Read President Obama's Touching Speech for Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres got very emotional while receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, and now, the text of his speech has been made available.

“It’s easy to forget now, when we’ve come so far, where now marriage is equal under the law�”just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out on the most public of stages almost 20 years ago. Just how important it was not just to the LGBT community, but for all of us to see somebody so full of kindness and light, somebody we liked so much, somebody who could be our neighbor or our colleague or our sister challenge our own assumptions, remind us that we have more in common than we realize, push our country in the direction of justice,” President Obama said.

“What an incredible burden that was to bear. To risk your career like that. People don’t do that very often. And then to have the hopes of millions on your shoulders. But it’s like Ellen says: We all want a tortilla chip that can support the weight of guacamole. Which really makes no sense to me, but I thought would brighten the mood, because I was getting kind of choked up. And she did pay a price�”we don’t remember this. I hadn’t remembered it,” President Obama said. “She did, for a pretty long stretch of time�”even in Hollywood. And yet, today, every day, in every way, Ellen counters what too often divides us with the countless things that bind us together�”inspires us to be better, one joke, one dance at a time.”

The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor available to Americans. 20 additional celebs were honored at the ceremony. Congrats again to Ellen!