[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 45, Number 2 (Monday, January 19, 2009)]
[Pages 67-70]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom

January 13, 2009

    The President. Good afternoon to everybody, and thank you all for 
coming. We have assembled quite a distinguished crowd to honor three 
good friends: President Uribe, Prime Minister Howard, and Prime Minister 
Blair. Laura and I welcome you to the White House.
    You'll always be welcomed in our country. And we hope to have you 
come down and visit us in Texas. As you probably have heard, we're 
changing addresses here--[laughter]--in a little less than 7 days.
    We're delighted to have a lot of distinguished guests, people who 
have worked with you throughout your time in office; members of your 
family who are here, we're really glad you've come.
    I want to thank the Vice President, members of the Cabinet, and 
Members of the Congress who have joined us as well. We offer a special 
welcome to those who are personal friends of the honorees. I know 
they're as delighted to have you here as I am.
    In a few moments the military aide will read the citations for the 
Presidential Medal of Freedom. The medal is America's highest civil 
award. It is given in recognition of exemplary achievement and to convey 
the utmost

[[Page 68]]

esteem of the people and the President of the United States.
    In these 8 years, I have presented the Medal of Freedom to some of 
our most eminent citizens. On occasion, I have also had the honor of 
presenting it to citizens of other lands who inspired particular 
admiration in the United States and provided courageous leadership to 
our world. Among these recipients have been Vaclav Havel, Ellen Johnson 
Sirleaf, Nelson Mandela, and the late Pope John Paul II.
    This afternoon I am pleased to award the Medal of Freedom to three 
extraordinary leaders. We honor a sitting President and two former 
vice--Prime Ministers, each one of them a true friend of the United 
States who met historic challenges with great tenacity, and who provides 
a lasting example of statesmanship at home and abroad.
    The first day I met Tony Blair, almost exactly 8 years ago, he was 
in his second term as Prime Minister, and I was just starting out. After 
our first meeting, a reporter asked if we'd found anything in common, 
and I jokingly replied that we both used Colgate toothpaste. [Laughter]
    The truth is I did feel a close connection to Tony Blair. As I said 
after the first meeting, I knew that when either of us gets in a bind, 
there will be a friend on the other end of the phone. My friend was 
there, indeed, after America was attacked on September the 11th, 2001. 
And it just wasn't on the phone line. When I stood in the House Chamber 
to ask the civilized world to rally to freedom's cause, there in the 
gallery was the staunch friend Prime Minister Tony Blair.
    He was there in a moment of trial to affirm the special relationship 
between the United States and the United Kingdom. And he was there to 
show America, and all nations, that he understood the stakes in the war 
on terror. As he said: ``Just as the terrorist seeks to divide humanity 
in hate, so we have to unify it around an idea. And that idea is 
liberty.'' Under Tony Blair's leadership, the might and the moral 
authority of Great Britain have been applied to the war on terror from 
the first day. Our nations have worked proudly together to destroy 
terrorist havens, liberate millions, and help rising democracies to 
serve the aspirations of their people.
    Tony Blair's entire career is defined by his devotion to democratic 
values and human dignity. At his very center, this man believes in 
freedom: freedom from oppression, freedom from hunger, freedom from 
disease, and freedom from fear and despair. In the House of Commons, as 
the longest serving Labour Prime Minister in history, he fought to lift 
up his nation's communities and better the lives of all its people. He 
helped turn generations of violence in Northern Ireland into years of 
peace. He drew the attention and conscience of the world to the 
suffering in Africa, and he continues to serve the cause of peace and 
democracy as the Quartet Envoy to the Middle East.
    Out of office but still in public life, Tony Blair remains on the 
world stage as a man of high intelligence and insight, and above all, as 
a man of faith and idealism and integrity. The former Prime Minister of 
the United Kingdom will stand tall in history. And today the United 
States of America proudly honors its gallant friend Tony Blair.
    John Howard of Australia has spent a lot of years in politics. He's 
won some, and he's lost a few. There was even a time, two decades ago, 
when he thought his days of political leadership might be over. A 
comeback, he said, would be like ``Lazarus with a triple bypass.'' 
[Laughter] The man has got an unusual way of speaking. [Laughter]
    With his plain-spoken style and unpretentious manner, John Howard 
did make a comeback. He rose to his nation's highest elected office, won 
four straight elections, and served longer than all other Australian 
Prime Ministers but one. And all the while, John Howard retained his 
close connection with the people of his country. His time in office was 
marked by great national confidence and prosperity and rising global 
influence. He won the respect of leaders around the world for his 
commitment to free markets, cooperation, and the peaceful resolution of 
differences. He was a faithful steward of Australia's alliances and a 
sturdy friend in a time of need.
    At an event here in Washington, he reflected on the many tests that 
our two countries faced together in the 20th century. He

