2022 MEDALS OF FREEDOM AWARDED

 

Clockwise from left, businesswoman Laurene Powell Jobs, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Gold Star father Khizr Khan and lawyer Fred Gray

President Biden on Thursday awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to 17 people in a wide variety of endeavors, including gymnast Simone Biles, Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington and, posthumously, inventor Steve Jobs and former senator John McCain.

Welcoming the recipients in the White House East Room, Biden called them an extraordinary, extraordinary group of Americans who strive for the idea of America as the the cause of freedom shines like the sun to light up the future of the world.

The honorees range from Biles, 25, the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history, who has advocated for sexual assault victims, to former senator Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), 90, the sharp-tongued politician and governor's son who served 18 years in the Senate and was outspoken on the issue of fiscal responsibility.

Of Biles, Biden joked, Today, she adds to her medal count of 32.

Biden's list of political honorees includes Republicans and Democrats. Former representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) co-founded Giffords, a nonprofit focused on preventing gun violence, after she was shot in the head at a constituent event in Tucson in January 2011 and gravely wounded. She is married to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a former astronaut, who is up for reelection this year.

From foster care challenges to gun violence, the recipients have witnessed up close some of the darkest elements of the American experience. But their triumphs over adversity are what makes them worthy of the nation's greatest honor, Biden said.

Gabby is one of the most courageous people I have ever known, he said.

One of the most decent, stand-up, genuine guys I've ever served with — and I serve with a lot of senators — is this guy, Biden said, referring to Simpson. Alan Simpson is the real former United States senator from his beloved Wyoming.

Jobs, who died of cancer in 2011, was co-founder and chief executive of Apple, whose company's inventions revolutionized the lives of billions of people worldwide.

The list also includes Khizr Khan, a Gold Star father who has been an advocate for the rule of law and religious freedom while serving on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; and Gen. Wilma Vaught, one of the most decorated women in the history of the U.S. military.

Biden honored Fred Gray, one of the first Black members of the Alabama legislature since Reconstruction and an attorney who represented civil rights activists such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, along with the NAACP. Other honorees include Raúl Yzaguirre, a civil rights advocate who served as chief executive and president of National Council of La Raza for 30 years, and Diane Nash, a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Biden praised Gray's contribution to helping dismantle unjust laws, working as one of the civil rights movement's most respected lawyers.

Fred's legal brilliance of strategy desegregated schools and secured the right to vote, the president said. … An ordained minister, he imbued a righteous calling that touched the soul of our nation.

To read the complete article, see:
Biden honors 17 people with Presidential Medal of Freedom (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/07/biden-freedom-medals-rapinoe-denzel-washington/)

For more on Fred Gray, see:
Fred Gray, the ‘chief counsel for the protest movement,' to get Medal of Freedom for his civil rights work (https://theconversation.com/fred-gray-the-chief-counsel-for-the-protest-movement-to-get-medal-of-freedom-for-his-civil-rights-work-186103)

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