Bono receives Liberty Medal

LIBERTY MEDAL, page 1 use their voices for liberty.

“ In the words of our honoree, find the melody line in your head and sing it for liberty,” President and CEO of the National Constitution Center Joseph M. Torsella said in his introduction.

Governor Edward G. Rendell

and Mayor John F. Street followed Torsella’s introduction and gave words of recognition in honor of the recipients. Former President Bush presented Bono with the medal as Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a member of the DATA Policy Advisory Board, accepted the award on behalf of the organization.

“Today as you pin this great honor on me, I ask you, I implore you as an Irishman who has seen some of these things close up, I ask you to remember, you do not have to become a monster to defeat a monster. Your America is better than that,” Bono said in his acceptance speech. A consistent question throughout the speech became what America is willing to pledge in this fight to reduce poverty and take control. He urged those in attendance to listen to the voice of young Africa and to take a stand.

For the evening, Bono said he was taking on the identity of an American.

“Let me set my foot here and say to you tonight, this is my country. With humility and pride in my own country let me say,

America is my country in the sense that anyone who has a stake in liberty, has a stake in the United States of America for all you’ve been through, good and bad, this is my country too,” Bono said. “America is not just a country. It’s an idea, isn’t it?”