Growing Together: Hillary Clinton’s Vision for Advancing Opportunity
for Greek Americans & Immigrants of Greek Descent
Hillary believes the U.S.-Greece relationship is underpinned by shared interests and values, as well as strong bonds created by the large Greek American community. The United States is home to an estimated three million people who identify as Greek Americans. Their numerous ties to Greece – both business and personal – enhance the bilateral relationship and serve as a bridge of understanding between Greece and the United States. From adding rich diversity, to spurring small businesses and economic growth, Greek Americans and Greek immigrants have helped build this country and strengthen our communities.
Hillary has a record of standing by Greece and the Greek American community:
● As First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State, Hillary regularly engaged with leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church. She visited the Ecumenical Patriarchate three times, highlighting its importance: once as First Lady in 1996, again in 1999 when she returned with President Bill Clinton – the first sitting US President ever to visit – and again in 2011 as Secretary of State. Hillary is a long-time advocate of religious freedom. And she was proud to represent the vibrant Greek American community in New York as Senator.
● As Secretary of State, Hillary visited Greece in 2011 and signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen collaboration and reduce looting and trafficking of Greek antiquities, and provide for their return to Greece to preserve its cultural heritage. During this visit, she also reinforced the U.S.-Greece partnership in the NATO alliance and reiterated the U.S.’s support of the Greek government to make the necessary reforms to put Greece back on sound financial footing.
As President, Hillary will continue to fight for issues that are important to the Greek American Community.
On issues of importance around the world, she will:
• Stand with our allies and strengthen NATO: Hillary knows that the world is too complex and too complicated for the U.S. to go it alone. Greece is a historic friend and ally of the United States and the bilateral relationship is critical in promoting regional stability and security, trade and investment, and the diversification of energy resources for Europe. Hillary recognizes Greece’s important role as a NATO ally. Greece hosts the U.S. Naval Support Activity at Souda Bay in Crete, whose deep protected harbor provides a strategically important location for supporting U.S. and allied military activities in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. As President, Hillary will ensure that we support Greece and work together on important issues such as climate change, fighting terrorism, and economic security. Above all, this is an alliance of values, rooted in a deep commitment to liberty and democracy.
• Support economic security for Greece and Europe: The economic crisis that struck Greece in 2009 caused its economy to contract by about 25 percent and, resulted in dramatic increases in unemployment and poverty. Hillary supports Greece’s efforts to restore fiscal stability, implement structural reforms, recover competitiveness and restart growth. And she strongly believes that the Eurozone should continue to take the necessary steps to keep its monetary union intact. Hillary will continue to support efforts by Greece and its creditors to find solutions for Greece to meet its financial obligations, while providing a path forward for economic recovery through debt relief.
• Call for a robust international response to the European migration crisis: Hillary recognizes the tremendous efforts made by the Greek people to offer humanitarian aid and assistance to the hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants who have entered the country since 2015. The generosity and compassion they have demonstrated set an important example for Europe and the world. Hillary will continue to call for a more robust international response to the European migration crisis. She will also ensure the U.S. maintains its role as the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to displaced persons and refugees.
• Support a comprehensive settlement to reunify Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. Hillary strongly supports efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement to reunify Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. She supports Cypriot-led, UN-facilitated negotiations as the best process to achieve a fair and lasting settlement. Hillary views Cyprus as a strategic partner of the United States, and she values our close cooperation with Cyprus and the European Union in advancing our shared transatlantic priorities.
And on issues of importance here at home, she will fight to:
• Ensure quality education: Hillary will champion new opportunities in education to ensure nothing stands in the way of all Americans achieving their full potential. Hillary will increase our investment in Early Head Start and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program. She also has a plan to make pre-K universal for all 4 year-olds in America, and will fight for strong public schools in every community across the country. Like too many Americans, Greek Americans and Greek immigrants face difficulty in paying for college and paying off their student debt. Through her New College Compact, Hillary will fight to ensure that cost is not a barrier for anyone who wants to attend college—and that debt won’t hold them back when they do.
• Keep families together through comprehensive immigration reform: As president, Hillary will fight for comprehensive immigration reform that provides a full and equal path to citizenship, treats every person with dignity, upholds the rule of law, protects our borders and national security, and brings millions of hardworking people into the formal economy.
• Hillary Clinton is committed to building an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. In her first 100 days in office, Hillary will break through Washington gridlock to make the biggest investment in good paying jobs since World War II. That plan includes: first, making the boldest investments in American infrastructure since Eisenhower built the interstate highway system to spur economic growth. Second, she will also invest in American manufacturing and crack down on trade abuses that hurt working Americans. Third, she will make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. Fourth, she will cut taxes and reduce red tape so that small businesses can grow and hire. Fifth, she will support scientific research and technological innovation. In fact, an independent analysis by Mark Zandi, a former economic advisor to John McCain, recently calculated that under Hillary’s plans the economy would create 10.4 million jobs in her first term alone—and we think it could create even more than that.
• Expand access to affordable health care to all families: Hillary has been fighting her entire life to ensure that families have access to affordable health care. She will stand up to Republican attempts to roll back the Affordable Care Act and will protect the progress we have made. She will work to lower out-of-pocket health care costs, reduce the cost of prescription drugs and transform our health care system to reward value and quality. She believes we should let families—regardless of immigration status—buy into the Affordable Care Act exchanges. As president, Hillary will fight to defend Medicare and Social Security as well as expand benefits for widows and women who have taken time out of the workforce—so that all American families can retire with dignity
Paid for by Hillary for America