in the contemporary world but for us it is yet something else; a reliable friend of Poland and the Polish People.

Polish people are ambitious and proud. Even though history has bowed us down many times we have never been broken. The desire for freedom has a reviving power and Poland was brought to the attention of many when the clock of history was striking the hour of transformation for Europe and the world. I am very happy that "Solidarność" and The Round Table initiated a domino effect of democratic changes all over Europe and a couple of weeks ago the Round Table in Rome gave birth to an alliance of nations from Vancouver to Vladivostok.

We have been together for better and for worse. We say both in Polish and English that "a friend in need is a friend indeed", and this is why Poland shall continue supporting actions of President Bush's Administration in the war against international terrorism. It is our joint obligation to provide security to the United States and the entire democratic world and we perform this duty having in mind the contemporary and future generations.

Trans-Atlantic ties constitute a great value for the contemporary world in the context of challenges it faces now. The United States needs a strong and secure Europe. Europe and Poland need the United States, a country closely cooperating with the Old Continent. This is the key to the solution of global problems and expansion of areas of stability and prosperity.

Mr. Secretary of State, you personally meet those challenges in an excellent fashion and have already entered chapters of American history as a distinguished strategist and commander. Today, with equal courage and talent you are fulfilling your new mission. We respect and acknowledge your mediation efforts aimed at resolving the Middle East Conflict. Poland has also committed itself in this sore region so important for world security. For many years Polish soldiers have been part of the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces in Golan Heights and Israeli-Lebanese border. That is why we support so much the efforts of international community to ensure the security of Israel and to give Palestinians a chance to build a democratic state free from terror.

Mr. Secretary of State!

I wish you as diplomat a lot of success and accomplishments matching those excellent ones you have achieved wearing a uniform of a general. Politics can scorch and hurt like fire but you have been already hardened in fire and I am convinced you will manage very well.

Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. We welcome everyone to the Ben Franklin Room in the State Department. I hope you have enjoyed these beautiful rooms that are so different from the downstairs part of the building, but upstairs is where we take our most distinguished guests and show them the beauty of 18th Century America. President Kwasniewski and Mrs. Kwasniewska, distinguished guests, it is a pleasure to welcome you here at the Department of State and it is a special treat for me to have the opportunity to reciprocate for the wonderful hospitality that we enjoyed last year in Warsaw during President Bush's visit.

Our two peoples are bound together by ties of history, kinship and values. They are bonds forged in the fight for freedom, the fight of 13 American colonies for independence over two centuries ago, and the two-century-long fight of the Polish people to restore Poland's freedom.

Americans remember that Polish heroes such as Kosciuszko and Pulaski made crucial contributions to the American victory in the Revolutionary War. I can tell you, Mr. President, that their examples of bravery and brilliance and self-sacrifice still inspire current generations of American military officers. The monuments in many of our cities to these two distinguished gentlemen and to many other Poles who came to help us testify to the American people's eternal gratitude.

Six thousand miles may lie between Warsaw and Washington, but we have supported each other in war and in peace. Polish freedom fighters captured this spirit in their motto, "For your freedom and ours." And in the last century, the United States proudly stood with the Polish people as they threw off the yokes of Nazism and Communism, and as they embraced democracy.

The Polish people not only secured their own freedom, but also inspired millions of people across Central and Eastern Europe -- and for that matter, across the globe -- to strive for their own freedom. Now our two countries have joined in another fight for freedom: the war against terrorism. As I speak and as we sit here this afternoon, Polish forces are serving in Afghanistan and in the Persian Gulf, Polish diplomats are manning forward positions in the equally critical diplomatic campaign.

Beyond the global war on terrorism, Poland and America are working together in so many other important ways to meet the security challenges of the 21st century. Poland may be a new member of the Atlantic Alliance, but in three short years Poland has already contributed in many important ways to Euro-Atlantic security, from helping keep the peace in the Balkans to mentoring new NATO candidates, aspirants.

President Bush and I look forward to collaborating closely with our Polish partners on the far-reaching strategic issues that affect our transatlantic community. Enlarging NATO and fleshing out NATO's new relationship with Russia are to name only two of the many opportunities that will exist for US and Polish collaboration. Just as critical as fighting terrorism and strengthening transatlantic security is shaping a stable, prosperous world in which terrorists cannot thrive, a world in which political and economic freedoms flourish. Poland can help other nations achieve the blessings of liberty, for Poland has successfully made the way from dictatorship to democracy, from a bankrupt Marxist system to a resilient, growing market economy.

We know that Poland, like the United States, is in the process of recovering from an economic slowdown, but we have every confidence that Poland will rebound and gain new heights. Our two countries do a lot of business, and we're going to do a lot more and we can do a lot more, and we will reenergize our efforts to expand bilateral trade and investment. And finally, the United States looks forward to cooperating with Poland on the many global issues affecting international well-being, from sustainable development to promoting human rights.

Mr. President, your visit demonstrates the importance that our two countries attach to this partnership, a partnership that not only serves our two countries, but serves Europe and serves a promising 21st century world.

So it is a great pleasure to have you here in the Department, but especially to have you here in the United States. When Poles raise their glasses to salute one another and to express a toast, they say, "Sto lat, 100 years." See, I do speak Polish.

So today we celebrate a 200-year-old friendship, a friendship between our two nations that will only grow and deepen over the next hundred.