A few years ago I got involved with CORA the Congress of Romanian Americans. As I started to participate within the organization I was asked to become one of its directors by the President Mr. Armand Scala.

CORA is a founding member of the CEEC or the Central and Eastern European Coalition. The Coalition worked closely with both the Clinton and Bush administrations to expand NATO membership within the central and Eastern Europe. Today the organization was invited to the White House for a private meeting with President Bush and afterwards we witnessed the signing of the support documents for the adherence of Albania and Croatia to the Alliance.

I had the privilege of being one of the 20 some people who attended the function.

I arrived at the White House with Armand who had made arrangements for us to park right outside the west entrance. After being thoroughly checked by security we were escorted inside through the lower level entrance. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by a life size portrait of Hillary Clinton hanging in the corridor leading to the main area of the White House (the oval portion) The long corridor alongside the garden is a breezeway that was enclosed. It is paved with old bricks that have an incredible shine. I remember seeing a private screening room with four big armchairs upfront and a few rows of theater style seats.

Once we went upstairs we were directed to the State Dining Room where a u-shaped conference table was set up. We all found our seats and had about 10 minutes to get some refreshments and admire the beauty of the room. Life size portraits of past presidents were adorning the walls. The room was very tall (20 feet or better) and it had an incredible chandelier in the middle. The wooden doors were highly polished and had two-tone panels in the middle. Later I found out that many of the swear-inn ceremonies as well as small state dinners take place in that room.

The US Ambassador to NATO Mr. Kurt Volker was in the room and after a brief introduction by the Senior Liaison to the President he thanked Armand Scala for inviting him to a recent CEEC meeting. He then updated us on the current events that he was dealing with. We were told that some challenges that are currently facing the Alliance had to do with the fact that some of the member states seem to have independent agendas from that of the rest of the countries and as such it is quite difficult to advance some of the security issues facing us. He did say that the 60th Anniversary Summit was going to be held jointly by Germany and France and that France will resume it’s full membership status and abandon its attempt to create a “counter-balance” to the US. Just as he was wrapping up one of those beautiful doors flew open and President Bush walked in.

He greeted us with a Good Afternoon and immediately started walking towards one end of the table. He stopped in front of each of us, looked us straight in the eyes and thanked us for all our efforts while shaking our hands. Seeing him that close and shaking his hand was an emotional moment. There have been 43 people so far holding the office and I was shaking the hand of one of them. Pretty incredible feeling. He was dressed in a grey suit with a blue shirt and blue tie. He looked good; he was very energetic and seemed to be genuinely happy to be with us. Immediately I felt at ease with him. He seemed to be an old college buddy. He was off script; he was genuine and somehow down to earth. He looked better in person then he does on TV. He started by thanking us for our efforts in pushing along the effort of the NATO expansion, he told us that he was believer in freedom and that without it nothing can get accomplished. He also told us a few things that made him connect with me on a personal level.

He said that he believes in doing the right thing. As such it took some convincing for him to run for President. As he put it is “risky” to run and it is “risky” to be President. The reasons are simple, you will get attacked as a candidate and you will get attacked as President. No matter what you do or say you are expected to be politically correct and sometimes that runs against doing the right thing. One example that he gave had to do with the Patriot Act. He was telling us that he went to the NSA that morning and even though he had been there numerous times he was extremely impressed with our capabilities and the caliber of people that we have defending us every day. He told us that there are still a lot of bad people trying to hurt us everyday and that unless we have current, immediate access to them, we cannot effectively stop them. He was talking about the fact that he got attacked by a lot of people for the Patriot Act but “I will tell you this, the next guy in here will be extremely happy that he has the ability to make decisions based on facts rather then suppositions, even though he might have been the biggest critic of the act” That is what you have to do, the right thing rather then the popular thing.

He also told us that one of his best friends is the ex prime minister of Japan, Mr. Koizumi He told us that Koizumi’s father was a very high ranking official during Imperial Japan’s attack on the United States and that he was directly involved in the planning of the Pearl Harbor attack. He also said that President Bush the father was a young aviator who fought the Japanese while he was stationed on an aircraft carrier.

