On October 19, Sen. Ben Cardin received the Anne Frank Award for Human Dignity and Tolerance from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
He received this prestigious honor for his work in fighting antisemitism and championing human rights in the United States, which he has done for over 30 years as a member of the House of Representatives and the Senate. He has also served as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a commissioner on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
More recently, Cardin has expressed his devotion to advocating for Israel and sending military and humanitarian aid to the country during its war against Hamas. He and his Senate colleagues have been working on introducing bipartisan legislation that will send munitions to Israel.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Cardin’s junior, introduced Cardin at the awards ceremony.
“Let Anne Frank’s optimism, her courage, her faith help us in our efforts, inspire us to always speak out against hate,” Cardin said in his speech at the award ceremony, during which he thanked The Netherlands for the award.
The other Anne Frank Award, the Anne Frank Special Recognition Award, was awarded to journalist and human rights activist Maksym Butkevych for his coverage of the invasion of Ukraine and advocacy for human rights. As Butkevych is a prisoner of war in Luhansk, Ukraine, his father, Oleksandr Butkevych, accepted the award in his stead.
Previous winners of the Anne Frank Award for Human Dignity and Tolerance include former U.S. Representative and Chairwoman of the House Committee on Appropriations Nita Lowey in 2020 and former President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism Rabbi David Saperstein in 2014.
