Speeches

July 4th Remarks by Ambassador Lavin

July 4, 2003

Minister Lee, Members of Parliament, Excellencies, Singapore friends, fellow citizens:

Eleven score and seven years ago on this day, American colonial leaders proclaimed to all that “these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES.” The world has never been the same since.

A Great and Noble Experiment in democratic government and civil society was begun on July 4, 1776; and it continues to this day. The universal political and social ideas of the Declaration of Independence -- be it the almost treasonous assertion that governments derive their authority only from the consent of the governed, or that stunning leap of faith in declaring all people equal, with the right to a good and secure life - are as true for us today as they were for the citizens of the 13 American colonies.

Those men in Philadelphia knew, even as they penned their names to the Declaration, that they were putting themselves at risk so that the colonies might become a free and independent nation. They accepted the risk as the price for their Freedom, and pledged to one another their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in the coming struggle to secure liberty. They were heroes.

227 years later, we still need heroes, because Freedom is under siege in so many parts of the world. You don’t have to look far to see them, these present day heroes - they are with the Coalition’s armed forces serving in Iraq or those at peril on the seas, they are the men and women working in Afghanistan to rebuild that shattered nation, they are the diplomats, soldiers, civilians, volunteers and civil servants from a host of democratic nations and organizations who serve throughout the world in order to make it a better and more secure place for everyone. We salute them one and all; they are Freedom’s heroes.

With pride in what those who came before us struggled to build, with humility in the awareness of our imperfections and the distance we have yet to travel, with appreciation for the friendship and support of Singapore as we continue the journey, May God bless our two nations on this great day.