WASHINGTON, DC, December 4, 2024 – Senator Ben Cardin, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was honored with the 2024 Metropolitan Chrysostomos Award at the 14th Annual OXI Courage Awards on October 30 at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. Congressman John Sarbanes introduced and presented the award to Chairman Cardin.
You can view the presentation of the award here.
You can view pictures from the OXI Courage Awards here.
Honored alongside Chairman Cardin with the OXI Courage Award were:
Russian political prisoners and fighters of democracy Alexei Gorinov and Maria Ponomarenko and Afghan educator Shabana Basij-Rasikh.
In his remarks, Congressman Sarbanes noted:
“When it comes to standing up to antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, being an advocate for human and civil rights globally, there is no one more deserving of the Chrysostomos Award than tonight’s honoree, Maryland’s own Ben Cardin. He currently serves as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but will be retiring this year after a lifetime of public service. You would be hard-pressed to find any current or former lawmaker who has done more to promote human dignity within the United States and around the world.
My father and Ben Cardin, these two giants of Maryland politics, carried a mutual respect for one another, and no one was more delighted than my father when Senator Cardin was elected to succeed him in the United States Senate. Men of integrity and character who embody Philotimo in all its dimensions. If my father were here tonight, he would say, Axios. I echo that with my own deep gratitude to Senator Cardin.“
In his acceptance, Senator Cardin said:
“This is a special evening, obviously, because of what this award really means. It’s named after the leadership of a small Greek island that stood up to the axis of power during World War II and put their lives on the line protecting Jews. The importance of this cannot be overstated, what they did. And then, as we know, Greece said ‘OXI’ to the Axis power when they asked to surrender during World War II.
And in both cases of the leadership of this island or what Greece said, they put the value of their nation, the value of their beliefs ahead of a temporary transactional deal. And that becomes one of the fundamental principles that Greece has given to this world, that your decision making should be based upon values, not what you can get out of it for yourself. That’s the strength of the United States of America, as we learned from Greece.
You have human rights defenders that are in this room. They’re my heroes. Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of my heroes. So, as I look at the challenges we have ahead, and I see the challenges around the world, I will always remember the courage of the individuals with whom this award is based on, the human rights defenders that are in the room tonight, and recognize that I’ve been honored in very, very extreme good company. “
The Metropolitan Chrysostomos Award is presented each year to recognize lifelong commitment to combatting antisemitism, discrimination and intolerance. Previous recipients have included:
– Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel;
– Former President of Israel Shimon Peres;
– The civil rights icon known as the “conscience of the Congress” John Lewis;
– The mother -in-law of Queen Elizabeth, Princess Alice;
– The worldwide spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew; and
– The Chairman of the US Holocaust Memorial Council, Howard Lorber, among others.