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spoke with feeling about our shared values, as well as our obligation to 
defend them, and ``if necessary fight for them, and be ready to repel 
those who would seek to take [our] freedoms away.''
    As it happens, John Howard spoke those words on Monday, September 
the 10th, 2001, and in all that followed, he proved true to his 
convictions. He always has been brave in the defense of freedom. In 
these 7 years, both our countries have lost innocent civilians and 
suffered casualties on the field of battle. But this man, who saw the 
burning Pentagon on September the 11th, and who confronted--comforted 
the survivors of Bali, never wavered in his commitment to overcoming 
this great danger to civilization. He never wavered in his support for 
liberty, and free institutions, and the rule of law as the true and 
hopeful alternatives to ideologies of violence and repression. He's a 
man of honesty and moral clarity. He can make a decision, he can defend 
it, and he stands his ground. That's why I called him a man of steel.
    In the character of John Winston Howard we see that fine Australian 
spirit of ``standing by your mates.'' Our two countries, though half a 
world apart, have long enjoyed an easy and natural fellowship. And the 
25th Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia stands for all that 
Americans like and admire most about this wonderful country.
    So, Mr. Prime Minister, our friend, welcome to the White House and 
congratulations.
    National leaders sometimes take office without fully knowing all the 
tests that await them. But when Alvaro Uribe became the President of 
Colombia, the challenges were in full view. He knew exactly what he was 
getting into.
    For more than a generation, good and decent people across that 
country had lived at the mercy of brutal drug cartels and illegal, armed 
groups. A contagion of terrorist violence and killings and kidnappings 
had shaken the political system and caused many Colombians to despair 
for their nation's future. Early in this decade, the Republic of 
Colombia was near the point of being, at best, a failed state, or at 
worst, a narco-state. In those conditions, it took more than ambition 
and ideals to run for political office; it required immense personal 
courage and strength of character.
    As a Presidential candidate in 2002, Alvaro Uribe pledged to his 
people greater security, a healthier democracy, and a better chance for 
prosperous lives. He was elected on a theme that expressed perfectly 
what the Colombian people desired in a President: ``Strong hand and big 
heart.''
    President Uribe's leadership has been resolute and uncompromising. 
Today in Colombia, homicides are down 40 percent, kidnapings are down 
more than 80 percent, terror attacks are down by more than 75 percent. 
The forces of violence are on the defensive, and the people are 
reclaiming their country.
    President Uribe's fellow citizens know him as someone who speaks 
forthrightly and follows through on his commitments. With his lifelong 
interest in public policy, he has a phenomenal grasp of the details of 
governing. At the same time, he has formed a powerful bond with his 
people. They've met their President in townhalls across the country. 
They've seen him deliver results. They like him, and they trust him. And 
they have made him the first Colombian leader in the modern era to win 
reelection.
    Lately, I've been asked to reflect on the most memorable events of 
my Presidency. Among those is a phone call I received several months ago 
from President Uribe. He called to say that a group of hostages, 
including three Americans, that had been held in captivity for 5 years, 
had been rescued and were alive and safe and sound. It was a joyful 
moment, Mr. President. And it was a credit to your leadership.
    For President Uribe, the great demands of office continue. Today the 
United States honors all Colombians by honoring the man they have chosen 
to lead them. By refusing to allow the land he loves to be destroyed by 
an enemy within, by proving that terror can be opposed and defeated, 
President Uribe has reawakened the hopes of his countrymen and shown a 
model of leadership to a watching world. Colombia remains a nation with 
challenges. But the future will always be bright in a country that 
produces such men as President Alvaro Uribe.

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    Congratulations, mi amigo.
    Each of these gentlemen we honor today has his own style and 
personality, and each has amassed distinctions and achievements that 
belong to him alone. Yet all of them have shown a firm adherence to the 
principles of freedom and democratic values and a willingness to face 
problems squarely instead of passing them on to others. They're the sort 
of guys who look you in the eye and tell you the truth and keep their 
word. In lengthy service they proved to be leaders of character and 
fortitude. They are warm friends of the United States of America. The 
opportunity to know them and work with them has been among the great 
satisfactions of my time as President. I respect them, and I admire 
them.
    And now I ask the military aide to read the citations, and it will 
be my honor to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tony Blair, 
John Howard, Alvaro Uribe.

[Lt. Cmdr. Clay Beers, USN, Navy Aide to the President, read the 
citations, and the President presented the medals.]

    The President. In honor of these distinguished gentlemen, Laura and 
I invite you to stay for a reception in the State Dining Room. Please 
enjoy yourselves, and thank you for joining us here at the White House.

Note: The President spoke at 1:07 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to former President Vaclav Havel of 
the Czech Republic; President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia; former 
President Nelson Mandela of South Africa; and Marc Gonsalves, Thomas 
Howes, and Keith Stansell, former hostages held by the Revolutionary 
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.