FOURTH OF JULY SPEECH
BY WILLIAM TAYLOR, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE
Shanonvi hosti, kolehy, druzi. Vitaiu vas na svyatkyvanni Nezalezhnosti Spoluchenykh Shtativ Ameryky. Ya duzhe radyti bachyty vas siohodni uvecheri. Dlya mene ye chestyu pryimaty vas tut.
I also want to welcome Alcee Hastings, right down here - a U.S. congressman who just flew in for a visit to celebrate Independence Day. (applause) And also Mr. Moroz - Mr. Moroz welcome - representatives from the prime minister's office, representatives from the presidential secretariat, ministers, members of the Rada, past and future, (laughs) we're very glad that you're all here.
National days give us the opportunity to think about our history as it relates to Ukraine. I discussed this with Congressman Hastings as we were driving to Kyiv from Boryspil airport.
One aspect is our Constitution. It took us a while after the Declaration of Independence to adopt our first Constitution, because of the unpleasantness with our British friends. Ambassador Barrow will remember that the Brits were not so enthusiastic about our independence. (laughs) However, we made it. We're proud of our independence. Independence is a good thing. But our first constitution adopted in 1781 didn't work. It failed so badly eight years later that we had to scrap it and adopt a new Constitution.
Another aspect is the relationship between business interests and public service. Many of you will have received the invitation to this event this evening. On the cover, there is a painting of many of our founding fathers. Not very diverse, you will notice. (laughs) However, several of these men in this painting were very large land owners. They were perhaps similar to some large steel magnates today in Ukraine. (laughs) A little later on in our history people with names like Mellon, Rockefeller and Carnegie made some money and then donated money to the public service. In order to keep governmental decisions separate from business interests, we came up with financial disclosure requirements by senior officials and very strict conflict of interest laws.
The third aspect has to do with our Supreme Court. Early on it did not enjoy the authority and respect it has today. Congressman Hastings, who, before being a member of Congress was a lawyer and a judge, knows a lot about this. When our country was about 30-40 years old, President Andrew Jackson didn't like a decision made by the Supreme Court, lead by Chief Justice John Marshall. President Jackson was reported to have said: "Chief Justice Marshall made his decision, now let him enforce it." Mr. Baloha would probably recognize that sentiment. (laughs) As our democracy matured so did the Supreme Court. In the year 2000 it had to take a very difficult decision, a political decision on the outcome of the presidential election. When they made that decision, that was it - nobody questioned it.
So, we have 231 years of experience. Some good, some bad. We are very proud of our democracy and our independence. We are very proud that here, in Kyiv, we support Ukrainian democracy and Ukraine's independence. (applause)
Before I finish, let me thank the sponsors who have made this reception possible. For those of you who have drinks, unlike me, drink to Ukrainian independence and American Independence. Bud'mo!