(RTTNews) - Close on the heels of the House of Representatives' decision, the U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously agreed to confer the Congressional Gold Medal on Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who proposed the legislation with Republican Mitch McConnell, said the Senate has approved a measure to award the nation's highest civilian honor to Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's democratic opposition.
"This Congressional Gold Medal is a tribute to Suu Kyi's courage and conviction, and a symbol of solidarity with the oppressed people of Myanmar," Feinstein said.
Winston Churchill, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, former South African president Nelson Mandela and Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama are the other recipients of the medal - the highest civilian honor the legislature can bestow.
Rights activists said the 62-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, who has spent more than 12 of the past 18 years under house arrest, is believed to be the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient in the 232-year history of the award, the first being America's first president George Washington.
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