"They are the best of America and they filled the White House with pride."
President Joe Biden presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 16 people on Thursday, including academic Julieta García, activist Raul Yzaguirre, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.
At an event held at the White House, Biden called the recipients an
"extraordinary group of Americans."
The medals are awarded by the president to individuals who have had a significant cultural impact or have made great contributions to the country or the world.
Among those who received medals, the country's highest civilian honor, were also soccer player Megan Rapinoe, actor Denzel Washington (who was unable to attend the ceremony due to COVID-19 and will receive it later), Khizr Khan – father of a Muslim captain of the American army fallen in combat – and the nurse Sandra Lindsay, an immigrant and the first person in the country to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Julieta García receives the highest civilian honor in the country at the White House.AP
Among the winners, two Hispanics stood out: Dr.
Julieta García
, a Texan professor and the first Latina to head a university in the country.
In an interview with Noticias Telemundo she assured: "I used my voice to speak for many people who perhaps do not have a voice or do not know how to use it. There is still a lot to do and I tell them: 'Cheer up'".
With fragile health but his same strong spirit, he received the
Raul Yzaguirre
medal , a veteran, activist and defender of the civil rights of Latinos, who was the founder and general director of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years.
His son said his family "feels a great honor."
“The week of the 4th of July reminds us of what united us long ago and still unites us: it unites us at our best, at what we strive for,” Biden said. “We the people,
doing what we can to ensure that the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the sun
to illuminate the future of the world."
"This is America," the president said, pointing to the stage with the honorees.
The moment when Biden gives the medal to Raul Yzaguirre this Thursday.SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
There were also posthumous tributes
John McCain, who was a senator from Arizona until he died in 2018, was recognized as a military hero and a champion of bipartisan politics.
Her widow Cindy McCain assured that her husband would not recognize the Republican party today.
[Texas defies the Biden Government and orders the National Guard to arrest undocumented immigrants and return them to the border]
The other deceased to be honored this Thursday were Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc., and Richard Trumka, who was president of the AFL-CIO, the largest labor union in the United States and Canada.
Dozens of dreamers demonstrate outside the court of appeals where they analyze the legality of DACA
July 6, 202201:54
Other decorated
Gabby Giffords, a former Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head at an election rally in Tucson in 2011, was honored for her bravery and later becoming a strong advocate for gun violence prevention efforts.
For her part, Simone Biles – the most decorated gymnast in the history of the United States, with 32 Olympic and world medals – was also present at the ceremony.
In an interview with Noticias Telemundo she assured that, of all the ones she has: "This is one of my favorite medals."
The president awards the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to gymnast Simone Biles. Susan Walsh / AP
Megan Rapinoe, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion, wore a white suit with WNBA star Brittney Griner's initials embroidered on the lapel.
Hours before the White House ceremony, Griner, detained in Russia since February, pleaded guilty to drug charges in a Moscow court.
“Most important part today,” Rapinoe wrote in an Instagram post of a photo of the embroidered initials.
Also featured were former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyoming, a leading advocate of campaign finance reform and marriage equality;
Sister Simone Campbell, advocate for progressive issues;
Fred Gray, one of the first black members of the Alabama state legislature since the Reconstruction period;
Father Alexander Karloutsos, former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America;
Diane Nash, a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who worked with Martin Luther King Jr., and Wilma Vaught, a Brigadier General and one of the most decorated women in US military history.
With information from
NBC News
