As the National ConstitutionCenter Awards the 2017 Liberty Medal to senator john mccain. [applause] throughout his career, senator mccain has put his the devotion to the u. S. Constitution above faction or party. He is the kind of independent citizen statesman James Madison envisioned when he stressed that the u. S. Constitution created not a direct democracy, but a representative republic. Madison and the framers of the constitution believed that direct democracies have led in greece and rome to rule by demagogues and the mob. By contrast, in a representative republic, citizens would delegate power to enlighten representatives. A chosen body of citizens whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Its especially meaningful that senator mccain will be awarded the Liberty Medal accompanied by the chair of the National ConstitutionCenter Vice President joe biden. [applause] Vice President biden served in the senate with john mccain for more than two decades, and their willingness to Work Together on behalf of the United States of america represents a madisonian ideal that is now under siege. Today, new populist forces and social Media Technologies are vulcanizing citizens into filter bubbles and echo chambers, speeding up Public Discourse in the process. The result is polarizing our media and elected officials and threatening values of thoughtful deliberation and public reason in precisely the way the framers feared. Thats why the National Constitution centers mission of constitutional education is so urgently important. In april 1988, one year after he was sworn into the senate, senator mccain became a cosponsor of the bicentennial heritage act, which created the National Constitution center. That act gave us an inspiring Educational Mission to disseminate information about the u. S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis in order to increase awareness and understanding of the u. S. Constitution among the american people. 30 years later, increasing constitutional awareness and understanding is more necessary than ever. It is crucial that we bring together citizens of different perspectives on all media platforms to listen respectfully to constitutional arguments on all sides. We need to empower all americans to educate themselves about the constitution so that we the people can deliberate thoughtfully with each other and choose enlightened representatives like senator mccain. The future of liberty and democracy depends on constitutional education. As jefferson said, democracy cannot survive both ignorant and free. The centerpiece of a Constitution Centers education efforts is the online interactive constitution. Its received nearly 12 million hits since it launched in 2015. [applause] you can click on any provision of the constitution using this amazing online tool and find the leading conservative and liberal legal thinkers in america discussing what they agree about and what they disagree about. This wonderful platform is a model for the kind of thoughtful, most the partisan multipartisan situation that madison considered essential for freedom and democracy in america. With your help, we need to bring it to learners across america and across the globe. Around the globe. By spreading light and constitutional understanding, the National Constitution center inspires all citizens to preserve, protect, and defend american liberty in the spirit of sacrifice and service exemplified by the heroic career of senator mccain. Few among us will be called to the life of sacrifice and service that john mccain has devoted to the United States of america, but all of us are inspired by his example. On behalf of the National Constitution center, for all you have done to preserve, protect, and defendant liberty in america defend liberty in america and across the globe, its an honor to say thank you, senator mccain. [applause] john mccains life has always been about freedom. Hes truly one of americas heroes. The personification of courage and independence. He has what it takes to stand up, to speak up. If you could combine a cowboy with a scholar, thats what he is. John Sidney Mccain iii comes from a long legacy of service to country. His grandfather was an admiral. His father was an admiral. His family has served in every conflict since americas founding. It dates back all the way to general George Washingtons staff. Senator mccain was born in august of 1936 at the Naval Air Station in the u. S. Controlled panama canal zone where his father was stationed. My dad had intense admiration and respect for his dad. He was a very small man. He was 54, but his presence was stunning. Mccains father was a submariner. His grandfather, a sailor who pioneered Naval Aviation strategy on aircraft carriers. As a boy, he admits a mix pride of his legacy and resentment that his course seems preordained. There was never any other consideration other than he would go to the Naval Academy. It made him a little bit rebellious. When he was 15, his parents sent him to a basketball high episcopal high school, a private boarding school in alexandria. He went around from base to base, it was easy was probably more worldly than the rest of us. Bruce reinhardt was on the Football Team and wrestling squad with mccain, and remembers that even as a teenager, mccain was a nonconformist who pushed back against rules. The school had a system not unlike what you would find at the Naval Academy. Mccain said he was considered the worst rat because he would frequently pick fights with his fellow students, challenge school authorities, and ignore school regulations. He earned the nickname punk, and i think he enjoyed that nickname. On