Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell

Amb. Rashad Hussein, US Special Envoy to OIC

Thank you very very much for joining us tonight.

65 years ago, on 17 of August 1945, our nation declared independence.

It was a momentous time in international affairs. 2 weeks earlier, Truman, Stalin and Churchill had met in POSTDAM. Berlin had already been divided into 4 sectors. New political elites were rising up across Asia and the UN Charter had just been drawn up.

Indonesia proclaimed independence at the dawn of that new world that was coming to form. After that, the struggle for decolonization spread worldwide like bushfire. In Asia, Vietnam declared independence 2 weeks after Indonesia. The following year, The Philippines. India 1947. Sri Lanka 1948. Kamboja and Laos, both in 1953.

And it spread to Africa. Egypt in 1953. Sudan 1957, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Algiers. Ghana.

The United Nations which began with some 50 member states today has 198 members. The political map of the world changed forever. And let it be known that the Indonesian Revolution made the first leap in that epic struggle for statehood in the non-western world in the 20th century.

I wish our founding fathers who ignited the revolution could see what has become of Indonesia today. Much of the things they dreamt about have become living reality. Freedom. Emancipation. Equality. Opportunity. Progress. Unity. Tolerance. Democracy. These things are at the heart of today's Indonesia.

Indonesia today is no longer measured by the variety of our problems but by the scale of our transformation.

We are no longer burdened by our past but driven by our present and future prospects.

And all of my lifetime I have never been so optimistic about being an Indonesian today. We are now a middle-income middle-power country, the world's third largest democracy, with political stability and economic dynamism, and the largest middle class in Southeast Asia.

The Indonesian revolution that brought all this has a direct spiritual connection with the American Revolution. Our founding fathers were inspired by the ideals of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison. The spirit of the declaration of independence lives on in our Constitution of 1945. The American E Pluribus Unum out of many, one is identical with our Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, unity in diversity.

And it was more than a spiritual connection. The United States supported Indonesia's independence struggle, including in the UN Security Council during difficult times. Secretary Dean Acheson put his weight behind Indonesia. And American diplomats brokered tough diplomatic negotiations that led to the transfer of sovereignty from the Netherlands to the new Indonesian Republic in 1949.

Indeed, the Indonesian Revolution and the American Revolution were all the same. It was a fight against tyranny and oppression, a struggle for the God given right of freedom, for justice, and for the dignity of man.

In the words of Bobby Freeberg, a former US navy pilot who joined Indonesia's freedom fighters, "everywhere you go, the people shout their slogan of merdeka , freedom. The people are poor and haven't proper clothing, transportation nor weapons, but they will stand to the last man against the Dutch. It is pretty wonderful to see a people believe in the freedom that we Americans enjoy ready to fight for the achievement of this view." Bobby disappeared in Indonesia and his grave never found, but there was no question he died in the cause of freedom for Indonesia.

That historical connections, and shared ideals, live on in the comprehensive partnership that Indonesia and the United States are building now. A 21st century partnership that we hope will be inaugurated during President's visit. I look forward to working all our friends here with to enrich that new era of bilateral cooperation between our countries.

Tonight, Let us honor that friendship. That partnership.

I now have the honor to ask all of you to raise our glass to the good health of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Barack Obama, and to the continued progress and prosperity and partnership between Indonesia and America.