
Biden has often talked about his special friendship with and admiration for McCain, who was the GOP nominee for president in 2008 in a losing bid against Biden and Obama. McCain, who died in 2018, will be honored posthumously for his service as a veteran who spent five years in a North Vietnamese prison, and who represented Arizona in Congress, serving two terms in the House and six in the Senate. President, I am exceedingly grateful for this recognition, and I look forward to persevering with you in this fight.” “It is the honor of a lifetime to receive this award. “President Biden signed into law the first major gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years,” Giffords said in her statement Friday. The announcement of the medal comes just days after Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law, the first major gun-reform legislation to pass Congress in decades. Giffords is the head of a self-named group – Giffords – that works to end gun violence in America through the Giffords Law Center, Giffords PAC and advocacy.
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“Since I was shot more than 11 years ago, my personal recovery journey has taught me that it’s not the setback that defines us: it’s how we respond to it,” Giffords said in a statement that referenced how she had to relearn “how to talk and how to walk.” Giffords, who subsequently became an advocate for gun reform, said she was “so very humbled and honored” by news of the award. The mass shooting killed six people and wounded 13, including Giffords, who nearly died and still grapples with health issues from that attack. Giffords represented the Tucson area in Congress for five years before she was the target of an assassination attempt during a constituent event at a Tucson grocery store in January 2011. “I can’t think of two Americans more deserving of this honor,” Kelly wrote of Giffords and McCain being named. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who is married to Giffords, tagged McCain’s widow, Cindy, in a tweet Friday celebrating the honor and saying they “might be the proudest spouses in Arizona right now.” The latest batch of honorees includes actor Denzel Washington, athletes Simone Biles and Megan Rapinoe, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Sandra Lindsay, a New York nurse and one of the first people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Biden is scheduled to present the medals Thursday at a White House ceremony. The 17 announced Friday are the first for President Joe Biden – who was himself honored with the medal by President Barack Obama. The list includes iconic figures, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Stephen Hawking and Maya Angelou.

Honorees include politicians and artists, athletes and activists. The medal is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to “prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” the White House said in a statement Friday.

They include former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Annie Dodge Wauneka, who was honored in 1963 for her work to improve health on the Navajo Nation. Kennedy, but relatively few appear to have been from Arizona. More than 600 people have been awarded the medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor, since it was established by President John F.