He wanted to make the point that if anybody back then would have said that their respective sons would become heads of state and be friends 50 years later not many people would have believed it. As President Bush put it, peace and democracy take time and often-unpopular decisions. He made it a point of saying that we have gone through a process in Europe, Asia and now we are doing the same thing in the Middle East, which affirmed a theory that I had heard 3 years ago from an ex-CIA senior strategist who said the same thing. We are in the Middle East to create a new structure of peace and cooperation in the area similar to what we had done with Germany and France, Japan and China and now Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel. He told me back then that we would be in the region for 50+ years. President Bush said the same thing in a conceptual form and without getting into details.

He told us about the financial crisis and how Bernanke and Paulson came to him on a Friday and told him that we were faced with a disastrous situation in the financial markets. He was asked what he wanted to do. After questioning them extensively it was apparent that the situation was dire and as such he decided that he must act to correct it. He said that he realized that some of the decisions that would have to be made would be very unpopular but he made a conscious decision that he would rather be the one to make them rather have a new President start with making them and loose the benefit of the positive energy that comes with a new Administration. He said that he would rather do the right thing then the PC thing. Yes it is risky if you think about legacy but it is a no brainer if you think about the country. He gave his father as an example.

He also told us that he had experienced some incredible moments.

Looking right at me (I was the only one with a Romanian name) he told us that one of the most incredible moments of his presidency, one that he will remember forever, was a visit to Bucharest for only a few hours. He remembered showing up on a stormy day in the city square and immediately noticing two things. One was the crowd of 220,000 people and the enthusiasm with which they welcomed him. The second thing was a brightly lit balcony in the building behind him. He was told that that was where Ceausescu lost his power. As Iliescu introduced him he said that he noticed a full spectrum rainbow appear. At that point he showed it to Laura and instantaneously the entire mass of people turned their heads to look at what he was pointing. He said that the rainbow was crossing the sky and it was ending right above that infamous balcony. He said that to him that was a message from above that he was doing the right thing. He said that at that moment he knew that his legacy would be one of fighting for freedom. He also said that that was cool. He said that cool is not a presidential word but that it was cool.

We asked him about the visa waiver program and about Georgia and Ukraine. On the visa waiver program he said that he had pushed Congress as hard as he could but that there is a law in place that has to be followed. He also said that he is most hopeful that now there is a process that is in place and that we our help and continued pressure on Congress as well as the new Administration we will get the waiver extended to “all our allies who have fought alongside us” He did say that he was torn by the double standard of having countries commit to the war and yet be treated as second class citizens. He was truly upset about that. He was also upset by the fact that Macedonia was not made a full member of NATO due to its name. He did not seem to understand why a solution had not been found yet.

He was ok with being were he was, understanding that he had been dealt a number of extremely tough situations and that he had to make unpopular decisions and that he has left a number of things in place that would be extremely useful to the next President.

At one point I looked around the room and knowing that some of my colleagues were of a different political persuasion as the President I could not help but notice that they were “in tune “ with him and as he received a standing ovation on his departure they were quite enthusiastic. After he left the room there was a moment of quiet as if we were all trying to reconcile within ourselves what we had just experienced.

My impressions were that he is a very down to earth individual whom you could spend hours with over a few beers and feel very comfortable doing it. He sounded a lot better being himself rather then the scripted position that he portrays. Even though he had much bigger issues to deal with he didn’t appear rushed, he took his time and he connected with us, or at least I felt that he connected with me. He invited us to the East Room for the signing ceremony in such a way that I felt like I was being invited by someone I had known for many years. He was not stuck up, talk to us as if were his friends.

