WASHINGTON (AFP), October 11, 2007:US President George W. Bush will attend a ceremony next week to award the U.S. Congress Medal to the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, at the bastion of American democracy. The White House said on October 10 that Bush and his wife will participate in the landmark event for the 72-year-old Buddhist spiritual leader at the Capitol building next Wednesday.
"The president and Mrs Laura Bush will attend the ceremony," national security council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told AFP.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will present the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor the legislature can bestow, to the Dalai Lama. "He has used his position to promote wisdom, compassion, and non-violence as a solution -- not only in Tibet -- but to other world conflicts," said Pelosi.
A bill to award the medal won the support of more than two thirds of members of both the Senate and House of Representatives last year before it was signed into law. President Bush with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Dalai Lama is greeted on his 71st birthday by SENIORS WORLD CHRONICLE Editor Ravissant. The Dalai Lama runs a home for the aged in the Darjeeling hills, eastern India.The medal has also been given to such diverse individuals as Sir Winston Churchill, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and former South African president Nelson Mandela.
This will be the first time that a sitting US president will appear with the Dalai Lama in a public event. Following the ceremony, the Congress, in a rare move, has agreed to allow the Dalai Lama to address a large crowd of well wishers on the West Lawn of the Capitol.
The Dalai Lama fled to India following a failed uprising in 1959 after Beijing crushed the revolt in Lhasa. The Tibetan leader lives in the northern hill town of Dharamsala, which is also the seat of his government in exile.
Copyright © 2007 AFP.
