Biden gives 2nd-highest civilian award to Liz Cheney, Jan. 6 congressional panel leaders
FILE - Side-by-side image of the Presidential Citizens Medal and Liz Cheney. (Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden awarded the second-highest civilian medal to 20 people on Thursday, including Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, who were leaders of the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
"President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others," the White House said in a statement. "The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice."
What is the Presidential Citizens Medal?
The Presidential Citizens Medal recognizes Americans who have "performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens," according to the White House archives website.
The backstory: It was created by President Richard Nixon in 1969 and is the country’s second-highest civilian honor after the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Who will receive the medal?
In addition to Cheney and Thompson, Biden awarded the medal to several other Americans.
One of the recipients was attorney Mary Bonauto, who fought to legalize same-sex marriage, and Evan Wolfson, a leader of the marriage equality movement.
Other honorees included Frank Butler, who set new standards for using tourniquets on war injuries; Diane Carlson Evans, an Army nurse during the Vietnam War who founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation; and Eleanor Smeal, an activist who led women's rights protests in the 1970s and fought for equal pay.
He's also gave the award to photographer Bobby Sager, academics Thomas Vallely and Paula Wallace, and Frances Visco, the president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Other former lawmakers that were honored included former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J.; former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, the first woman to represent Kansas; and former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who championed gun safety measures after her son and husband were shot to death.
Biden honored four people posthumously: Joseph Galloway, a former war correspondent who wrote about the first major battle in Vietnam in the book "We Were Soldiers Once … and Young"; civil rights advocate and attorney Louis Lorenzo Redding; former Delaware judge Collins Seitz; and Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi, who was held with other Japanese Americans during World War II and challenged the detention.
For a full list of recipients, click here.
Who can receive a medal?
A person can be nominated for a Presidential Citizens Medal, but only if they are a U.S. citizen, according to the White House archives website.
The person who is nominated must have performed the service outside their regular job and the medal cannot be given to an organization or group of people.
You are also allowed to nominate yourself.
A nominee is someone who has:
- Demonstrated commitment to service in their own community or in communities farther from home.
- Helped their country or their fellow citizens through one or more extraordinary acts.
- Performed services that relate to a long-term or persistent problem
- Performed services that have a sustained impact on others' lives and provided inspiration for others to serve.