BOSTON – As most of the nation celebrated America’s 225th birthday on Wednesday with parades, fireworks and barbecues, thousands of immigrants marked Independence Day by embracing their new home.
President Bush was in the nation’s birthplace, Philadelphia, trying to tie his plan for religious charities to the best hopes of the founding fathers. Mr. Bush urged Congress to allow government funds to flow to churches, mosques and synagogues that seek to ease social woes.
“Our founders would … find, amid the problems of modern life, a familiar American spirit of faith and good works,” Mr. Bush said. “They would see the signs of poverty and want, but also acts of great kindness and charity.”
Before his speech, Mr. Bush and his wife, Laura, went to the Greater Exodus Baptist Church, where the president played touch football with young people at a block party for children and families who participate in mentoring programs run by various churches or religious charities.
Also in Philadelphia, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was awarded the 2001 Philadelphia Liberty Medal for his moral leadership and commitment to creating “a better, more compassionate world.”
“Liberty is not just a cause for celebration today, but also a worthy crusade for our time,” he told a crowd of several thousand.
In Atlanta’s parade, the grand marshal was Navy Lt. Shane Osborn, the pilot of a surveillance plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet and crash landed in April.
“It’s good to be back in the United States,” said Lt. Osborn, who with his 23 crew members was held in China for 11 days.
Fans of the Boston Pops lined up Wednesday morning to score front-row seats on the Esplanade for the scheduled evening performance, which was to feature Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Reynolds and a reading by Peter Jennings.
In Washington, hundreds of people lined up at the National Archives building to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution before a two-year, $100 million renovation project closes their home to the public.
