Clinton says US joins Poland in mourning; president’s legacy ‘will live forever’

Clinton says US joins Poland in mourning

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that the Polish leaders, including President Lech Kaczynski, who were killed in a plane crash Saturday leave behind “a legacy that will live forever.”

Clinton visited the Polish embassy in Washington to sign a condolence book commemorating the deaths of Kaczynski and dozens of other Polish political, military and religious leaders in the plane crash in Russia.

The secretary told Robert Kupiecki, Poland’s ambassador to the United States, that Polish Americans as well as “every American who admires what Poland has built” are joining his nation in mourning.

“Those who were lost … were many of the leading figures and the strong, stalwart supporters of the Solidarity movement that led to Poland’s return to freedom,” Clinton said. “They leave behind a great legacy and a legacy that will live forever.”

Clinton promised the U.S. would work with Poland “to build that future that the people on that plane gave their lives for.”