Modified: September 11, 2018 3:22pm
Created: August 16, 2018 9:48am
August 16, 2018
COMPTROLLER STEFAN I. MYCHAJLIW JR. STATEMENT
Responds to Governor Andrew Cuomo Comments that America ‘was never that great’
(ERIE COUNTY, NY) – “My family is the definition of living the beauty of the American dream. When my immigrant grandparents and father fled their Ukrainian farm with nothing to find a better life here, they did so because they wanted to live freely in the greatest country on Earth. After coming to America legally, our family didn’t have two nickels to rub together. But my Polish mother and Ukrainian father always told us that in America, if you work hard and earn an education, you can achieve greatness.
With every fiber of my being, I believe in the greatness of America, that through God’s grace, a strong work ethic and a quality education, we can pursue our greatest dreams and make them real. One of the proudest moments of my life was Election Day, November 6th, 2012. That is when my Tato, my father, who fled a communist regime and never would have had the right to vote had he stayed there, walked into a polling place and saw his own name on a ballot, that of his own son. That is the grace and strength defined of our beloved United States of America.
This great nation has provided my family with immense freedoms, gifts and opportunities they never would have had being brutally held down from the oppressive weight of the Iron Fist of Communism. I thank God every single day I live in the greatest nation on earth: the United States of America. How I wish other sons and grandsons of immigrants would appreciate America and the opportunities it represents the way most of us do.”
Stefan Mychajliw
Erie County Comptroller
For a PDF of the statement, please CLICK HERE.