Thank you all very much. Thanks for your warm welcome. We -
the President and I were just in the neighborhood, looking for a meal. So I just said, why
don't we stop over. I'm a member of a club in the area.
Stan, thanks for remembering my membership and thanks for feeding us.
I appreciate you all coming out to greet my friend and a friend of America, the President
of Poland, a fine leader and a fine gentleman.
I want to thank Stan and Sylvia, I want to thank all the folks who put on the dinner - or,
we call it "dinner" in Texas - lunch here in Michigan. And I want to thank my
fellow Americans for coming out to say hello.
We had a wonderful dinner last night in Washington. We all wore our black ties. I rented
mine right around the corner. But it was a wonderful occasion. And as much as I loved it
last night, I was really looking forward to coming with the President here to Michigan,
because there's a lot of great - there's a lot of great Americans who happen to be from
Polish descent living here, and I thought it was a perfect place for him to come.
I want to thank Cardinal Maida for coming. He was - he came to dinner last night with us.
He jumped on Air Force One. We found plenty of room for him. But he's such a - such a
dignified human being, and I'm proud to call him a friend. And thank you for your
leadership, sir. I want other thank the Englers, our friends the Englers. The great
Governor and the First Lady of the state of Michigan. They've been our friends for a long
time.
I know the lieutenant governor is here. I appreciate you being here, Dick. Thank you for
coming, Dick Posthumus. Candice Miller, the Secretary of State, I appreciate you being
here. We've got our Ambassador from Poland with us, Christopher Hill. He's doing a fine
job. Chris, thank you for being here.
We've got a great delegation from the Polish government with us, scattered throughout, I
guess. Mr. Minister, thank you for coming. I appreciate you all being here.
I want to just tell you right quickly that America has got a strong, strong friend in
Poland. The Polish government and the Polish people are - they understand what we went
through. They understand, they've had a history of people wanting to take away their
freedoms, too, so we share that common bond. And they also understand that we owe it to
our children and we owe it to future generations beyond our children to hold people to
account, to hold the killers to account, to bring the killers to justice in order to
defend our freedoms. And that's what we're going to do.
Some predicted that the farther we got away from September the 11th, the more then
American people would grow weary or kind of forget what happened. And, Mr. President, you
need to know that's not the case, that's not the case. Anybody attacks us and attacks our
freedom, we don't forget that. And therefore, Mr. President, you're a guest in a country
that is united and strong and resolved, resolved to keep our coalition together, and
resolved to defendour freedom, no matter what the cost. And Poland understands that, and
for that we are grateful.
And so it's been our privilege the last two days to welcome the First Lady and the
President, President Kwasniewski, here to the United States of America. It's been a great
trip. And it's a chance for us to - chance for me to introduce him to you, my fellow
Americans.
Mr. President, you're among some of the finest we have in our country, the good Polish
Americans of the state of Michigan. Would you please welcome the President of Poland.
It is an honor and source of a great joy for me to meet representatives of Polish community so dear to my heart. Although we know very much about each other nothing serves better the purpose of learning more about each other than personal contacts and talks. I have been looking forward to it as impatiently as one looks forward to seeing a member of family who was away for a long time. I am certain we have much to say to each other!
I know how great respect and appreciation President George W. Bush has for ethnical groups including the Polish community in the US. I understand these feeling perfectly well. America is a country of immigrants. It is thanks to them, thanks to colorful values they brought here from all over the world, that America is a pluralistic and a tolerant country that treasures freedom above all.
When I think about the Polish community, I feel proud just as millions of your countrymen. Poles have been present on American soil from the very beginning of the US history. They have fought for American independence, participated and helped in the US development. The best sons of our nation, shining in glory Tadeusz Kościuszko and Kazimierz Pułaski, or equally great Włodzimierz Bonawentura Krzyżanowski have distinguished themselves in the charters of American history. The latter one, not only volunteered to the units of the Union, created the "Polish Legion" and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General for outstanding duty but was also a regional leader of the Republican Party of the state of New York. During the elections he supported the candidature of Abraham Lincoln.
Americans of Polish origin have distinguished themselves also in more recent history. The names of such eminent contemporary figures are Hilary Koprowski, who invented a vaccine against polio, outstanding politician Zbigniew Brzeziński and famous "Courier from Warsaw" Jan Nowak-Jeziorański - whom you received, Mr President, in the White House before his symbolic return to Poland. These names can be found in most respected encyclopedias. Such people as outstanding representatives of fine arts Wojciech Fangor and Rafał Olbiński found their place here, a great photographer Ryszard Horowitz and an excellent film operator, winner of two Academy Awards, Janusz Kamiński live in the US. For years an excellent poet, a Nobel Prize Winner, Czesław Miłosz and a brilliant author Jerzy Kosiński worked here. You know that as well as I do. It is really stimulating to think about how active Poles are in political, academic and cultural life of America, what unquestionable contribution they have to the position of the United States in the world.
Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen!
I wish to propose a toast:
- to the health of a great friend of Poles, President George W. Bush;
- to the success of Polish community in America;
- may your thoughts go as often as possible towards Poland. May our pride with your
successes be always accompanied by your pride with the achievements of your countrymen on
the Vistula.