2009 Speeches
Remarks by U.S. Chargè d’Affaires, a.i. Timothy Zúñiga-Brown
2009 July 4th Reception
Liberty Overlook
Nassau, The Bahamas
July 2, 2009
Good afternoon, welcome and thank you for joining us in this celebration of the two hundredth and thirty-third (233rd) anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.
Thank you to the Governor General, His Excellency, Arthur Dion Hanna, for joining us today. On this July Fourth (4th), as ever, we Americans recall our Founding Fathers and the ideals they expressed when they declared “that all men are created equal.”
This year we reflect in particular on the legacy of our sixteenth (16th) President, Abraham Lincoln – Republican from Illinois – because 2009 marks the two hundredth (200th) anniversary of his birth.
Throughout America, our fellow citizens are recalling and honoring Lincoln’s courage, his determination, and his ultimate sacrifice for our country’s unity so that the Union would be preserved and that freedom would be the birthright of all of our people.
On this two hundredth and thirty-third (233rd) birthday of our nation, a nation “conceived in liberty”, we honor and commemorate Abraham Lincoln and his legacy.
This is a particularly timely commemoration because Abraham Lincoln’s legacy paved the way for and has deeply inspired our forty fourth President, President Barack Obama – Democrat from Illinois – And the first African-American to hold the highest office in our country.
President Obama has repeatedly shown that he is keenly aware of the historical path that our nation has traveled since its birth in 1776. At his inauguration in January of this year, President Obama was the first president to take his oath of office on the Bible that Lincoln used in 1861.
As many of you may be aware of, there are many parallels between President Lincoln and President Obama.
President Obama’s hails from the “Land of Lincoln”: Both men studied law; served in the Illinois State Legislature; and both are known as distinguished orators.
One Lincoln scholar has claimed that “Barack Obama's victory serves to help complete the ‘unfinished work’ Abraham Lincoln spoke about in his Gettysburg Address: that America fulfill its dream of equal opportunity regardless of race.” The same dream that Martin Luther King spoke of on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.
I hope that the message of Lincoln joined with the message of Reverend King Might inspire and guide all Americans to this day And that the messages might also resonate among our Bahamian friends as well. We share not only a common geography and broad national interests, but our common history, common ancestry, and shared democratic values bring us naturally together.
The government of The Bahamas is one of our closest friends and neighbors, and among our closest security partners in this Hemisphere.
We work together every day to protect our citizens, on land and on sea, against the scourge of drug trafficking and the inhuman smuggling of people. Together, we secure our borders, we ensure passenger terminals and cargo ports are safe; we assist travelers in need and we promote our common prosperity, through trade and investment; we develop the skills and talents of our youth through education, music, and culture; and we seek to safeguard our oceans and environment, on which our prosperity and well-being ultimately depends.
Most important of all, we strive to achieve our common ideal of a better future for our children, with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for our people.
We were pleased to see that the people of The Bahamas joined with us, your American neighbors and kin, in celebrating the election and inauguration of President Obama.
It is also my particular pleasure to note that President Obama has announced his intention to send a new Ambassador to The Bahamas, Nicole Avant of California. Should the Senate confirm her, she is eager to take up her duties and expand the excellent relationship we enjoy with the government and people of The Bahamas.
On this July Fourth (4th), let us remember rededicate ourselves to the unfinished work of those who came before us. Let us remember and honor the ideals of our Founders. Let us remember and honor the legacy of President Lincoln. Let us remember and honor those who struggled on behalf of civil rights. Let us honor the past as we look to a better, brighter future and let us celebrate our common values and the strength of the relationship between our two peoples.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have among us two other special guests from the United States who have arrived to help us celebrate America’s birthday this year. I mean of course President and Mrs. Lincoln. Thank you for joining us.
I would also like to express my many thanks, on behalf of the U.S. Embassy, to all our very generous sponsors for helping make this event possible once again – particularly in these times of economic uncertainty and necessary restraint.
Before we raise our glasses in a toast I would like to extend greetings to all of you from the President of the United States:
And now, I would like to propose a toast: Let this celebration of our country’s independence be a celebration of shared U.S.-Bahamian friendship. And let it also mark the coming celebration of your own liberty, democracy and independence.
Please join me in this toast! God Bless America! God Bless The Commonwealth of The Bahamas! My wife, Christine, and I wish you a Happy Fourth of July.