ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100041
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
President Clinton presented the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, on Monday to 11 men and women he said ``have raised the practice of freedom to new heights.''
They included a prominent churchman, a presidential press secretary, a former congressman and a civil rights pioneer.
``Although we confer these medals today on worthy individuals, we recognize even more than individual achievement,'' Clinton said at the East Room ceremony. ``We honor the American values that united us as a people renewed faith in the freedom that has brought this nation this far and the freedom that will sustain us into the next century.''
Two of the recipients were not at the ceremony. The president said Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus helped spark the civil rights movement, was delayed. Former Rep. Morris Udall, an Arizona congressman for 30 years who now has Parkinson's disease, was represented by his son.
``The 11 men and women we honor today have raised the practice of freedom to new heights,'' the president said before placing the medal around each recipient's neck.
Those honored are:
*Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, who announced last month that doctors expect him to die within a year from pancreatic cancer. Bernardin, 68, was the youngest Roman Catholic bishop in the nation when he was consecrated 30 years ago.
``Throughout his career, he has fought tirelessly against social injustice, poverty and ignorance,'' the president said. ``Without question, he is both a remarkable man of God and a man of the people.''
*James Brady had been on the job as Ronald Reagan's press secretary just more than two months in 1981 when he was critically wounded in John Hinckley's attack on the president. Brady and his wife, Sarah, have been leaders in the fight for gun control and were given a prominent speaking spot at last month's Democratic national convention in Chicago.
Clinton said the Bradys ``have waged a moral and political battle to save lives and to keep handguns out of the hands of criminals.''
*Rosa Parks continues to work on human rights issues and founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in Detroit, which offers career training for teen-agers. Clinton said she would receive the medal another time.
*Morris Udall retired from Congress in 1991, 12 years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Udall ran for president in 1976, dropping out of the race in its early stages. He was chairman of the House Interior Committee for 14 years, leading the way on landmark environmental legislation.
``Morris Udall represents everything a lawmaker should be,'' Clinton said. ``His work is a gift to all Americans.''
*Millard Fuller, who founded Habitat for Humanity, which has built more than 50,000 homes for poor families. The president mentioned that he, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, and Gore's wife, Tipper, ``have all swung hammers for Habitat.''
*David Alan Hamburg, a psychiatrist and president of the Carnegie Foundation who has influenced policy-makers and lobbied for family legislation.
*John H. Johnson, who founded Ebony and Jet magazines and has been called the most influential black publisher in American history. He was honored for breaking negative stereotypes and building self-respect in the black community.
*Eugene M. Lang, who adopted a sixth-grade class and paid the tuition of anyone who went to college, and created the I Have a Dream Foundation.
*Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, who risked his life as a member of the Polish underground during World War II.
*Antonia Pantoja, who has devoted her life to promoting community development.
*Ginetta Sagan, a member of the World War II Italian resistance who has devoted her life to fighting human rights abuses around the world.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. President Clinton presents the Presidential Medal ofby CNBFreedom to John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony and Jet magazines.