Programs and Events

Independence Day 2006

July 4, 2006

Prime Minister Helen Clark & Ambassador William McCormick. Larger Photo

At the Embassy's July 4 reception, Ambassador McCormick said, "Americans may be ethnically and culturally different, but we are all united around the shared values that are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.  'We the People' secures these differences and binds them together in a sense of community and a shared destiny.

"The foods we are serving tonight represent just a few of the hundreds of different ethnic groups that make up the United States -- Chinese, Mexican, Cajun, and Italian.

"In thinking about the People, I think, too, of the United States-New Zealand relationship."

Prime Minister Helen Clark gave a speech that described the bilateral relationship as "of fundamental importance to our country and one which we greatly value."
She stressed our shared values and expressed her desire for the relationship to "continue to grow and develop."

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To read Ambassador McCormick's July 4 speech... (more)