one hand he could have taken an easy path through life, he was the son of a network, the n admiral the grandson of an , admiral, but he clearly wanted to make his own mark. After four years in the Naval Academy, he was eager to add his own paragraph to the family legacy, with a combat tour in vietnam. The call to duty is what they are all about. He not only wanted to go, he asked to go. At age 31, john mccain joined the squadron on the uss forestall. It was on the flight back in late july in 1967 that he had his first real brush with death. Dad was on deck, his plane was going to be the next one. A power surge triggered the accidental launch of a rocket across the ships flight deck, striking a fuel tank. There were sitting back there and trying to offload these bombs into the water. They were trying to get the fire out. So many men died that day. He rolled off the nose and ran. He always says how he is the luckiest guy he knows. I always felt hes the luckiest and unluckiest guy. After surviving, he could have gone home. Instead, he volunteered for another tour on the uss arrest carrier that suffered its own fire a year earlier. To him it wasnt about being a pilot in a war, he was serving his country. He signed up to do that. Three months later, his plane was shot down in a bombing mission. I found myself falling towards the middle of a small lake in the city of hanoi with two broken arms, broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. He had broken his arms and legs on ejection. His captors broke his shoulder with smashing blows from a rifle, then dumped them in an empty cell. We knew hed been captured. We knew he was alive. As we learned later, he came close to death a couple of times. He was given medical treatment only after his captors learned his father was an admiral. [indiscernible] he was a potential propaganda piece because of my grandfather. They were trying to explain that exploit that to their advantage. His jailers offered him Early Release and a chance to escape his suffering. He said im not leaving. Code of conduct. Go home in the order of your shootdown. Mccain would later learn that the day he was sent home, was the day his father was to be promoted commander of the entire pacific fleet. They thought they would secure a Public Relations coup by releasing him back to the states. It could have taken advantage of that, gotten out early. He did his duty and did the right thing. How many people, given the choice, would stay true to their code, true to their brothers who were there in the north vietnamese prison and refuse to go home . I said i must have been a hard decision. As it turned out for my dad, it was not a hard decision. His punishment was four days of beating. Cracking his ribs, breaking his teeth, and rebreaking his arm. Ernest hemingway has this the famous line, man can be destroyed, but not defeated. Every time i think of that, i think of john because of his strong and relentless will live will to live and serve and fight for what he believes in. Two years as a pow, he was placed in solitary confinement. Its a test of strength, of human dignity. By the time he joined his pows, he weighed just over 100 pounds. His broken arms still useless. They put me in a cell with two other americans. I couldnt even feed myself. They did it for me. Those men saved my life. The experience changed him from a Rebel Without a cause to a maverick on a mission. Your powers are the mercy of your captor, and the only thing you hold onto is your ability to be faithful to your country. After 5. 5 years, he was sent home in march of 1973. His time as a pow made him appreciate that americas freedom was an honor. With honor, comes obligation. He retired from the navy in 1981 and won a seat in congress the following year. He couldnt serve in the military anymore so he went to politics. As a member of the house and senate, he has been a champion of veterans. Someone who always had the backs of the men and women of the u. S. Military, no matter what. When president bill clinton called for normalizing relations with vietnam, mccain became a leader in the charge. One of the two key people, john kerry was the other one. Hes made 22 trips to vietnam. We have to chase down every lead with respect to the potential that in america was still being held. And there is something really striking about a man who spent five and half years in a prisoner of war camp, going back. Been 22 times gone we visited the hanoi hilton and i will never forget ever the , emotion of being shown the cell in which he spent a fair amount of time. He now is someone whos also viewed by the vietnamese as their best advocate in washington. Family and colleagues will tell you hes still very much the rebel. Ian streaka contrar a mile wide. Im sure you heard the fiery mccain as an additive used to describe him. I said those guards watched over you are still going to Group Sessions all these years later trying to recover. The same courage that john showed in vietnam, he shows in Congress Almost every week. I remember i was getting some grief from local editorial boards of people because i was going after earmarks and egregious spending. I was on a flight with him and he came back to my seat, he put his finger on my chest and i am really in for it now. He said dont give up. You are doing the right thing. Senator mccain has been a role model for those who are younger senators about how to be your own man. When he talks, the room goes quiet. People always know something important is going to be said. Whats so unusual about john mccain is that combination of willingness to be a maverick and the real concern to the effective to make a difference. That is a very rare combination. If mccain got his straight speaking style from his mother,. Absolute dynamo. 