Ambassador Greenfield Message on July 4th Celebration
Ambassador Greenfield Message on July 4th Celebration
The Honorable, Joseph Boakai,
Vice President of the Republic of Liberia
Members of the Senate
Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives
The Chief Justice and Members of the Judiciary
Honorable Members of the Cabinet
The Dean and members of the Diplomatic Corps
Members of the International Community
Representatives of Political Parties and Civil Society Organizations
Members of the Religious and Business Communities
Members of the Press
Fellow Colleagues
Fellow Americans
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
I want to thank you for joining us to today to celebrate the United States of America’s 233rd Anniversary of Independence.
Today we, Americans and our friends, pay tribute to our country and our founding fathers – 56 men selected by their peers, gathered together to draft and sign our Declaration of Independence.
Many of these men and their families paid dearly for their bravery –losing their homes, business and lives –because they believed their sacrifice was for the benefit of the greater good. Their vision for a new nation was best captured in the words of Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed.” Let me repeat: “from the consent of the governed.”
The reality is that the United States has struggled throughout its history to live up to these perfect words – all people created equal with equal rights.
The days that led up to the Declaration of Independence were filled with growing frustration and mob violence, a turn of events that made clear the importance of rule of law and the fair administration of justice.
A century later our country was consumed by civil war fueled by the desire to ensure all men their inalienable rights. Sixty more years would pass before “all men” included women.
And, an additional forty years before African-Americans could exercise their right to vote, when President Johnson signed the voting rights act. But those perfect words set the stage and provided the guidance that brought us this far. 233 years into our journey to ensure all Americans their inalienable rights, we have marked a new and historic milestone.
Barack Obama, the first person of African descent, was elected as the President of the United States of America. He in turn has nominated the first woman of Latin descent to our Supreme Court.
The story of America is one of men and women of every color and creeds tirelessly striving to make our founding fathers’ vision a reality. No nation is perfect. What matters is that a people commit themselves to a vision for which they stand and then work year after year to make that vision their reality.
Progress is often slow, but genuine progress is lasting. A month ago in Cairo, Egypt, President Obama delivered a speech to the world entitled “A New Beginning.” His remarks addressed a growing tension regarding US efforts to foster democracy around the world, a tension that exists here in Liberia.
President Obama stated: “No system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by another… Each nation gives life to the principles of democracy in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone…
We do have an unyielding belief that ALL people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you chose.
Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.” As I have traveled around this country I have heard Liberians yearn for the realization of these exact things. Thankfully, today Liberians enjoy unprecedented freedom of speech. The others are still works in progress, and are goals which each and every Liberian
must strive to make a reality.
It is only when ALL Liberians recognize that “Government” is not something separate from themselves, but that it is something by Liberians, for Liberians, and made up of Liberians that the thought of undermining the Government becomes unthinkable, that threats to peace are viewed as criminal, and that impunity becomes intolerable.
Likewise, in order to achieve the dream of equal justice for all, the Liberian people as a whole must agree upon the rules by which they will live. Each and every Liberian must then make a personal commitment to live by those rules.
I again quote from our Declaration of Independence: “To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed.”
President Obama said it best. The United States of America does not presume to know what is best for Liberia or how these goals should be realized. Liberians alone must make and can make the decisions that will ensure a future of peace, prosperity and justice for all.
Liberians must love Liberia enough to make that sacrifice for freedom, for democracy, for peace.
I have great faith and confidence in Liberia’s future. Liberians had the courage to demand change. Liberians worked hard to establish peace. Liberians went to the polls and democratically elected the first female President in Africa to lead this nation through the difficult years of rebuilding. And it will be Liberians that make their country great and the land of opportunity for all.
Mr. Vice President I have confidence in Liberia because I have seen the faces of Liberia’s children –your future. I have seen their smiles. I see it every day on the faces of the school children dressed in uniform waiting patiently in line to catch a taxi to get to school each morning.
I saw it on the face of the young Liberian girl, who won the nationwide spelling bee. I saw the hope and appreciation on the faces of the nearly 100 students who just received scholarships from Firestone.
I felt the hope and aspirations of the next generation of teachers as they represented the first graduating class in twenty years from the Rural Teacher Training Institutes. I saw it on the face of a woman, a former combatant, who boldly demonstrated her newly acquired writing and reading abilities in front of the UNSC ambassadors!
Mr. Vice President, I see the hope everyday as I see you and your president tackle the monstrous challenges to lift Liberia from the grip of war to the hope of peace. Through your actions you have embodied Jefferson’s vision that powers be derived from the consent of the governed.
You have fostered on-going dialogue with the people of this nation reaching out from Monrovia to Ganta, Harper to Robertsport, and Zwedru to Voinjama to ensure that the Poverty Reduction Strategy is a collective vision that aims to support all Liberians in their pursuit of happiness.
With this vision in mind, together, each and every Liberian must now take the courageous and self-sacrificing steps to forge Liberia’s New Beginning. I do have some advice to offer. Hard work must be tempered with patience.
It took decades to tear down Liberia’s infrastructure and institutions. It took decades to dash people’s hope and kill their spirit. It will take decades to build them back up. This challenge is made greater by the fact that the majority of the population – 71% has no memory of Liberia before the war.
I prefer, however, to focus on a more hopeful statistic. When school begins again this year, and the newly graduated teachers from the Kakata and Zorzor rural teacher training institutes meet their first grade classes, those teachers will be starting with a clean slate. The six year old bright faces staring up at them are the generation born after the war. They are eager to learn and open to the world of possibilities.
This means the onus is on Liberia’s elders to lead by example and to ensure that the best of Liberia’s traditions are not forgotten. We all must work together to foster the next generation of teachers, historians, doctors, scientists, leaders, and dreamers. One man, woman, child or President, cannot do it alone.
Declaring independence is an act of great vision and courage, but it is just the beginning. In Liberia as in the United States, this vision, and the “self-evident truths” that underlie it, can only be realized and sustained over generations through hard work and an abiding confidence in your ability to achieve your goal.
You will not be alone on your quest. Respectfully the United States is committed to contributing to the security and development needs of Liberia so Liberians can do the hard work of building this country.
The U.S.-Liberian relationship is much more than a shared history. Along with that history are the values that Liberia and the United States share. Those shared values will ensure our relationship remains strong and special in the years to come.
Mr. Vice President, Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in a toast on the occasion of our 233rd year of independence, a toast “to friendship – a
friendship based on mutual support and respect in realizing peace and reconciliation, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Liberians.”