PHILADELPHIA, PA  [Friday Sep.28.2007]  /WMQT.com/ -- Bono has been awarded the Liberty Medal for his efforts to cancel third-world debt, reports NME.com.

Past honorees include Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, and former US president Bill Clinton. This marks the first time the award has been given to someone other than a politican.

After accepting the award, Bono praised America and the city of Philadelphia. He said, "In the American body politic there's no poetry like the poetry of the Declaration Of Independence and the Constitution.

"What I love about America started in Philadelphia. It's the expression of those values that the world needs to see. The America that liberated Omaha Beach, that rebuilt Europe with the Marshall Plan. That put a man on the moon."

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