Joe Biden is bestowing the second highest civilian medal on the Democratic congressman, Bennie Thompson, and Republican former congresswoman Liz Cheney who led the bipartisan congressional investigation into the deadly 6 January 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol riot by Donald Trump’s supporters intent on overturning his election defeat by Biden.
Trump, who takes office again on 20 January after winning last November’s election, has said the leaders of that committee, which published its conclusions in December 2022 after a series of high-profile public hearings, should be jailed, not rewarded.
Biden, the outgoing US president, will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people in a ceremony late on Thursday afternoon at the White House.
As well as the prominent co-chairs of that committee, other recipients include Americans who successfully fought for marriage equality for same-sex couples to become legal.
There will also be a medal for a pioneer in treating wounded soldiers, and two of the Democratic president’s longtime political allies, the Democratic former US Senators Ted Kaufman of Delaware, the state that Biden represented in the senate, and Chris Dodd of Connecticut.
“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.”
Biden last year honored people who were involved in defending the US Capitol from the rioters who stormed the building on that January 6, hunting down fleeing lawmakers and invading the House chamber, which moments before had been packed for the ceremony to officially certify Biden’s win over Trump in the 2020 election, or otherwise safeguarded the election result.
Cheney, who was a Republican representative from Wyoming and is the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, and Thompson, a Mississippi Democratic representative, led the House committee that investigated the insurrection.
The committee’s final report asserted that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the election he lost to Biden and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. Thompson wrote that Trump “lit that fire”.
Cheney later said she would vote for the Democratic vice-president, Kamala Harris, in the 2024 presidential race and even campaigned with her after being fiercely critical of Trump post-January 6.
Biden has been considering whether to offer pre-emptive pardons to Cheney and others Trump has targeted.
Trump still refuses to back away from his lies about the 2020 presidential race and has said he would pardon the rioters once he takes office.
During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump said: “Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,” claiming without evidence they “deleted and destroyed” testimony they collected. “Honestly, they should go to jail,” he said.
Biden on Thursday is also giving the presidential award to attorney Mary Bonauto, who fought to legalize same-sex marriage, and Evan Wolfson, a leader of the marriage equality movement.
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Other honorees include 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 is also giving 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 being honored include former senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey; former senator Nancy Kassebaum, the first woman to represent Kansas; and former congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of New York, who championed gun safety measures after her son and husband were shot to death.
Biden will honor 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 state judge Collins Seitz; and Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi, who was held with other Japanese Americans during the second world war and challenged the detention.
The Presidential Citizens Medal, created by President Richard Nixon in 1969, is the country’s second highest civilian honor after the presidential medal of freedom. It is awarded to those who “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens”.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
In a recent announcement, President Joe Biden has revealed his plans to honor two prominent figures with the civilian medal for their dedication to public service and commitment to upholding democracy.
Congresswoman Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming who was recently ousted from her leadership position for speaking out against former President Donald Trump, will be recognized for her courage and integrity in standing up for what she believes is right.
Additionally, Congressman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi who has been a strong advocate for civil rights and social justice throughout his career, will also be honored for his unwavering commitment to serving the American people.
President Biden’s decision to bestow these prestigious awards on Cheney and Thompson highlights his commitment to bipartisanship and unity in the face of political divisiveness. It serves as a reminder that, regardless of political differences, individuals who uphold democratic values and work tirelessly to protect the rights of all Americans deserve to be celebrated and recognized for their contributions.
The ceremony honoring Cheney and Thompson with the civilian medal is set to take place in the coming weeks, where they will be commended for their outstanding service to the country.
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