Roosevelt Institute Honors Vice President Joseph Biden for Commitment to FDR’s Four Freedoms
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 02, 2014 -- On Thursday, July 10, the Roosevelt Institute will honor four individuals who have dedicated their lives and careers to public service. This awards ceremony will include a special presentation of the Freedom Medal, the Institute’s highest honor, to Vice President Joseph Biden, in recognition of his decades of work to promote the vision of global democracy and fundamental human rights set out in President Roosevelt’s famous 1941 Four Freedoms Address.
The ceremony, which will be held at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., will also include the presentation of the 2014 Franklin D. Roosevelt Distinguished Public Service Awards to Congressman George Miller, Senator Tom Harkin, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. These awards recognize men and women whose work reflects and inspires a Rooseveltian commitment to public service. The ceremony will begin with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m.
“My grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, believed that a strong civic life was essential to a thriving nation, and that everyone, from government to business to our local communities, must work together to promote social and economic justice. Their legacy and values live on in the work of these four great elected leaders,” said Roosevelt Institute Board Chair Anna E. Roosevelt.
Each of this year’s laureates was selected on the basis of his or her outstanding achievements in the field of public service. From his time on the New Castle County Council to his decades in the United States Senate to his current role in the Obama Administration, Vice President Biden has given America’s working families a voice in the halls of power. Congressman Miller has fought to make education more affordable for young Americans from all walks of life. Senator Harkin has championed the right of people with disabilities to live full and active lives. Congresswoman DeLauro has advocated for fair labor standards and critical investments in America’s economy. Taken together, their body of work discredits much of the anti-government cynicism that has prevailed for decades in America’s public discourse.
Recent recipients of the Distinguished Public Service Awards include Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Senator Harry Reid, philanthropist Bernard Rapoport, Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa, Senator Christopher Dodd, Congressman Barney Frank, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, among others. Past recipients of the Freedom Medal include such figures as U.S. Presidents Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton; South African President Nelson Mandela; His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Senator Hillary Clinton; and poet and novelist Wendell Berry.
For more information or to RSVP for the awards ceremony, please contact Tim Price. Additional logistical details for media are forthcoming.
About the Roosevelt Institute
The Roosevelt Institute is an ideas and leadership organization founded in the belief that America should offer opportunity to all. To develop a new social contract for the 21st century, we advance the work of progressive economists and social policy thinkers and support an emerging generation of leaders as they design solutions to the nation’s most pressing issues. For more information, visit us at rooseveltinstitute.org or find us on Facebook and Twitter.
###
Tim Price, Roosevelt Institute, +1 (212) 493-3323, [email protected]
Share this article