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President George W. Bush announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to Gdansk, Poland to attend the 25th Anniversary of the Solidarity Movement on August 31, 2005.
The Honorable James A. Baker III, former Secretary of State, will lead the delegation. Secretary Baker was the 61st Secretary of State, serving from January 1989 through August 1992 under President George H.W. Bush. From 1981 to 1985, he served as White House Chief of Staff to President Reagan and as the 67th Secretary of the Treasury, from 1985 to 1988. He also served as White House Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to President Bush from August 1992 to January 1993.
Members of the Presidential Delegation are:
The Honorable Victor Ashe, U. S. Ambassador to Poland.
Ambassador Ashe was sworn in as Ambassador to Poland on June 23, 2004. Previously, Ambassador Ashe served for 16 years as the Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. In January 2003, he received the Distinguished Public Service Award of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He is also the past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The Honorable Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Assistant Secretary Fried was U.S. Ambassador to Poland from 1997-2000 and later was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council. Earlier in his career, Assistant Secretary Fried served as Polish Desk Officer at the State Department from 1987 to 1989 as democracy returned to Poland and Central Europe and as Political Counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw from 1990 to 1993.
The Honorable Hank Brown, President of the University of Colorado System and former U.S. Senator.
Hank Brown served in the United States Senate from 1990-1996 and five consecutive terms in the U.S. House representing Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, beginning in 1980. He was a strong advocate of Polish accession to NATO while in the U.S. Senate.
Mrs. Irena Kirkland, widow of former AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland.
Lane Kirkland lived from 1922-1999. He was President of the AFL-CIO from 1979 to 1995. His early and passionate support for Solidarity proved pivotal in ensuring the ultimate collapse of Soviet-dominated regimes throughout Eastern Europe. He helped provide more than $6 million in aid to Polish workers in the form of cash and communications equipment. This aid was considered instrumental in Solidarity's successful effort to end 50 years of Communist Party rule in Poland. In 1994, President Bill Clinton presented him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Also attending the Commemoration events is a delegation from the US House of Representatives. Heading the Congressional Delegation is Rep. Henry Hyde of the 6th District of Illinois. Rep. Hyde is Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and has been a member of Congress since 1975.
Accompanying Rep Hyde is Rep. John Dingell from the 15th District of Michigan. Dingell is called the ‘Dean of the House’ for having served the longest tenure in the 435-member body, having served in the House since 1955.
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