British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that veteran US Senator Ted Kennedy is to be awarded an honorary British knighthood.
Downing Street said earlier the senator would be honoured because of his services to Northern Ireland and the US-UK relationship.
Mr Brown formally announced the award during his address to both houses of Congress, which comes on the second full day of his visit to Washington.
Mr Kennedy, who has been a senator for his home state of Massachusetts for more than 46 years, is being treated for a brain tumour.
Gordon Brown is the fifth UK Prime Minister to address the joint US Houses of Congress.
In his speech he recalled the vision of President John F Kennedy in backing the drive to put a man on the moon, as well as in calling for the end to the Berlin Wall - and the Iron Curtain.
'The nation that had the vision to put a man on the moon [is] also the nation with the vision to protect and preserve our planet Earth,' he said.
He called on to America to take a lead in the world's battle against recession and climate change.
And he emphasised that Europe would be a partner in that endeavour. 'There is no old Europe, no new Europe, there is only your friend Europe,' he said.
