By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Related Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will current the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 17 individuals, together with actor Denzel Washington, gymnast Simone Biles and the late John McCain, the Arizona Republican with whom Biden served within the U.S. Senate.
Biden will even acknowledge Sandra Lindsay, the New York Metropolis nurse who rolled up her sleeve on dwell tv in December 2020 to obtain the primary COVID-19 vaccine dose that was pumped into an arm in america, the White Home introduced Friday.
Biden’s honors record, which the White Home shared first with The Related Press, consists of each residing and deceased honorees from the worlds of Hollywood, sports activities, politics, the navy, academia, and civil rights and social justice advocacy.
The Democratic president will current the medals on the White Home subsequent week.
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Biden himself is a medal recipient. President Barack Obama honored Biden’s public service as a longtime U.S. senator and vp by awarding him a Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2017, per week earlier than they left workplace.
The honorees who’ll obtain medals from Biden “have overcome important obstacles to attain spectacular accomplishments within the arts and sciences, devoted their lives to advocating for essentially the most weak amongst us, and acted with bravery to drive change of their communities, and the world over, whereas blazing trails for generations to return,” the White Home stated.
The dignity is reserved for individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or safety of america, world peace or different important societal public or personal endeavors, the White Home stated.
Biles is essentially the most adorned U.S. gymnast in historical past, successful 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. She is an outspoken advocate on points which might be very private to her, together with athletes’ psychological well being, youngsters in foster care and sexual assault victims.
Lindsay grew to become an advocate for COVID-19 vaccinations after receiving the primary dose within the U.S. exterior of medical trials.
McCain, who died of mind most cancers in 2018, spent greater than 5 years in captivity in Vietnam whereas serving within the U.S. Navy. He later represented Arizona in each homes of Congress and was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Biden stated McCain was a “expensive pal” and “a hero.”
Washington is a double Oscar-winning actor, director and producer. He additionally has a Tony award, two Golden Globes and the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s a longtime spokesperson for the Boys & Ladies Golf equipment of America.
The opposite 13 medal recipients are:
— Sister Simone Campbell. Campbell is a member of the Sister of Social Service and a former govt director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice group. She is an advocate for financial justice, overhauling the U.S. immigration system and well being care coverage.
— Julieta Garcia. A former president of the College of Texas at Brownsville, Garcia was the primary Latina to turn out to be a university president, the White Home stated. She was named one of many nation’s greatest school presidents by Time journal.
— Gabrielle Giffords. A former U.S. Home member from Arizona, the Democrat based Giffords, a corporation devoted to ending gun violence. She was shot within the head in January 2011 throughout a constituent occasion in Tucson and was gravely wounded.
— Fred Grey. Grey was one of many first Black members of the Alabama Legislature after Reconstruction. He was a distinguished civil rights lawyer who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr.
— Steve Jobs. Jobs was the co-founder, chief govt and chair of Apple Inc. He died in 2011.
— Father Alexander Karloutsos. Karloutsos is the assistant to Archbishop Demetrios of America. The White Home stated Karloutsos has recommended a number of U.S. presidents.
— Khizr Khan. An immigrant from Pakistan, Khan’s Military officer son was killed in Iraq. Khan gained nationwide prominence, and have become a goal of Donald Trump’s wrath, after talking on the 2016 Democratic Nationwide Conference.
— Diane Nash. A founding member of the Pupil Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Nash organized a few of the most essential twentieth century civil rights campaigns and labored with King.
— Megan Rapinoe. The Olympic gold medalist and two-time Girls’s World Cup soccer champion captains the OL Reign within the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League. She is a distinguished advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice and LGBTQI+ rights who has appeared at Biden’s White Home.
Rapinoe, who was at coaching camp in Denver when the White Home known as to tell her of the glory, thought she was getting a prank or robocall when she noticed her cellphone say “White Home,” U.S. Soccer stated in a press release. She confirmed her cellphone to a teammate, who inspired her to reply the decision.
— Alan Simpson. The retired U.S. senator from Wyoming served with Biden and has been a distinguished advocate for marketing campaign finance reform, accountable governance and marriage equality.
— Richard Trumka. Trumka had been president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO for greater than a decade on the time of his August 2021 dying. He was a previous president of the United Mine Staff.
— Wilma Vaught. A brigadier basic, Vaught is among the most adorned ladies in U.S. navy historical past, breaking gender limitations as she has risen by way of the ranks. When Vaught retired in 1985, she was certainly one of solely seven feminine generals within the Armed Forces.
— Raúl Yzaguirre. A civil rights advocate, Yzaguirre was president and CEO of the Nationwide Council of La Raza for 30 years. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic underneath Obama.
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