Biden, Corker honored with Freedom House human rights awards

Former Vice President Joe Biden made a rousing call to defend democracy in a speech Wednesday night as he accepted an award at the 2018 Freedom House Annual Awards ceremony in Washington.

“Democracy at its very core is America’s identity,” Biden said. “And while we’ve often fallen short of our fundamental values, we’ve never given up the struggle to get closer to the ideals, those self-evident truths set up by our founding documents.”

Freedom House works to defend human rights and promote democracy around the world.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is retiring after this term, was also honored with an award for his work to end slavery and human trafficking.

Biden recalled working briefly with Corker in the Senate and praised his ability to cross party lines.

“What I respect most about you is your decency,” Biden said. “It’s in short supply in American politics today. We need to treat people with respect.”

During his speech, Corker recognized the other honorees of the night, Elena Milashina and Igor Kochetkov, who received the Freedom Award.

Milashina is a journalist for the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazteta and was honored for exposing concentration camps for gay men in Chechnya. Those imprisoned were tortured and in some cases killed.

Kochetkov is the founder of a Russian LGBT network that helped 100 gay men escape from Chechnya.

“I know the difference between someone like me being honored, and people like Igor and Helena, who live in a country where they don’t have the freedoms that we have,” said Corker.

“And they have to really demonstrate courage to live but also to make the difference that they do,” he added. “So, please know that I know that.”

Corker delighted the audience with a back-and-forth with actor Richard Gere, the 2017 recipient of the Freedom House Raising Awareness Award, who introduced both Corker and Biden.

After being introduced, Corker poked fun at Gere’s popularity, saying his name had elicited “squeals.”

“It was like the first time we met when I told you that there was something about you that I didn’t particularly like,” Corker joked. “And that was that my wife, whenever she watched the movies, thought of me as less of a human being.”

Margaret Brennan of CBS News’s “Face the Nation” served as the evening’s master of ceremonies.