We had about 20 minutes until we were invited to the East Room. We mingled with NATO officials, ambassadors members of Congress, however I was more interested in the Red Room Green Room and of course the Blue Room. Looking out towards the Ellipse from the Blue Room is a sight that I will remember for a very long time. The paintings of many presidents were on the walls and I had a close encounter with one of them. At one point I decided to sit down next to Armand on a 2-person settee right under President Clinton’s portrait. I figured that having my back to him would be a lot less… distracting than looking right at him. The paintings are framed by some of the most massive, sculptured cast frames. These frames stick out quite a bit and as I proceeded to sit down, as if he had heard my thoughts, the Clinton frame administered one upside the back of the head that I can still feel now. We got up a few minutes later and spoke to Mr. Daniel Fried who after serving in multiple capacities in the government is now an Assitant Secretary of State. It was interesting to hear the news behind the news surrounding Georgia. Since it was told in confidence I will leave it at that, however I can say that there is a lot more behind the scenes of what we see and hear. As I was listening to some of the details about the Georgian conflict we were all invited to the East Room. As I approached the entrance I was struck by the amount of light emanating from the room. Right as we walked in alongside the back wall there were about two dozen cameras taping the event. We all made our way to our reserved seats and before we had a chance to sit down the Ambassadors of Albania and Croatia were led to the stage by two army officers in dress uniforms. Almost immediately the President and the Secretary General of NATO walked in. The President had a short speech after which Secretary Jaap De Hoop Scheffer spoke. After he finished his prepared remarks he gave a personal message to the President. He made it very clear that the current expansion of NATO behind what used to be the Iron Curtain would have not been possible without his determination to see freedom and democracy take hold. He thanked him and the whole room exploded in applause. The ovation lasted the better part of 3 minutes with Bush getting emotional his faced flushed and being quite uncomfortable at the gesture of the participants.

It was an inspirational evening that makes you want to do more for the benefit of all.

On June 12, 2008, the Ambassador of Romania to the United States, Mr. Adrian Vieriţă, accompanied by Mr. Armand Scala, Chairman of the Congress of Romanian Americans, placed a wreath at the Victims of Communism Memorial, during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the dedication of this Washington DC monument.

Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, alongside other congressmen, ambassadors, dignitaries and different organizations participated in the anniversary event.

During the ceremony, the late Congressman Tom Lantos was posthumously presented with the Truman Reagan Medal of Freedom award, received by his wife, Mrs. Annette Lantos. Also, a preview of the Global Museum on Communism, due to open in 2009, was presented.

On Thursday, March 13, 2008, The Congress of Romanian Americans (CORA), along with the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC), comprised of 19 national organizations representing more than 22 million Americans, discussed a range of policy issues with presidential candidate Senator John McCain’s advisors, Randy Scheunemann, Director of Foreign Policy and National Security, and Stephen Biegun. Senator McCain's National Coalitions Director Aaron Manaigo also participated at the meeting. Armand Scala, President of the Congress of Romanian Americans, organized the meeting and acted as moderator.

The meeting began with remarks from both advisors, focusing on Senator McCain’s over 20 years of foreign policy experience and his support for the new democracies in Europe. Of the 13 ancestral countries of CEEC members, Senator McCain has visited all but one. He regrets in particular the slowing of initiatives in that region due to fears of distressing the Russian government. Senator McCain believes that the West needs to do more to stand up to Moscow and hold her accountable for both internal and external actions, while at the same time continuing to work with her in areas of mutual interest. He also supports enhancing transatlantic relationships in order to put a sounder Russia policy into place, and is visiting London and Paris next week to further those relationships. Senator McCain is also considering the formation of a new “League of Democracies” to unite countries with shared values that may be able to act in areas where the United Nations has been unable to act, due in part to the positions of undemocratic countries.

The discussion focused on key areas of concern for the CEEC, including Russia’s actions in the region, energy security and diversification, NATO enlargement, the missile shield, and the visa waiver program. Senator McCain supports continued NATO enlargement, and is concerned that a pause in progress could be detrimental to continued expansion. Mr. Scheunemann voiced Senator McCain’s concern over Russia’s use of energy for political leverage, and his support for the development of a common energy policy with Europe to avoid Russian monopolization of energy provisions to Europe. Senator McCain believes that this important issue is a matter of national security for the United States.

