[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17928]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  THE AWARDING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM TO SENATOR GEORGE 
                                McGOVERN

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today with great pride and 
satisfaction to address an occasion of great significance that occurred 
during the Senate's August recess. On August 9, President Clinton 
awarded the highly prestigious Medal of Freedom to former United States 
Senator George McGovern. This medal is the very highest award presented 
to civilians by the United States Government, and is an honor that is 
richly deserved.
  Throughout his long and remarkable career, George McGovern has 
distinguished himself as a scholar, a political leader, a humanitarian 
and a person of extraordinary integrity. A generation of American 
political leaders still define themselves as McGovern Democrats.'' At 
Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, George McGovern 
effectively emphasized the great importance of public service and civic 
involvement. As President Kennedy's Director of Food for Peace he 
helped launch our nation's commitment to combat world hunger. On the 
floor of the United States Senate, McGovern was a powerful voice for 
rural America, for our nation's disadvantaged, as well as for an end to 
the Viet Nam conflict. Today, as ambassador to the United Nations Food 
and Agricultural Organization in Rome, Ambassador McGovern has 
continued his work on nutrition and has articulated a visionary plan 
for a world school lunch program.
  As my colleagues are very aware, Senator McGovern won the Democratic 
nomination for President of the United States in l972 in what turned 
out to be an unsuccessful presidential campaign. Historians will long 
ponder what the course of American history might have been if that 
campaign had turned out differently. But we don't have to wait for the 
judgment of historians to know George McGovern's life has had an 
incredibly important and lasting impact on America and the world. 
George continues to persevere and his commitment to a better planet 
continues to shine.
  We in South Dakota understandably feel a profound pride in the life 
and career of George McGovern--a son of a South Dakota minister, a 
military hero, a national political leader, and a diplomat of the 
highest order. I extend my enthusiastic congratulations to Senator 
McGovern and wish he and his family the very best as he continues his 
critically important work in Rome.

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