US lawmakers aim to strip Bill Cosby of presidential medal
In this Nov. 18, 2013 file photo, actor-comedian Bill Cosby poses for a portrait in New York. Invision/AP File Photo
WASHINGTON, United States—A bipartisan group of US lawmakers was set to introduce legislation Friday that provides President Barack Obama authority to revoke the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bill Cosby, the actor-turned-pariah facing several rape accusations.
The medal was established half a century ago as the nation’s highest civilian honor, but in July Obama acknowledged there was no mechanism for officially revoking the award.
Members of Congress are moving to empower the president to do just that, rolling out a bill that also provides criminal penalties for anyone who publicly displays such a medal that has been stripped.
“Cosby has admitted to drugging women in order to satisfy his sexual desires, and, therefore, the federal government should not recognize Cosby with an honor like the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” said a draft of the measure provided by the office of House Republican Paul Gosar, the bill’s main sponsor.
His office said the measure would be introduced Friday.
Cosby, 78, was charged last week with felony sexual assault, the first to stem from a series of allegations that have ruined his image as an affable patriarch in the wildly popular 1980s television hit “The Cosby Show.”
More than 50 women have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually molesting or raping them—allegations the veteran television and movie showman has vehemently denied.
Gosar said that while there is a legal presumption of Cosby’s innocence, the actor’s admission to drugging several women puts him “outside the bounds of whom we should admire in our society.”
“Like so many Americans, I am sick and tired of watching the rapid decline of our culture right in front of our eyes,” he said Thursday.
“It is time to reclaim our nation’s moral compass.”
Fifteen Republicans and two Democrats are sponsoring the bill, according to a Gosar aide.
It remained unclear whether the legislation could pass Congress, or if the president would sign it.
“We’ll take a look at the proposal if Congress takes a vote on it,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday.
“Symbolic commemorations are always difficult to deal with,” he added, expressing concern about creating a precedent with regard to “trying to undo medals.”
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