Speeches
Remarks by Ambassador Sam Fox at the Fourth of July Reception
July 4, 2008
Good afternoon Fellow Ambassadors, Ministers, Dignitaries,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you here today.
This is our 232nd national birthday - and Marilyn and I want to thank you again for your very warm welcome to this wonderful country.
Nothing makes me feel more privileged than to be the American ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium –
I’m able to serve in one great nation on behalf of another.
Belgium is a country with which we have a very special relationship, going back 176 years now -- back to the time when a relatively young United States of America became one of the first to recognize Belgium’s independence and to welcome you as a partner into the community of “free nations.”
And through the years this friendship has just blossomed. A friendship that’s been forged in shared sacrifice on the battlefield, shared resistance to tyranny, and a shared commitment to sustain the great and historic experiment in human liberty and democratic government.
In 1776 - 232 years ago, in the city of Philadelphia, in the colony of Pennsylvania, a group of subjects of the British Crown pledged their fortunes – their sacred honor… and pledged their very lives --- … to commit what was then an act of high treason… yet an act of supreme loyalty to the highest aspirations of man.
We are celebrating today not just the birth of a nation – but the birth of an idea.
We celebrate not just the independence of 13 colonies from a colonial power – but the beginning of mankind’s independence from bondage.
We celebrate the idea that it is unjust to take someone’s property without consent – that it is unjust to dictate the manner of one’s worship, to censor his speech, or deny his right of assembly.
We celebrate the notion that all people of this earth should have the right to determine their own destiny.
The declaration of independence didn’t argue the case.
It simply stated as fact: “we hold these truths to be ‘self-evident,’ that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights…” “that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
We hold these truths to be “self-evident!!”
If we looked around the world in 1776 we would have been hard pressed to find those truths “self-evident.”
They were not “self-evident.” They didn’t exist.
Not one government conceived by man had ever recognized them before.
Our founders were confident that this truth was based not on a written law
but on a higher law – a natural law.
That all men “were meant” to be free.
And this incredibly powerful idea has resonated around the world ever since.
It is therefore no accident, that one of the greatest symbols of our American freedom was not created by an American, but by a European – a Frenchman – who was inspired by this movement and gave to the United States as a gift:
The statue of Liberty, holding up that beautiful torch of freedom to light the way for the entire world to follow.
It was no accident that America became one of the first to welcome Belgium
as a newly-independent democracy 176 years ago.
And it is no accident that our nations fought side by side in not one, but two world wars.
That our young men gave their lives at Flanders field, Henri-Chappelle and in the Ardennes.
My friends, the United States and the Kingdom of Belgium have indeed been friends, allies and partners for a long, long time.
And although from time to time we may have some differences of opinion –
our friendship is so deep – and built on a solid foundation ---- a friendship based on: our common sacrifices, our common goals, our common respect for human liberty and democracy and our mutual respect for one another.
That nothing -- absolutely nothing – is going to put our relationship at risk.
Ladies and gentlemen, once again I thank you for being here – and thank you for helping us honor this important birthday for democracy.