Diwali was celebrated at the White House for the fourth time during George W. Bush's Presidency on Thursday, October 19, 2006. As President Bush was on a campaign trail, Karen Hughes, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, and one of Presidents closest and most trusted advisors for more than a decade represented President at the event. She eloquently described the growing warm relationship between India and the USA and how much the President values this relationship. Karen identified Diwalis festivities with hope and compassion and wished all homes around the world to be full of light during the Diwali festivities. She affectionately extolled the success and the contribution of the Indian Community to the USA. She asked the Indian community to continue their efforts in getting the US Senate to pass the US-India Civic Nuclear Agreement related legislation.
Jay Hein, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives brought the importance of religion in daily life and connected it with the social responsibilities of any civil society. The events like Diwali remind us of our duty of empowering the people for the common good.
The lighting of the Diyas ceremony was led by Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, an Indian community activist and the National Coordinator of the Global Organization of Peoples of Indian Origin and Mr. Jay Hein and were joined by Ambassador Bhishma Agnihotri, Commissioner Akshay Desai and Indian American Republican Council Chair Dr. R. Vijaynagar.
Commissioner Rudy Pamintuan, Chairman of The White House Initiative on Asian American & Pacific Islanders made the concluding remarks by connecting Diwali with prosperity and thanked Michelle Lee of The White House and Dr. Piyush Agrawal for organizing this event.
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