Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, has obtained Senate approval for a gold medal honoring economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman "for his enduring contributions to individual freedom and opportunity and for his steadfast support and efforts to champion free markets and capitalism."

"While many Americans will never know his name, the power of Milton Friedman's intellect has profoundly changed America and the world," Gramm said. "He is the preeminent thinker of the 20th century. Fortunately for people who love freedom and opportunity, he is the champion of those twin pillars of democracy and capitalism."

Friedman, who was an advisor to Presidents Nixon and Reagan, won the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economics for his achievements in the field of consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and for his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy. He is now senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

The Senate, by voice vote, approved Gramm's legislation calling for a gold medal honoring Friedman. The legislation must be approved by the House.