The Roosevelt Institute has decided to award this year’s Four Freedoms Medal to former Senator Russ Feingold in a ceremony which will be held in St. James' Church in Hyde Park, New York on Saturday.

In a press release, the Roosevelt Institute writes that Senator Feingold is one of the most well respected progressives in the United States. Russ Feingold is ranked 6th in the Senate for bipartisan voting and co-sponsored the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, a critical piece of campaign finance reform legislation. He was the only Senator to vote against the USA Patriot Act during the first vote on the bill. His primary legislative focus has been on campaign finance reform, fair trade policies, healthcare reform, conservation and environmental protection, a multilateral foreign policy, civil liberties, and the elimination of capital punishment.

On January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, proclaimed in his State of the Union that if democracy is to survive and flourish, people everywhere in the world are entitled to four human rights: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

In order to keep the legacy of FDR alive, the Roosevelt Institute honors outstanding citizens who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to these ideals every year.

The impressive ceremonies that mark the awarding of the Four Freedoms medals are held alternately in Hyde Park, New York and Middelburg, the Netherlands, where the Roosevelt Stichting, a private foundation, is responsible for organising the ceremony in the even-numbered years.

President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) were all descended from common ancestors who emigrated from the Dutch province of Zeeland to the United States in the seventeenth century.

A Dutch delegation, including boardmembers of the Roosevelt Stichting and representatives of the Nationale Postcode Loterij and the Province of Zeeland will attend this year’s Four Freedoms Awards ceremony in Hyde Park.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, chair of the Roosevelt Institute has said to be thrilled to be able to honour the laureates who have spent a great deal of their lives courageously helping others and embodying her grandfather’s vision of the Four Freedoms as he outlined in his famous January 6, 1941 speech in Congress. This year's laureates for the awards for Freedom of Speech and Expression, Worship, Want and Fear are:

Freedom of Speech & Expression - Michael J. Copps
Michael Copps is known for his defence of the press and the public interest. By challenging the Republican majority on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and requesting public hearings to ascertain citizen sentiments towards media monopoly. The result was a response from over three million Americans – an extraordinary display of how involved the public can, and should, be in communications policy.

Freedom of Worship - Rev. Barry W. Lynn
As Executive Director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a non-profit organization (non-sectarian and non-partisan) based in Washington, D.C., Rev. Lynn is dedicated to preserving the constitutional principle of church-state separation as the only way to ensure religious freedom for all Americans.

Freedom from Want - Jacqueline Novogratz
As founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, Novogratz is responsible for it’s vision and unique approach to using philanthropic capital to invest in scalable businesses that serve the poor with life-changing goods and services. Under her leadership Acumen Fund has invested $40 million in over 35 companies serving 25 million low-income customers in developing countries since 2001.

Freedom from Fear - Bryan Stevenson
As founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit organization that provides legal representation to indigent defendants and prisoners who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system, Bryan Stevenson has been awarded many times for his work in civil rights law.

(gsh)