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President Obama Awards Medal Of Freedom To Former Congressman Abner Mikva

(CBS) -- Former U.S. Representative and longtime federal judge Abner Mikva received the nation's highest honor granted to civilians today at a White House ceremony.

Mikva served as a Democratic Congressman from Chicago then the northern suburbs, counsel to the White House, head of the federal appeals court in Washington D.C. and is now is back in the White House picking up the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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"It is something you can't even aspire to get, you are just very lucky if you get it," Mikva said.

Other winners in today's Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony include Tom Brokaw, Meryl Streep and Stevie Wonder.

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