Ambassador Merrick’s Remarks at the Independence Day Reception

President Pavel, Ministers, Ambassadors, judges, distinguished guests, and friends.  On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, the U.S. Embassy in Prague, and the American people, it is my honor to welcome you to this evening’s celebration of 250 years of American Independence.

It is a pleasure to have you join us, to remember and celebrate our history.  While today offers us an opportunity to look back and learn from the past, this story, and the spirit of our struggle for independence, also lights our path forward.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the delegates to the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  That document, and the men who signed it, transformed the world.

But before the founders became audacious rebels who changed the course of human history, before they were written into history’s textbooks, they were 56 men who were successful by most any definition.

They could have continued in comfort as subjects to a distant monarch, but they dared to seize their own destiny.

And, as they signed the Declaration of Independence, they were potentially signing their own death warrants.  They were also breathing new life into ideas that had pre-dated the American project – the inherent rights of human beings, a government that serves life and liberty, the contract between people and power – ideas inherited from this continent.

Their genius was not in the conception of a new political theory, but in their reshaping of revolutionary ideas around freedom and self-rule, and their willingness to sacrifice to make them real.

This act of rebellion sparked a transformation of principles, into a system of government, animated by the balance between freedom and responsibility.

The framers of the Constitution designed a system not to eliminate disagreement, but to harness it, in perpetual service of forming a more perfect union.

In doing so, they created a framework resilient enough to adapt through the centuries, robust enough to thrive in an uncertain world, and powerful enough to change it.

The revolutionaries of 1776, left us a legacy of courage, sacrifice, and an unwavering commitment to freedom in the face of great risk and uncertainty.  We honor that legacy by following their example, by embracing risk as we aspire to something greater than ourselves, and by assuming the responsibility that true freedom demands.

While the United States is a young country, we have a unique role as the world’s oldest continuous democracy.  And, as the United States grew and flourished, we embraced a duty to our own citizens first, and then to all free nations, to all who have aspired to the freedoms that we enjoy.

Our strong alliances, shared wealth from free trade, and the depth of our cultural connections, are a testament to that legacy of global leadership.

Thanks to the bonds that we collectively share, this spirit also animated the Czech lands, just as it flourished in the American new world.

We saw that shared spirit in 1918, when Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk synthesized Western democratic ideals and forged a new, independent Czechoslovakia.

And we saw it within living memory, in 1989, when Václav Havel and thousands of ordinary citizens discarded quiet comfort, raised their voices for liberty, and remade their government and their society.  In those moments, we stood with you.

In 1990, President Bush stood alongside President Havel with this bell, a replica of the Liberty Bell that rang to celebrate our newly independent nation.

And as freedom reverberated throughout Prague, President Bush made our connection clear, he said:  “Our countries share a history.  We share a vision.  And we share a friendship.”

The best of what we share, as Czechs and Americans, with friends and allies here in the heart of Europe, and beyond, is the pursuit of independence and renewal, over complacency and stagnation.

That same spirit is driving both our people to the future.  This year we watched in awe as the Artemis II mission carried mankind further from earth than ever before.

Aleš Svoboda will carry forward that pioneering spirit on his upcoming mission to the International Space Station, piloting a U.S. spacecraft, the first for a Czech astronaut, and the continuation of a proud history of Czech and American space exploration.

The American founding fathers provided the foundation of that journey to the stars. They injected vitality, and innovation, into tradition.  They seized a moment.  They played a part in remaking the world, and they embraced the responsibility to lead.

That is the spirit of 1776 that we are here tonight to celebrate, a spirit that has stood the test of time, and the spirit I believe we all carry forward.

Thank you all for being with us this evening, thank you to everyone who made this event possible, and happy Independence Day.