Blackburn, Bucshon, Larson, Lucas, Meehan, Pascrell, Renacci & Rice are this year’s honorees

WASHINGTON, DC – At a dinner this past Thursday evening in Garden City, NY, The Ripon Society and Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange honored eight members of Congress with the 2017 Roosevelt Leadership Award, an honor that is given in the spirit of America’s 26th and 32nd Presidents and one that is intended to recognize leaders who today embody some of the same qualities that Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt displayed throughout their lives.

“Franklin Roosevelt once said that there is no indispensable man,” stated Jim Conzelman, the President & CEO of The Ripon Society and Franklin Center, in remarks to open the awards dinner. “And he is right. But there are men and women in Washington who are working to make a difference in the life of our nation every day. With trust in government at an all-time low, we believe it is important that Americans learn about these individuals and the work they are doing.”

To that end, Conzelman said, the Roosevelt Leadership Award honors those leaders:

Who have a sense of duty and service driven by a love of country;

Who possess a desire to do what is in the best interests of the American people – regardless of party, and regardless of who gets the credit; and,

Who embody the qualities that Theodore Roosevelt spoke of when he said: ‘The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.’

“There are men and women in Washington who are working to make a difference in the life of our nation every day. With trust in government at an all-time low, we believe it is important that Americans learn about these individuals and the work they are doing.”

“The men and women being honored embody these qualities and more,” Conzelman declared. “Between them, they have over 170 years of service at every level of government. Individually, they have made their mark in many important ways.” This year’s Roosevelt Award honorees include: U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN); U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN); U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-CT); U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK); U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA); U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ); U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY); and, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH), who was unable to attend the event.

In addition to the Roosevelt Leadership Awards dinner, Conzelman noted that this year’s awards celebration also featured a visit on Thursday afternoon to Theodore Roosevelt’s historic estate, Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, NY, and a visit on Friday to Franklin Roosevelt’s home and Presidential Library in Hyde Park. Conzelman added that the awards celebration concluded with a dinner on Friday evening that featured Pulitizer Prize winning author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, who delivered a keynote speech entitled, “TR, FDR, and the Politics of Today.”

This is the third year the Roosevelt Leadership Awards have been presented. Last year’s awards dinner was held at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas, while the 2015 Roosevelt Awards were held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and included a visit to Rancho del Cielo, President Reagan’s historic ranch atop the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara.

The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

Founded in 1978, The Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to enhancing global understanding of important international issues. The Franklin Center brings together Members of the U.S. Congress and their international parliamentary counterparts as well as experts from the Diplomatic corps, foreign officials, senior private sector representatives, scholars, and other public policy experts. Through regular conferences and events where leading international opinion leaders share ideas, the Franklin Center promotes enlightened, balanced, and unbiased international policy discussion on major international issues.

To view additional photos from the 2017 Roosevelt Leadership Awards celebration, please click here.