July 22, 2009, Tbilisi
Thank you very much, Mr. President. What a great honor. We say, Mr. President, the greatest honor is to be back in the presence of all of you — and under not ideal circumstance, but better circumstances than when I was here last.
Mr. President, friends, colleagues — particularly to your grandmother and to your mother and your beautiful wife — I say thank you for the hospitality you extended to me when I was here last. And thank you today.
I accept this honor bestowed on me. Quite frankly, I accept it not only with a great deal of gratitude, but on behalf of my country, because my ability to give any consequence — any help to you is a direct consequence of the willingness of the American people to stand up and support freedom. And as you know, Mr. President, that’s a bipartisan sentiment in my country.
Let me say that one year ago, when I came to Georgia, it was under very different and difficult circumstances. I was proud to stand with you then. And the reason I’m back, and the reason President Obama asked me to come back, was to send an unequivocal, clear, simple message to all who will listen, and those who even don’t want to listen, that America stands with you at this moment and will continue to stand with you. (Applause.)
Ladies and gentlemen, Georgians, Mikheil, I want to be clear why we stand with you. We stand with you because we were, first and foremost, inspired by your quest for independence. The Rose Revolution, as it’s become — referred to from the outset — and the voice of the Georgian people were a clarion call to freedom-loving people around the globe — everyone who loves freedom and democracy, and even more importantly, those who yearn for it, those who yearn for it and do not have it. In fact, I heard that call, and they heard it very clearly.
So what you did, what your people did, extended well beyond the borders of Georgia. Look today when you see people amassed in squares, where their freedom is not at hand, but to continue to strive for it — the reference to your Rose Revolution. And it continues to be spoken of. The Rose Revolution was a clear signal to the world that we have entered the 21st century, and the shackles of the 20th century have been shed.
And it’s our collective responsibility to make sure that they are not once again put upon you or any other freedom-loving people.
We’re committed to Georgia, as well, as a vital partner in the progress that we seek in Europe and beyond. The United States wants to build a multi-partner world in which nations make common cause of common concerns.
With Georgia, our partnership involves meeting security challenges. Because we are grateful, as well, I might add, to Georgia’s soldiers who stand next to ours, and are being trained now to stand with ours in Afghanistan. It includes our commitment to your energy-security you’re providing for many others. We welcome Georgia’s role, literally as a bridge for natural resources flowing from east to west.
Our partnership rests on a foundation of shared democratic ideals, and we will continue to support your work and deepen Georgia’s democracy. And our partnership includes a determination to build even stronger bonds, not only between our governments, but equally as important, among our people: to welcome Georgian students in larger and larger numbers to American universities and to encourage American students to study here in Georgia; to help American and Georgian entrepreneurs forge new paths of economic progress; to nurture the life blood of any democracy, is civil society, that holds all governments, including yours and mine accountable.
Georgia may be small as you referenced, Mr. President, but I have learned it has a very, very big heart. (Applause.) And even more, the power of your example brings with it responsibilities to continue to inspire others in their quest for democracy, and securing an independence against all odds.
There a famous letter that an American President, Thomas Jefferson, wrote to one of his political rivals, John Adams. John Adams is our second President and one of our founders, and Jefferson our third. In their aging — after they both had no longer been President, they had a long, long correspondence until each of them died, coincidentally on the same day. And in one of those letters, Thomas Jefferson said, and I’m paraphrasing, that those who bring about revolutions seldom see them come to fruition — seldom see the democracy take root.
This is going to be different. You all know that your Declaration of Independence and your Rose Revolution were the beginning of the process. In a sense, some of the real hard part is now left. You mentioned protestors — welcome to democracy. Welcome to democracy. (Applause.) We are very accustomed to protestors.
But you are in the process of building those institutional attributes that a country needs to maintain a democracy. And I am not exaggerating when I say many other people in the world are looking to you to see whether or not you can bring the revolution to full fruition and dig those roots — plants those roots of democracy very deep.
Every progressive nation has a stake in your success. Every progressive nation in the world has a stake in your success, particularly nations in this region, and that makes Georgia a very important nation for the future of this region, this continent, and the world.
So I would like to — if I had a glass in my hand, which I’m going to get — with your permission, raise my glass in a toast to Georgia’s success and to your fierce determination to be independent, sovereign, democratic, and free. Thank you very much. To Georgia. (Applause.)
Thank you, Mr. President.
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