105 now and still going strong. He got his tireless work ethic from his dad. Hes a tremendous worker. He always wants to be prepared and ready. How he does it physically i , dont know. We saw interns begging, i have to take a break because they couldnt keep up with him. John came back to the senate right after the diagnosis of brain cancer against the advice of his doctors. Tough diagnosis to get, but an even tougher guy. Hes consumed with doing his duty. He works like a sailor, he fights like a sailor, hes worth he swears like a sailor, and he is one of the greatest patriots ive ever met. He recognizes the need for america to be a voice for those who dont have much of a voice. Somebody asked him, what should be the purpose of American Foreign policy be . And he said i cant think of a better answer to that than the declaration of independence. Every one of us is created equal and we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Hes always put his Country First in everything. [applause] and now, please welcome the president of the university of pennsylvania, dr. Amy gutmann. [applause] thank you. Good evening, everyone, and what a good evening it is good. Good evening. We gather at the National Constitution center to honor a man renowned for, among other things, his deep respect for constitutional knowledge and tradition, and his abiding bipartisanship. Two things in such short supply these days that we all had to visit a museum to see it on display. Right . Now, in all seriousness, how very moving it is that the careerlong republican we celebrate tonight, by his is is going to be introduced by his good friend, im equally renowned democratic senator and United StatesVice President , joe biden. This is really a momentous evening. Such distinctively bipartisan friendship underscores why we so warmly celebrate this years Liberty Medal recipient. On the occasion of awarding the Liberty Medal to this great patriot of our time, Benjamin Franklin had the perfect words, of course. For those of you who dont know, he is the founder of the university of pennsylvania. After britain imposed punitive restrictions of liberty on the american colonies, franklin declared, they who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Nobody knows the truth of franklins words better than this years recipient of the Liberty Medal. For prisoners of war, concepts of safety and liberty ceased to be abstractions. The suffering they experience could defeat all but the strongest of wills. The man we honor tonight possesses such will. The man we honor tonight exemplifies our societys highest ideals with the deepest imaginable reserve of courage and conviction. He has devoted his life to securing and expanding liberty for people everywhere. We award the Liberty Medal tonight to a leader who, by virtue of both his ideals and his actions, not only crosses party lines and national borders, he transcends them. He is a man who has focused his life not on the tears that thunder, but on the ties that bind. He is an exemplary american, who routinely forgoes what is expedient to pursue what is just and what is right. Our recipient shares with those who have come before him a lifelong devotion to the ultimate and noblest of human pursuits. Liberty. The National Constitution center was built to strengthen our pursuit of that purpose of liberty. Tonight, we are so proud to continue that work by celebrating a National Leader of immense distinction. He is among our longest serving statesman in the u. S. Senate. He is a congressman before that and a naval pilot that before that. Throughout a lifetime of service to country, to others, and to his own principles, he has been a warrior for our freedom. In uniform, he defended liberty. In government, he upholds it. In daily life, he adheres to it. At a time when peoples faith in institutions and in many individuals has eroded, countless many look up to the man we honor tonight. We look to him as a moral voice. Straight talking and upright, honestly imperfect, and all the braver for it. The life he has lived inspires us and gives us hope, no matter what our party affiliation. Serving tirelessly in the cause of liberty, he is above all a person of honor. We see in him what we so fervently desire to see at work at our nation and around the world. Tonight, we honor liberty tied to the utmost of courage as we celebrate and we salute our senator and our hero, senator john mccain. Thank you, and thank you all for honoring this great public servant. [applause] thank you so much, amy. And thank you for your invaluable leadership and collaboration with the National Constitution center. Its now my privilege to introduce a visionary patriot and great friend of americas veterans. He appreciates what senator mccain and his fellow veterans have sacrificed in providing for the common defense and protecting the constitution. Howard schultz is the visionary founder, former ceo, and current executive chairman of starbucks. [applause] as youre about to hear, howard has a special passion for the wellbeing of americas veterans. In 2011, veterans sparked his conscience about personal responsibility as a result,. As a result, howard and his wife Cheri Schultz began to educate themselves about the 1 of americans who have served in the u. S. Military. In 2013, starbucks pledged to hire 10,000 veterans and military spouses in the next five years. When the company met that goal a year and a half ahead of schedule, starbucks pledged to hire 25,000 veterans by 2025. The following year, howard and sherees Fa