POLITICS

POLITICS

McCain views Iowa flood damage

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa | Sen. John McCain toured flood-damaged southeastern Iowa on Thursday, walking past half-submerged buildings, washed-out roads and thousands of sandbags filled hurriedly in a vain attempt to hold back the waters.

“I know I speak for all of America. We’ll do everything necessary to try to rebuild their lives,” the Republican presidential candidate said of residents of a town of 1,900 at the confluence of the Cedar and Iowa Rivers.

The town experienced record flooding in recent days, and although the waters have begun to recede, National Guard trucks blocked access to washed-out roads and the municipal water system had not been returned to operation.

Mr. McCain peppered Mayor Dan Wilson with questions as they walked through town looking at the damage. Mr. Wilson said tens of thousands of sandbags had been filled to create makeshift levees that prevented worse flooding.

HONORS

Medal of Freedom recipients honored

President Bush on Thursday presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, to leaders in medicine, government, the judiciary and the military.

In a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Bush lauded and joked with five recipients and Annette Lantos, who accepted the award on behalf of her late husband, Rep. Tom Lantos, California Democrat. The recipients were:

cDr. Benjamin S. Carson Sr.: In 1987, he performed the world’s first successful operation separating twins joined at the back of the head. He is director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore.

cDr. Anthony S. Fauci: An adviser to the government on global AIDS issues, he is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

cMr. Lantos: The Holocaust survivor, who died of cancer in February, was chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is remembered as a champion of human rights.

cRetired Marine Gen. Peter Pace: One of the Iraq war’s military architects, Gen. Pace retired last year as 16th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and first Marine to hold the post.

cDonna E. Shalala: Health and human services secretary under President Clinton and now president of the University of Miami, she helped lead a presidential commission charged with improving health care for wounded military veterans.

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