WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Bob Etheridge (NC-02) was among dozens of Members of Congress who welcomed PGA tour legend and golf hall of famer, Arnold Palmer, to Capitol Hill last week. Palmer visited the nation's capital on Sept. 30, 2009 to collect a different kind of medal, the Congressional Gold Medal.

The Congressional Gold Medal, along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is the highest civilian award in the United States. Palmer also received the National Sports Award from former President Bill Clinton in 1993, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President George W. Bush in 2004.

Palmer is the second golfer to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, which must be co-sponsored by two-thirds of the House and Senate. Byron Nelson received the medal after his death in 2006. The medal has been presented 141 times, the first one to George Washington in 1776.

A 1965 Campbell graduate, Etheridge is a former basketball standout, who is a member of the Campbell Athletics Hall of Fame. He served as a Harnett County commissioner and later in North Carolina's General Assembly before serving eight years as North Carolina's elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Elected to Congress in 1996, Etheridge has served on the House Agriculture and Science Committees and as the Co-Chairman of the Democratic Caucus' Education Task Force in addition to numerous other appointments.