French President Sarkozy received a warm welcome during a joint session of Congress:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 —President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was greeted with cheers and standing ovations in the United States Congress today, a sign that France was forgiven for opposing the American-led war in Iraq.
In a speech to a joint meeting of Congress — a rare honor for a visiting head of state — Mr. Sarkozy spoke of his love of the American dream and the cultural icons of the 20th century, from Elvis Presley and John Wayne to Ernest Hemingway and Marilyn Monroe.
He expressed admiration for Martin Luther King Jr. He thanked the United States for saving France in two world wars, rebuilding Europe with the Marshall Plan and fighting communism during the Cold War.
When he called France “the friend of the United States of America,” the hall, packed with lawmakers, many of whom only a few years ago held France in disdain, burst into applause. When he said that a nuclear-armed Iran is “unacceptable” for France, they stood and clapped. Mr. Sarkozy managed to meld his words of praise for the United States with firm but gentle assertions of French and European independence, in ways that seemed likely to play well on both sides of the Atlantic.
“I want to be your friend, your ally, your partner,” he said, “but I wish to be a friend who stands on his own two feet.”
Does this mean they’ve stopped selling Freedom Fries in the Senate Cafeteria ?
