Speeches
Remarks by Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, July 4, 2007 TV Special
July 04, 2007
Question 1: Please tell me about the history of the July 4th holiday. What does it mean?
Ambassador Mussomeli: What I find interesting about July 4th is that it is the day that we declared our independence, not actually the day that we won our independence. We don't celebrate our victory over the British forces. We don't celebrate the time when we actually…From an American perspective, as soon as we said we were free, we were free. And I think that's a good message for Cambodians too. That it's the mindset that matters, our mentality. If you feel you are free, if you're determined to be free, then eventually you will be free.
Question 2: How do Americans celebrate the holiday in the U.S.?
Ambassador Mussomeli: Well you know For most Americans the 4th of July is a family event and a community event. It's very much like the Cambodian Khmer New Year when everyone gets together with their family. They travel long distances sometimes to all get together. They shoot off fireworks, they eat hamburgers and hot dogs, they watch parades. It's a time for the whole community to get together to reflect on what America means.
Question 3: I'd like to talk about the relationship between the U.S. and Cambodia. Can you tell me what you think the highlights were in the relationship over the past year?
Ambassador Mussomeli: I think this has been a particularly good year between America and Cambodia. I think we could cite several important things. For example, for the first time we have the Peace Corps here. Our first Peace Corps Volunteers showed up in April. They were sworn in, and they are now throughout your country teaching English and developing good relations with your communities. This is a country where Peace Corps really is a value. Cambodians are very pro-American. They all want to learn English. And now our Peace Corps Volunteers will make that possible.
This is also the first year since 1974, long before you were born, since a US naval vessel has come. We had the USS Gary come a few months ago to show that the relationship between Cambodian and America is getting much better.
We have also signed a sister forest agreement. We are all very concerned about illegal logging and the protection of Cambodia's natural resources, and we now have an agreement between Samlaut and Sequoia National Park in the U.S. to protect Cambodia's natural resources.
And finally, I think on a more practical level, we have immigrant visas that have come back. For at least the last five years, Cambodians who want to become American citizens had to go to Bangkok to get their visas. Now finally we can do it right here, which is a great convenience for our Cambodian friends.
Question 4: How do you view the relationship at the present time?
Ambassador Mussomeli: I think the relationship is very good and getting better. To be quite honest, the relationship between the US and Cambodia has been up and down over the past 50 years. There have been good things, bad things. There's been a lot of misunderstandings. But this year has been a particularly good year that we have both, both the Cambodian and the American governments have worked hard to understand each other, have learned to discuss things with each other and to trust each other. And I think it bodes well for the future.
Question 5: How does the Embassy work to strengthen the relationship between our two countries?
Ambassador Mussomeli: Well we try to do several things. First, of course, we do the more official diplomatic work. I'll go see the King or the Prime Minister or other Ministers and high officials to make sure the dialogue is very good between my government and the Cambodian government.
But that isn't enough really. We also try to go out and talk to the Cambodian people and to have a dialogue with the people themselves.
We try at least once a month for me to go to a new province and to show how America is helping, whether it's helping Cambodians fight against HIV/AIDS, or protecting children from being trafficked or many other things. Each month we go out to a different community to do that.
We also like to have the Cambodians come to us. And we do that right downstairs. In the Embassy, we have a resource center that is open to Cambodians Monday through Friday, and we get 40-50 Cambodians every day who come into the Embassy to do their own research here.
We also have libraries. We're opening one up in Battambang. And those are other places where Cambodians can come to learn about America.
And finally we have programs. For example, we had a dance troupe from New York come and the King came to that and it was a great success. In fact we trained about 19-20 Cambodians dancers in modern dance, and that was really terrific.
And we also had Trio Chicago and Friend come. And things like that to show that there is a cultural…that Cambodians and Americans share certain interests artistically and culturally.
Question 6: What do you think the future holds for Cambodia?
Ambassador Mussomeli: I think that the future for Cambodia will be as bright as the recent past has been dark. I am a strong believer in karma, and I think that Cambodia has suffered so much for the last few decades that it deserves more than any other country a happier and more prosperous future. And I think we can see that the Cambodian people are determined to have a happy future. There are lots of problems. There's corruption, and there's violence against women and children, and there's all sorts of issues that Cambodia has to deal with. But when you look at Cambodians, you can see that they are determined to have a happier life and they are determined to have a better country. And so I am very optimistic.
