December 8, 2014
Senator John McCain
241 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC, 20510
Dear Senator McCain:
I have been a Republican all my life and have been a supporter of you from the time you came upon the political scene. I have the greatest admiration for the courageous way in which you bore the suffering imposed upon you as a prisoner of the Viet Cong.
It is only fair to you that I introduce myself. I am the 86- year old son of Hungarian immigrants who worked very hard in their small bakery to raise and educate my sister and me in Cleveland, Ohio. I was fortunate enough, through hard work, to graduate from Ohio State University and Harvard Law School and become the Principal Corporate Counsel of The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. I retired in 1987.
I am deeply puzzled as to how you could allow yourself to be bamboozled by left wingers at home and abroad that the Hungarian constitution is not based on democratic principles and that the Prime Minister of Hungary behaves like a dictator. What happened to your ability and responsibility as a Senator to examine the facts for yourself, knowing as you surely do, where the politically motivated accusations against Hungary have been coming from? I fully endorse what my friends Steve and Susan Szappanos state in their letter to you. Perhaps your staff has failed to do its homework and has misguided you.
The Hungarian Constitution eloquently spells out the protections of our Bill of Rights for the benefit of Hungarians and establishes a British type of parliamentary government. Please read it for yourself as the letter below suggests. Is it perfect? Not entirely. The Hungarian Constitution expressly guarantees religious freedom, but the provision allowing registration of religions is a negative . So far, this authority has not been abused as far as I can tell. Charges of anti-Semitism by the Hungarian Government, not only by the left, but also by the U.S. State Department, are unfounded. Of course, there is a minority of Hungarians who have that view, as do a minority of Americans (and a minority of Americans also love to hate Negros and various other ethnic groups). Words alone do not wipe out prejudice taught by parents to their children. Surely you recall how many Jews the Hungarian people helped escape the insanity of Hitler before and during World War II while the western world looked the other way. The Hungarian Constitution also seems to prohibit abortion. Well, there are a lot of Republicans (with whom I disagree) who would like to see such a provision in our Constitution.
What we see is that Hungarians are committed to the Bill of Rights and democratic government, like Americans and others in the democratic west; and, like we in the democratic west, are wrestling with many of the same issues we struggle to resolve. It is the duty of Americans, and yours as a member of the American Government, to support the efforts of Hungarians to develop a mature democracy and to fight off politically motivated efforts of left wing socialists and communists to subvert and kill off freedom in Hungary.
Regarding the pipeline issue. When the U.S. and the European Union decide to get tough enough with Russia, the Hungarians will be right there. Don’t expect Hungary or any other small European nation dependent on Russian gas and oil to throw itself under the Russian bus. Also, maybe if the American Government treats the Hungarian Government with a bit more respect for what it has accomplished since the Communists were driven out, there might be better results.
The United States puts up with all kinds of non-democratic countries where it needs their help. Why pick on democratic Hungary? The answer is that left wingers want to do in the Hungarian experiment with democracy. Senator McCain, please just look at the facts and do your homework.
Sincerely yours,
Theodore J. Horvath
