Biden To Honor Liz Cheney, 19 Others With Presidential Citizens Medal

President Joe Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal, one of the nation’s highest civilian medals, to 20 people on Thursday, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). Both helped lead the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The medal, which will be presented to the honorees at the White House, is awarded to U.S. citizens “who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens,” the White House said in a statement.

Cheney was recognized for having “raised her voice — and reached across the aisle — to defend our nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency.”

Thompson was lauded for his work registering southern Black voters following the Civil Rights Movement and chairing the House committee, where he was “at the forefront of defending the rule of law with unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to truth,” the White House said.

Cheney’s recognition follows accusations by President-elect Donald Trump that she committed “egregious and unthinkable acts of crime” during the House panel. His assertion follows Republicans releasing an interim report last month that criticized her appointment to the panel and her performance throughout it. Thompson, in his own response, dismissed the report’s claims as “baseless” and an attempt to “rewrite history” in Trump’s favor.

Others set to be recognized with the award Thursday include same-sex marriage advocates, civil rights advocates, a war reporter, a breast cancer research advocate and various lawmakers, including Biden’s close friends former Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and former Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), who were both lauded for their decades of public service.

“President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others. The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice,” the White House said.

These are the other 16 recipients:

Mary L. Bonauto is an attorney who successfully argued the Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, making same-sex marriage legal across the U.S. in 2015.

Bill Bradley is a two-time NBA champion who served three terms in the U.S. Senate and ran for president in 2000.

Frank K. Butler Jr. is a retired U.S. Navy captain who set new standards for tourniquet use and treating battlefield trauma.

Diane Carlson Evans founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation after serving as an Army nurse during the Vietnam War.

Joseph L. Galloway, who died in 2021, was a war reporter who received a Bronze Star Medal for having rescued wounded American soldiers amid heavy enemy fire during the Vietnam War.

Nancy Landon Kassebaum was Kansas’ first female senator and a fierce advocate for women’s rights and health care.

Carolyn McCarthy is a former New York congresswoman who ran for office and advocated for gun safety measures after her husband was fatally shot and her son wounded on a commuter train in 1993.

Louis Lorenzo Redding, who died in 1998, was a lawyer and civil rights advocate who helped challenge school segregation before the Supreme Court in 1954.

Bobby Sager is a photographer and philanthropist whose work in international conflict zones has served as a call to action and activism.

Collins J. Seitz, who died in 1998, was the first U.S. judge to integrate a white public school and dismantle the doctrine of “separate but equal.”

Eleanor Smeal is a women’s rights activist who worked for equal pay and the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994.

Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi, who died in 2006, challenged the constitutionality of the incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II before the Supreme Court.

Thomas J. Vallely is a U.S. Marine and Vietnam War veteran who has worked toward strengthening economic, educational and cultural exchanges between the U.S. and Vietnam, including with his establishment of the nonprofit Fulbright University Vietnam.

Frances M. Visco is the president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. She has worked to increase federal funding for breast cancer research, early detection education and access to women’s health care.

Paula S. Wallace established the Savannah College of Art and Design in 1978 and is one of the longest-serving female presidents in the history of U.S. higher education.

Evan Wolfson is an attorney and a leading same-sex marriage advocate who oversaw the nonprofit organization Freedom to Marry until same-sex marriage’s legalization in 2015.