Also, as President, Senator McCain would continue the deployment of the missile shield in Eastern Europe, and, understanding the security concerns of the countries involved, would be responsive to their needs. A retreat from the building of the missile defense in Europe, which is a common U.S.-Europe defense, would encourage Russia, and discourage our allies. Mr. Scheunemann voiced support for just signed bilateral agreements between the U.S. and the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Latvia regarding visa waivers, despite the desire of the European Union, whose older members have such waivers, to broker all such agreements (other countries, including Slovakia and Hungary are also expected to sign similar agreements shortly). Senator McCain is committed to finding a solution to the visa issue.

Of the meeting, Armand Scala stated that “the two responders were very thorough in their replies,” and that “the CEEC is looking forward to further meetings and discussions with Senator McCain and his team.”

Today, representatives of the 19 member organizations of the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) met with Anthony Lake, Ph.D., senior foreign policy advisor for Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Joining Dr. Lake, and facilitating the meeting, was Mark Brzezinski, also a well-known foreign policy expert. In his opening remarks, Anthony Lake touched on many important issues of concern to the member organizations of the CEEC, and discussed the reasons for his support for Obama.

CORA’s President, Armand Scala, opened the questions on behalf of the Coalition. The subject was Russia: imperialism, blackmailing, democratic dissolution in Russia, and Russian-US relations. On behalf of CORA, its members included Dorin “Gabe” Ivanescu, Dr. Peter Nicholson and Christina Regule.

Among the topics of discussion were NATO enlargement (especially in light of the upcoming Bucharest Summit in April 2008); the backsliding of democratic trends in the Russian Federation; and the Visa Waiver issue. In regards to NATO, Lake clearly stated that the enlargement process “reinforces democracy in all nations of Europe,” and brings all European nations together. Anthony Lake described the process itself as “not just of strategic importance [to the United States], but of morality, as well.”

Russia’s recent trend of more authoritarian control also sparked a few comments from Lake. Having expressed concern for the current government policies of President Vladimir Putin, Lake stressed, “We must engage them [the Russians] on issues of mutual interest and concern, but at the same time broaden our relations with the Russian people, not just the Russian government.”

Lake also expressed support for expanding the Visa Waiver Program to five additional countries in Central and East Europe, as it pertains to Senate Bill S.342, which has been supported by Senator Obama. In addition, Senator Obama’s statement in support of congressional passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution, as well as support for Ukraine’s commitment to join NATO, were referenced and made available to the CEEC participants.

“The countries of the CEEC enjoy strong bonds and alliances with various government officials,” stated Michael Sawkiw, President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. “This meeting afforded the opportunity to discuss issues of mutual concern and interest and we look forward to working closely with policymakers in Washington on these key issues.”

The Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) is comprised of 19 national membership organizations that represent more than 22 million Americans who can trace their heritage to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

On Wednesday, February 27, 2008, the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC), comprised of 19 national organizations representing more than 22 million Americans who can trace their heritage to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, discussed a range of policy issues with presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton’s advisor, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Also present at the meeting was Lee Feinstein, Senator Clinton’s campaign National Security Director.

CORA’s President, Armand Scala, opened the questions on behalf of the Coalition. The subject was Russia: imperialism, blackmailing, democratic dissolution in Russia and Russian-US relations. On behalf of CORA, its attending members included Dorin “Gabe” Ivanescu, Dr. Peter Nicholson and Christina Regule.

The meeting focused on key areas of concern for the CEEC, including Russia’s actions in the region, energy security and diversification, NATO enlargement, immigration and the visa waiver program, re-affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, as well as other human rights issues.

Secretary Albright noted Senator Clinton’s long record of support for the countries of the region and pointed to the challenges that America and our allies face. Recognizing the strong bonds that exist between the democracies of Central and Eastern Europe, Albright announced Hillary Clinton’s plan to extend the visa-waiver program, in which Clinton stated, “our central and eastern European friends are first-class allies. Americans whose families hail from these countries should not be treated as second-class citizens.”

Albright also expressed confidence that Senator Clinton would continue to advance issues of concern to the Coalition and also confirmed her support of Hillary Clinton’s recent statement calling for congressional passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Albright thanked the CEEC for its important work and urged the group to remain engaged on the issues.