Awards Highlight Conscience, Courage of Lee’s Work
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) is scheduled to receive two awards next week that highlight the conscience and courage that define her work in Congress on issues ranging from war and genocide to AIDS and healthcare.
“There are many life and death issues like AIDS, genocide, human rights and global security and peace that we are faced with every day, and I have no option but to try to make this world a better place. I am deeply humbled to receive these awards,” said Lee.
On Monday, July 10th, she will receive the Lifetime of Peacemaking Award from the Baptist Peace Fellowship in a ceremony at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia during the organization’s annual national conference. Lee was chosen to receive the award for her pursuit of alternatives to violence as a foreign policy tool and her efforts to end the genocide in Darfur.
On Tuesday, July 11th, Congresswoman Lee and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) will be the inaugural recipients of the Houghton-Lewis Award for Conscience, Courage and Compassion from the Faith and Politics Institute at a dinner celebrating the organization’s 15th anniversary at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, DC. She was chosen to receive this award for being a “politician who often follows her conscience, even when it conflicts with conventional political wisdom,” for being an “effective advocate for peace, health care reform and improved education,” and for her work to address the global AIDS pandemic.
Lee received international attention for her lone vote against giving the Bush administration a blank check to wage war against an undefined enemy in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. While her controversial vote was attacked as unpatriotic at the time, it cemented her reputation as a principled lawmaker and actually opened doors to collaboration across party lines that has helped make her work even more effective.
In the most partisan political atmosphere in recent history, Lee has managed to pass three landmark pieces of legislation to combat the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, including bills to establishing the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and providing focused assistance for orphans and vulnerable children.
“There are a lot of members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, who have come up to me since then and said ‘I couldn’t disagree with your position more, but I know where you stand and I respect the courage it took to cast that vote,’” said Lee. “When you can connect with other lawmakers on the basis of mutual respect, we can make progress on our goals where there is some agreement, which has allowed me to make some headway on issues like AIDS and Darfur.”
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