Kennedy, O'Connor to get Freedom medal

WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- A sitting U.S. senator, a former Supreme Court judge and global rights advocates are among the 16 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, is awarded to people who "make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural, or other significant public or private endeavors,'' the White House said when announcing the awards Thursday.

Kennedy -- who is battling brain cancer -- said he was "profoundly grateful'' to President Barack Obama for including him in this year's class, The Boston Globe reported Friday.

Obama will present the medals at a White House Aug. 12. Other recipients are former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the late congressman and housing secretary Jack Kemp, anti-apartheid leader and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, civil rights leader Joseph Lowery, the late gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, Race for the Cure founder Nancy Brinker, actors Sidney Poitier and Chita Rivera, Nobel laureate and physicist Stephen Hawking, tennis legend and activist Billie Jean King, medical activist Pedro Jose Greer Jr., Plains Indian war chief and author Joseph Medicine Crow, former president of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, global anti-poverty leader Muhammad Yunus and geneticist and medical pioneer Janet Davison Rowley.

"Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs,'' Obama said in a statement. "Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way. Their relentless devotion to breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens sets a standard to which we all should strive.''